Plant Care Companion App
Helping users build better plant care habits through gentle reminders and habit loops.
Part of the Google UX Design Certificate.
Project Overview
Designing a plant care companion app that helps users build consistent care habits and better understand their plants’ needs.
This project is part of the Google UX Design Certificate (Coursera) program, focusing on end-to-end UX research and design.
My Role
UX Designer | User Research | Ideation | Prototyping (when ready)
Current Stage
Wireframing and prototyping to translate user insights into design solutions.
Work so far
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Problem Statements
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User Personas
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Pain Points & Value Statements
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User Goals
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HMW ideas
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
User Research Summary
To understand how people care for their plants and the challenges they face, I gathered qualitative insights through online reviews, community discussions, and AI-simulated 1:1 interviews using ChatGPT.
This hybrid approach allowed me to explore different user perspectives efficiently and identify both emotional and practical pain points early in the process.
While these insights were simulated rather than drawn from real-world testing, they helped refine my assumptions, strengthen empathy for users, and shape the direction for future in-person research.
Key Insights
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Users are emotionally invested in their plants and feel guilt when a plant dies.
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Generic advice doesn’t help — users want personalized guidance.
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Many feel overwhelmed by conflicting or inconsistent online information.
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Users respond better to gentle, supportive nudges than strict reminders.
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Visual cues and smart suggestions are preferred over rigid schedules.
User Personas
Based on the insights from user research, I identified distinct user types with varying motivations, challenges, and attitudes toward plant care. To better empathize with them, I created personas that represent these patterns.
Journey Map
Mapping the user journey revealed emotional highs and lows throughout the plant care experience — from excitement at purchase to guilt and confusion when problems arise.
Pain Points
Forgetfulness in plant care
Users frequently forget to water or care for their plants due to busy schedules or lack of routine.
This highlights the need for timely, gentle reminders and personalized care notifications in the app to help build consistent habits.
Overwhelming Information
Too much technical or generalized information online leaves users confused and unsure what applies to their specific plants.
The aim is to design a simplified, tailored experience with clear, concise guidance for each plant the user owns.
Lack of Confidence
Beginners often feel unsure about how to care for specific plants, leading to hesitation or plant neglect.
This will guide us to include educational, beginner-friendly features like plant profiles, care instructions, and troubleshooting help.
Emotional Attachment
Users feel emotionally invested in their plants and experience guilt or sadness when a plant dies.
This insight pushes us to incorporate encouraging, empathetic messaging and progress tracking to support users emotionally through their plant care journey.
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Problem Statement
Plant owners — from busy professionals to retirees — often struggle to maintain healthy plants due to forgetfulness, lack of confidence in their plant knowledge, and overwhelming or conflicting information online.
These challenges are often amplified by the emotional guilt that comes when plants fail to thrive. Without clear guidance and supportive routines, plant care can feel stressful instead of joyful.
Therefore, users need a simple, personalized, and empathetic way to care for their plants — one that builds confidence and turns plant care into a positive daily ritual.
✨ Key Problem Insights
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Forgetfulness and inconsistent care routines
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Lack of confidence in plant knowledge
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Overwhelming and generalized online advice
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Emotional guilt when plants don’t thrive
Goal Statement
The goal of this project is to design a plant care companion app that helps users develop consistent, confident, and joyful plant care habits.
✨ Goals:
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Provide timely, personalized reminders that support consistent care routines
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Simplify plant knowledge into clear, beginner-friendly guidance
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Organize tasks by zones, routines, or plant types to make care more intuitive
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Use empathetic, encouraging messaging to help users feel supported rather than judged
Coming
Up Next
The next step in this project is the Ideation and Wireframing phase, where I’ll explore multiple design directions based on the defined problems and goals.
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I’m currently working on sketching early concepts, refining user flows, and building low-fidelity wireframes to bring the plant care experience to life.