Perennial by the Master Gardeners
Description
This was a mobile concept piece for The Master Gardeners (MGs), a program typically offered through universities in the United States and Canada, that provides intense home horticulture training to individuals who then volunteer in their communities. The intention of the app was to increase awareness of the MG program within the 18-35 year-old age group, preparing the next generation of gardeners and potentially broadening the MG member base.
UX/UI Designer
Responsibilities
Project Management, User Research, User Interface Design, Usability Testing, Visual Design
team members
Peter Suk - Michael Weller - Lauren Ambielli
The Problem
Through the past decade, interest in gardening, particularly in regards to farming, has shown a steady increase in popularity with Millennials, with the desire to support small farmers and organic produce. However, the level of interest surrounding the educational development of the different technical aspects, necessary to continue the trade, tends to be much lower.
Our challenge was to help the Master Gardener’s program evolve, and bridge the gap with the younger generations, in hopes of inspiring them to participate, learn more, and create an outlet for Master Gardeners to get in contact with the communities they serve. The app would depict a user flow that allows the gardeners to connect to a specific experience, across a tablet or iPhone platform.
research
Our team conducted a series of interviews with both Master Gardeners and gardening enthusiasts of all ages. We hypothesized that if we were to make the information about the Master Gardeners more accessible, we would get more members of the public involved in the program.
Our user interviews were separated into two categories: interviews with Master Gardeners and interviews with gardening enthusiasts who could potentially benefit from this app. Although we aimed to get as diverse of, priority was placed on scheduling interviews with millennials, as this was the demographic outlined in our project brief.
Persona & scenario
Our Persona is Noah, age 32. He lives in Ballard and works as a software sales manager. He's a beginner gardener, and hopes to get some insight and gardening tips from the Master Gardeners.
He turns to Perennial to ask for help with a specific question about a plum tree in his backyard that might be dying.
User Journey
initial Solution
Our initial solution was to highlight the work of Master Gardeners, and try our best to get people excited about going to the plant clinics, events and demonstration gardens. As such, we placed the messaging function as a secondary priority in order to focus on getting people to seek information on the events first.
For the home screen, we made a dashboard where users could see their saved events, messages, and contacts at a glance. Alternatively, if users wanted to access that information later on in the user flow, they could tap the notebook icon to see their inbox, calendar, contacts, and access their individual profile.
Site Map
usability test findings
After conducting extensive user research, a consistent problem we encountered was a general lack of understanding on exactly what the MGs do, as well as confusion about certain vocabulary and the different activities they partake in. Users could not easily differentiate "clinics", "demonstration gardens" and "events", and what the purpose would be for going to one or the other.
Poor informational architecture and inconvenient scheduling were also a major contributing factor. From the design perspective, users were not particularly excited about the events and wanted to get their questions answered more quickly through a messaging service.
In order to correct this issue, we decided that our greatest areas for opportunity involved a clean, simple UI with the different activities neatly organized, and easy to access. In order to connect the younger generations with the MGs, we instituted a simple messaging system in order to put our user in direct contact.
conclusion
After conducting usability testing, we were able to conclude that our initial hypotheses-that if we provided better access to information about the Master Gardeners, we would likely increase general interest in the programs-was incorrect. The simple accessibility to information was not an adequate solution in motivating Millennials to take a greater part in the Master Gardeners, and that perhaps the problems stemmed from within the organization and the way it markets itself and its services.
Many were confused with the different verbiage that was used by the MGs, and, therefore, found it difficult to navigate through the app. Essentially, it was the perceived notion of our users that the app catered more to the older generations than it did to them. Also, it was consistently mentioned that motivating, social aspects were found to be lacking.
Future Iterations & Next Steps
Moving forward, we hope to introduce a much more simplified version of our app, in which the UI and visual style would appeal to both demographics of potential users. We chose to follow the Android design paradigm, as its affordability and screen size has made it a popular option among seniors. In addition, a major feature would be the introduction of more social networking aspects, similar in style to Meetup with the number and profile of the people attending.
A second iteration was out of scope for the project; however, we continued to iterate on our own time using what we learned from user testing. Featured below, is my personal interpretation of where I saw the app going.
Second Iteration - Wireframes
Second Iteration - Hi-Fidelity Mockups
take-aways
When developing an app that is meant to cater to multiple demographics, taxonomy is crucial, as they can draw very different conclusions in regards to their meaning.
Navigability, knowing when to alter iconography and the effects that they have on a mobile platform.
How to balance the different UX roles in a more efficient manner.
Tools & techniques
Pen & paper, Sketch, Axure, Invision, Omigraffle, Photoshop, Illustrator
User interviews, Use Cases, Personas, Scenarios, Competitive/Comparative Analysis, Affinity Diagrams, Usability testing