SaveMyPlants - Case Study

I am a terrible plant owner. I always forget to water them and afterwards they look like plant zombies fighting for survival. At the same time household looks much cosier with plants and allows me to relax. So I decided to do what any designer in my place would do and design not a hypothetical app that would solve this problem.

I am a fan of the “one job” apps like Shazam or Headspace etc. This way app has only one goal and is focused on solving a single problem. This was my main goal. Simple app that would carry the load of watering plants.

Main finding: Too much water or too little of it is the most common cause of plants deaths.

How does it work?

Research

For a better understanding of the potential user, I made an Empathy map. thanks to this exercise I was able to put myself into other peoples shoes and look at this problem from other angles.

Wireframes

In this section, I want to present the basic flows of the app. All are designed with low fidelity just to illustrate the main idea.

Adding your first plant

This flow represents an onboarding process. App gives new users only one option at the beginning to add the first plan. Users can select a couple of options but preferable is to search plan by its image. Once the photo is made the search engine finds the plant that matches the source file. The last thing to do is for the user to identify the plant and make a selection.

Notification wizard

Once the plant is selected app presents the user with all essential information about the plant. How much sun it likes, is it pet friendly and most important how often he should water it. Rest it just to set the best time for the app to remind the user about the watering and all is set.

App Main Screens

Last but not least is the main dashboard with all the plants added, user can open it and monitor the status, edit the settings and manage the app.

UI

In this section, I want to present the basic flows of the app. All is designed with low fidelity just to illustrate the main idea.

Bussines Model

The plan for this app is quite simple. It should be for free use. Only this way app as simple a this could create an engagement. The app is designed to tackle one problem and solve it with minimum effort. No one would pay for such service upfront. This means it forces us to create other ways of income. App straight will be its user base.

In-App Purchases: Once users will notice thair plants are not a temporary thing and they will witness theirs plant growth. They will be more invested in taking care of them more. Water and good locations are only the first steps. After a while, we can recommend fertilisers, plant pots and plant grooming accessories. We can have a shop inside the app or collaborate with store chains. Once users get attached to the plant they will look for options to make them more healthy.

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