UX / UI Case Study 

Art Direction: Jenny Kowalski and Scott Laserow

Overview

When asked to create and design an app that had to do with the concept of time, I felt it would be most useful to make an app that could save people time. In the fast-paced environment that we see ourselves living in today, it feels as if every minute counts and people are always looking to make the most of their time. I also wanted to solve a problem that I had faced in my personal life – learning how to grow a thriving garden. There is a lot of information that a gardener needs to know in order to create the thriving plants they desire and it can be time-consuming trying to read and figure everything out. Thus sprout was born – a gardener’s best friend meant for users of all ages and gardening backgrounds. This app allows the user to keep track of their garden and supplies virtually, and get care notifications and information based on environmental factors.

Approach

Understanding the audience and the actual mechanics of the app, I began to design it using Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, and InVision. The onboarding of the app includes a short quiz to help personalize the gardening experience and get to know the user. This is important for giving better advice based on background, location, and desires. The side navigation is used to keep everything needed in one place – which is meant to make navigation easier. I also added explanations as users go to new screens for the first time in order to significantly cut back the learning curve. Illustrations and lack of visual crowding were used to make sure that the user feels welcomed and not overwhelmed. It was important, however, to use actual pictures of the plants in the encyclopedia rather than illustrations to make finding specific items quicker and allow the users to better understand how a plant should look. The use of a green and yellow color palette pulls from common notions of color regarding gardens in order to make the user feel more comfortable and connected to the app. 

Expansion

After completing the app design and prototyping it, I needed to create promotional pieces that would be useful in getting the app out to the world. The expansion of the project included a promotional website and tote bags that could be sent out to users. When designing these pieces I found it necessary to make sure that they were consistent in following the brand but also got people interested in the app.

Research

I started this project by researching the existing gardening apps on both the app store and google play store. I found that there were apps that had some useful features like a virtual garden or information about different plants and their needs – but nothing had an attractive design or all of the features that I felt were necessary for a successful gardening help app. 

I also did visual research which included looking at app layouts and creating a mood board. This was really important in understanding what visual direction I wanted as well as how I wanted the app to work. Visual research also included sketches for the logo since that is a foundational aspect of the app as well as sets the tone for the visual feeling of the overall brand.