Academic
Group Project
Fall 2022
Front-End Developer
UX/ UI Designer
Graphic Designer
12 weeks
Figma
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Illustrator
HTML CSS Javascript
In an effort to combat climate change, we created SeedSprout, an initiative to empower people to reduce their carbon footprint through gardening. SeedSprout is a platform that makes gardening accessible, enjoyable, and environmentally impactful. By offering personalized gardening advice through an engaging quiz, users are guided to grow the right plants that reduce carbon emissions and enhance their quality of life.
Understanding the Problem:
The key challenge was to create a simple, interactive web application that made gardening approachable and fun, while ensuring it appealed to a diverse user group interested in reducing carbon emissions. This required understanding how to engage users in the gardening process, while offering personalized recommendations tailored to their unique needs and preferences.
Research and Discovery:
The team conducted user research to understand the needs of gardening enthusiasts, particularly those new to gardening or unsure where to begin.
Our primary audience was environmentally-conscious individuals like Christie, a beginner gardener. Christie needed an easy-to-use platform that provided guidance in selecting the right plants, helping her start her gardening journey with confidence.
Overwhelming Gardening Process: Many environmentally-conscious individuals may find gardening intimidating or difficult to start, especially without guidance on what to plant or how to begin.
Choosing Suitable Plants: Users often struggle to determine which plants are appropriate plants for their environment and needs.
Complex Resources: Gardening resources can sometimes be overwhelming, with too much information or too many choices.
Navigation Frustration: Users may find it difficult to browse and choose plants without an efficient catalog or system.
Engagement Issues: Gardening can lack excitement.
How might we create an engaging, user-friendly gardening platform that helps individuals reduce carbon emissions through personalized recommendations?
01 Simplicity
Keeping the design straightforward, making it easy for anyone, regardless of their prior knowledge, to navigate.
02 Personalization
Tailoring plant recommendations based on the user's responses, ensuring they are relevant to their specific needs and environment.
03 Interactivity
Engaging users through an interactive quiz, making gardening more fun and accessible.
04 Environmentally-conscious
Ensuring the app highlights the positive environmental impact of gardening, empowering users to make sustainable choices.
The design of SeedSprout reflects our core values of simplicity, nature, and growth.
The color palette draws inspiration from the natural world, using earthy tones that invoke a sense of calm and connection to the earth.
The logo, an abstract seedling emerging to form the letter "S”, symbolizes the beginning of growth and the user's’ journey towards creating a sustainable garden.
During usability testing, we identified a critical pain point: the product catalog was not organized alphabetically, which made it challenging for users to navigate through the gardening recommendations. This feedback was invaluable and led us to restructure the catalog.
Key Changes Based on Feedback:
As we transitioned from concept to development, we focused on:
