A little bit about myself.
My name is Sarika Sinkar and my passion lies in leveraging design to solve problems and improve the lives of others. I'm constantly nurturing my curious mind by continuous learning and connecting with people who are driven and open to sharing their innovative ideas.
As a self taught designer, I have learnt UX/UI and product design methodologies through attending workshops, reading books and blogs, podcasts and hands on application at work. I am very much a big-picture thinker and enjoy working on products end to end, from research, ideation, all the way to development.
Bloom
BLOOM is a mobile application that makes plant selection, buying and lifetime care easy and convenient.
RESPONSIBILITIES
User Research
Product Stategy
User Testing
User Flow, UI
PROJECT TYPE
Solo project to flex my design skills
DESIGN PROCESS
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Design
Test
Background
There are numerous health and wellness benefits of having plants. As I embarked on the journey of being a plant parent, I came across the following pain points:
Shopping across multiple platforms and retailers. Due to most nurseries being closed in the winter season, I turned to purchasing plants online. However, this led to the inconvenience of having to shop separately for pots and aftercare products like soil and plant food from different retailers, making the process time-consuming.
Lack of guidance on plant selection. I lacked guidance on selecting plants suitable for my space and lifestyle. Relying on social media recommendations and aesthetics, I made purchases without expert guidance on plant selection.
Challenging to keep plants alive and healthy. As a first-time plant parent, I lacked knowledge on caring for plants, as each has unique needs. Forgetting to water or overwatering became challenges, resulting in difficulties maintaining plant health. The frustration and disappointment heightened when one plant died due to inadequate aftercare.
Hard to find trendy and modern plant accessories. Many retailers are struggling to align with current trends. They often maintain outdated plant accessory selections and fail to adapt to evolving market demands. The influence of social media has inspired people to seek trendy pots and accessories that enhance room décor. However, it remains challenging to find pots that match specific preferences.
Research and Empathize
USER INTERVIEW
I began my research by conducting interviews with students and professionals aiming to upskill or reskill in the tech industry. The objective was to validate existing challenges and identify specific obstacles hindering their employment prospects. Additionally, insights into hiring manager's challenges were sought through an interview with an industry leader to gain a comprehensive understanding of the situation from both learner and employer perspectives.
Findings
Insights
1.
Finding the right plant is time-consuming. Its also difficult to select the right size of plant with suitable level of maintenance.
Findings
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Insights
People prefer personalized plant recommendations based on experience, space and lifestyle.
2.
People have a hard time selecting the right size of pot which looks trendy.
Findings
Insights
People also prefer guidance on buying pots and after care products. They prefer to buy these online.
3.
The emotional difficulty of witnessing a plant die deters people from buying as they fear not being able to care for it properly. People are unaware of how to take proper plant care.
Findings
Insights
People prefer reminders and precise plant care instructions to stay consistent and take proper care.
4.
People struggle with diagnosing plant issues, and transporting large plants for professional advice is challenging.
FINDINGS
INSIGHTS
People prefer professional online diagnosis and suitable remedies for sick plants.
MARKET ANALYSIS
I looked at competitors in the market based on popularity and analyzed what they provide and what they lack. Some of these were suggested by research participants. This helped me understand the market gap.
There are three main steps in a plant parent journey:
1. Plant selection and buying
2. Buying accessories and aftercare products
3. Lifetime plant care and management
Currently plant parents use different apps and stores for each action listed above and some find the whole process cumbersome. This is a space that needs to be filled. A responsive web app that offers all this would be a great tool for the user and a profitable product in this market.
Define
HMW QUESTION
With goals and needs defined through research, I reframed them as How might we? question. With this question, I was able to brainstorm solutions.
How might we help users discover their perfect plant?
How might we design a convenient planting experience?
How might we make users feel confident about caring for individual plant needs?
How might we make plant disease identification and diagnosing quick and precise?
PRODUCT STRATEGY
I identified four key areas for business opportunities:
Personalized Plant selection. Help users find the most relevant plants by capturing their motivation, experience, lifestyle, space details.
One stop shopping and wide selection. Offer large variety of plants, pots and tools that meets users expectations. Implement a cross-selling strategy to offer a seamless and convenient shopping experience for plants, accessories, and aftercare products. This allows users to buy everything in one go, thereby reducing time spent shopping.
Lifetime plant care support. Help users take care of plants and slowly learn individual plant needs
Expert diagnoses to care for sick plants. Help users figure out what is wrong and recommend appropriate treatment.
Ideate
Inferring from above, users would be interested in an app that offers the following key features:
Quick plant quiz and list of recommendations. Users receive personalized plant recommendations after taking a quick plant quiz which captures their preferences including planting experience, space and lifestyle.
Browse products and curated lists. Receive curated lists eg. Pet friendly, low light, easy starter plants etc. and browse other plants, accessories and aftercare products. Additionally, filter plants by type, size, light, price options.
Browse products and curated lists. Guest checkout option without cumbersome account creation. Offer free delivery.
Tracking and management of plants. Users can create plant profiles with names and pictures. They will receive list of actions to perform via reminders. In addition, users can manage and track progress of all plants as they grow.
Diagnose plant health. Use AI technology whereby users take snapshots and upload them to get expert guidance and treatment for sick plants.
Next, I mapped out the user flow with key features. User Flow helped me think about how to organize the app and its screens.
I sketched main screens for the MVP incorporating elements and screens to achieve user goals.
I transferred my initial ideas into mid-fidelity wireframes in Figma. I created 12 screens with the user flows in mind. I needed to create the priority features necessary for user testing and to reflect the user needs and goals I’d defined.
User Testing
I conducted user testing before finalizing my designs with high fidelity mockup. After gathering various feedback and insights, following changes were made.
Findings & Solutions
• There was no option to delete plant listing incase a plant dies or is given away.
An option to delete plant listing was added.
• There was no option to attach additional plant pictures on the Plant advisor page.
I included an icon to attach photos and provided access to the phone camera for capturing instant photos.
• Some users found the terms ‘Care’ and ‘Schedule’ confusing. They assumed schedule will have care details.
So, I renamed Care to ‘Overview’.
• When users mark the care action as done, there was no option to uncheck it, incase its accidentally checked.
I introduced the option to uncheck, and care actions that are overdue will be highlighted and prioritized at the top for immediate attention.
Final Design
For the brand, I designed refreshing, clean and intuitive UI with easy navigation that conveyed ease of use and gave visibility of features.
Next Step
User interviews revealed a preference for making purchases on a desktop or iPad, while phones are used for reminders and plant diagnoses. The next phase involves building a website which will also enhance awareness.
Future Ideas
Psychology of price in UX. Product pricing should align with customer needs, employing tactics such as a 'discounted price tag' to attract budget-conscious consumers. Another effective strategy is to offer a 'best deal' on popular products, making them look like a steal.
Try before you buy with AR technology. With AR technology customers will see how the plant and pot and will look in their space. The app can also use AR to add recommendations to the customers.
Social component + Blog. Incorporating a social component in apps fosters community engagement, allowing users to connect and share experiences. This feature enhances user interaction, promoting a sense of belonging and enriching the overall app experience.
ChatBot. AI powered chatbot for communication, customer support and assistance, to answer common questions and for guidance and recommendations.
Share account. Functionality to share account with other users who will care for your plant.
More projects
Let’s connect
Get in touch for opportunities or just say hi!
