Green Grow Precision Planting: Your Digital Growing Companion

Project Overview

A comprehensive thesis project developing a mobile application that integrates smart sensor technology to assist home gardeners in successfully producing consistent yields through data-driven growing insights.

Duration: January 15, 2023 → August 24, 2023
Role: Lead UI/UX Designer (Individual Project)
Category: Mobile Design, IoT Integration
Platform: iOS/Android Mobile Application

The Challenge

With rising food security concerns in the UK and 19.1% food price increases since 2021, home growing has become increasingly important. However, many home gardeners struggle with inconsistent yields due to guesswork around watering, feeding, and plant care timing.

How might we help home gardeners achieve consistent, successful yields through smart sensor technology and intuitive digital guidance?

Solution

Green Grow Precision Planting is a digital growing assistant that utilises soil moisture-based scheduling with affordable sensors to provide high accuracy growing guidance and water savings. The app provides real-time feedback, automated suggestions, and estimation-based guidance for users without full automation systems.

Research & Discovery

User Research

• Survey Design: Conducted targeted surveys to identify key user pain points and expectations
• In-depth Interviews: Interviewed diverse users from hobbyists to professional growers to understand varying needs and technical comfort levels
• Persona Development: Created two primary personas:
  • Fraia (Amateur Hobbyist): Family-oriented gardener seeking learning and therapeutic benefits
  • Cid (Experienced Grower): Tech-savvy user focused on efficiency and optimal yields

Key Insights

• Users wanted faster, more intuitive growing guidance
• Disappointment and impatience were primary pain points when plants failed
• Need for clear, actionable feedback about plant health status
• Balance required between automation and hands-on gardening experience

Competitive Analysis

Analysed existing digital agriculture solutions including weather integration, soil monitoring, and historic information features across platforms like Smartfarm.nl, DEKALB, OneSoil, and Flower Care.

Design Process

Information Architecture

• Card Sorting: Utilised card sorting techniques to understand user preferences for app navigation and features
• Journey Mapping: Created comprehensive journey maps for each persona, identifying critical touchpoints for enhanced user experience
• Task Flows: Developed user flows mapping plausible paths for core app functions

Major Design Pivot

The initial design suffered from feature creep, attempting to provide holistic support including weather information, which diluted the core value proposition of soil moisture-based sensing. User feedback consistently questioned: “What is the primary purpose of this design?”

The pivot: Refocused entirely on smart sensor interaction and plant growth success, reserving additional features for future development to maintain design clarity and purpose.

Design Innovation

Emoji-Based Plant Health System

Inspired by virtual pet interfaces (reminiscent of Tamagotchi), I introduced emojis to depict plant health and mood states - healthy, thirsty, or needing care.

User Response: “Overwhelmingly positive” feedback. Users found the emojis “endearing and compelling as visual cues indicating which plants required attention.” Even my 6-year-old daughter provided valuable validation, showing joy when confirmation ticks appeared and empathy toward happy/sad plant emojis.

Visual Design Evolution

• Colour Accessibility: Initially struggled with harmony and accessibility. Redesigned entire palette using inspiration from garden photography, ensuring AA/AAA accessibility ratings
• Typography: Evolved from basic Inter usage to sophisticated Serif/Sans-Serif pairing, ultimately settling on Slab Serif based on user feedback
• Spacing & Layout: Improved from cramped initial margins to generous, 4px-grid-based spacing that enhanced readability and visual appeal

Testing & Iteration

Chalk Mark Testing

Conducted chalk mark tests with 19 participants to understand user interaction patterns. Key findings:

• Users’ card sort expectations didn’t always align with actual interaction behaviour
• Design learnability improved with continued use, though initial usability required improvement
• Large, clickable button sizes and dashboard user-friendliness were appreciated

Continuous User Testing

Throughout development, conducted ongoing tests using shared Figma prototypes, gathering feedback from diverse users including children, which reinforced design decisions around intuitive interaction patterns.

Design System Refinements

• Accessibility Improvements: Enhanced contrast ratios using broad spectrum of colour values and intensities
• Typography Hierarchy: Used secondary colours to differentiate and enhance clarity in headings
• Micro-interactions: Added subtle animations, pulsing indicators, and feedback mechanisms to create engaging, memorable interactions

Technical Implementation

Prototyping Innovation

• Figma Variables: Leveraged Figma’s new variables feature for dynamic prototype interactions, enabling care lists to switch between happy/sad emojis based on user actions
• Content Generation: Used Midjourney for custom imagery and emojis, ensuring brand consistency and avoiding generic stock photography
• Animation: Created micro-animations using After Effects with basic keyframes to enhance user feedback

Results & Impact

User Feedback

• Users found the emoji system intuitive and emotionally engaging
• Interface described as familiar yet fresh, balancing known patterns with innovative approaches
• Positive reception of accessibility improvements and visual design refinements
• Strong validation of focused, sensor-centric approach over feature-heavy alternatives

Design Outcomes

• Successfully pivoted from overwhelming, multi-purpose interface to focused, user-centred design
• Established comprehensive design system with accessible colour palette and typography
• Created innovative plant health communication system that resonated across age groups
• Developed scalable architecture for future feature integration

Key Learnings

User-Centered Design

The most critical lesson was maintaining focus on user needs over feature ambition. Regular self-assessment against the fundamental question “Does this cater to the user’s needs?” became essential for design alignment.

Iterative Design Value

The dramatic improvement from first to final iteration demonstrated the power of user feedback and iterative refinement. Early “failure” in the first design version provided invaluable learning opportunities.

Accessibility & Inclusivity

Prioritising accessibility from early design phases created better experiences for all users, not just those with specific needs. This approach influenced all subsequent design decisions.

Future Enhancements

Based on structured user feedback, identified potential features for incremental introduction:

• Planting Seed Reminders: Historical data and weather pattern analysis for optimal planting timing
• Pest & Disease Management: Machine vision integration for plant observation and risk assessment
• Weather Integration: Focused on irrigation scheduling while maintaining gardening-first approach
• AI Integration: Conversational guidance for planting and growing advice

Conclusion

This project evolved from a broad smart agriculture concept to a focused, user-centred digital growing companion. The journey reinforced the importance of user needs over designer assumptions and demonstrated how iterative design and honest user feedback can transform an overwhelming interface into an intuitive, engaging experience.

The success of innovative elements like the emoji-based plant health system showed that user-centred thinking can lead to memorable design solutions that resonate across diverse user groups.

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Tools Used: Figma, Midjourney, After Effects, Optimal Workshop
Research Methods: Surveys, user interviews, card sorting, chalk mark testing, journey mapping
Design Methods: Persona development, competitive analysis, wireframing, prototyping, usability testing
Keywords: Smart Agriculture, IoT Integration, User Experience, Accessibility, Mobile Design