The Nursery
Problem
The nursery, originally named Monarch Nursery, is a family-run nursery that exclusively sells native plants. The company is interested in scaling from the idea of selling in person to neighborhood consumers, and needs a platform that allows e-commerce functions and introduces a plant care community.
Solution
Applying an agile framework, our team of three created a high fidelity responsive prototype, and a companion mobile application, and extensive brand identification for the client.
Role
UX Designer, Research Lead
Team of 3
Timeframe+Deliverables
3 Weeks
High Fidelity Prototype
Companion Mobile App
Key Methods
Agile framework
Design Studio
Strategic Branding
User Journey Mapping
Defining the Brand.
Beginning with a client call, we aimed to discover exactly what the scope of the project was.
During the meeting, we made discoveries about the company’s intentions and some ideas of where to begin our research
The business’ problems include:
1
The vision for the nursery needs to be tailored. This bootstrapped start-up company is fresh and open to new ideas. The client is unsure what medium the platform should take, and if a website or mobile app would be best.
2
The concept of the company is still in development. While the client intends to sell their plants, they also intend to provide community resources. Even the name of the company hasn’t yet been solidified.
3
The client wants to know what their market is like in order to form relationships with clients. What they know is that they want their customers to feel smart, and included.
A business and competitive analysis helped to pin some of the concepts, and customer relationships the client had not yet validated.
A variety of brand designing activities helped inform these feelings that most align with the client’s goals.
:: Fresh, Earthy, Nurturing, Gender-Neutral, Joyful, Supportive ::
From this brand research, we found that the name Monarch Nursery did not truly fit with the company’s mission, which lead to the introduction of a new name.
The name Grounded Nursery was validated through user testing. Users felt that the name evoked a sense of togetherness, and even complimented the native plants’ ability to pull nutrients into the ground more than other plants.
We introduced the name Grounded Nursery as the name that more closely aligned with the brand’s identity.
Styling the Brand.
We solidified a color palette, textures, and logo designs that fit the defined brand identity.
Mood Board.
The mood board incorporates colors from the clients ideal palette as well as other natural tones that further enforced the earthy and fresh aesthetic of the brand’s identity.
Discovering the Users.
As research lead, I executed a series of user interviews and surveys, data visualization, and data synthesis that helped to anchor what the nursery platform needed to look and feel like.
Phase 1: User Interviews
The user interview research plan included the following inquiry categories:
Experience: Aimed to find out how familiar the users are with native plants, and where they go for troubleshooting information when a plant is in need.
Plant care: We wanted to know how users purchase plants and how much they trust information on the web.
Design Preference: The goal of this category was to know how involved Grounded Nursery would be in curating plant packages.
Synthesis.
The platform should exist primarily as a responsive website.
Most users aren’t familiar with what native plants are but are eager to learn
Aesthetics are important and overall, most users prefer curated plant boxes over customizable options
Phase 2: User Survey
After uncovering that the primary platform needed to exist as a website, we discovered that it is important for customer retention and a post-purchase customer experience to exist. As research lead, I wanted to validate if there would be a need for a companion mobile app, and if so, what the features of said app may be.
Synthesis.
We found that overall, there is a validated need for a companion mobile app, intended to follow a purchase of plants on the website.
We found that most users are used to using companion apps in their daily lives already and could easily integrate another one in for tracking the health of their plant
This allows users to remain close to the Grounded Nursery community even after their long-lasting plant purchase.
Typical journey map of a user who is discovering Grounded Nursery for the first time.
The creation of personas and journey mapping was particularly important for this project.
We created two personas:
an experienced, older gardener who is interested in buying more native plants.
a new homeowner who does not know where to begin his gardening journey.
Crafting a Prototype.
We executed rapid sketching and once feedback was confirmed, we digitized our sketches into both low and mid-fidelity wireframes. Our finalized wireframes were tested before advancing to the high fidelity prototyping phase.
Gaining trust with customers.
Users are able to gain trust with the company by building an intimate experience where they have a preview of the greenhouse facilities, and can learn about Grounded Nursery’s background story.
Responsive to Mobile.
We highlighted the transition from web to mobile as the site is meant to be accessible, and also includes resources, such as a video library, that are intended to be consumed on the go, or while gardening.
Full Transparency.
The website’s homepage manages user expectations so they know what a package includes, immediately. Users were initially unclear about how the plant’s conditions, we received positive feedback in a second round of testing.
Focus on Education.
It was very important that users understand Grounded Nursery’s namesake and the plants that exist at the core of the company. An interview participant had no prior knowledge of what native plants were, but felt informed and knowledgable after reading the information on the high fidelity site.
Companion Mobile App.
The companion mobile app offers tracking on the purchased landscapes, and a resource guide for users. The native plants users purchase on the website are everlasting and often one-time purchases, therefore when the app is downloaded after purchasing, it encourages customer retention, satisfaction, and eventually referrals.
Final Thoughts
Working with a client with a flexible concept was a rewarding process. Ultimately, applying extensive research to brand identity and user experience allowed for a prototype that reached across mediums. Grounded Nursery’s users are able to shop, learn, and socialize all from the intimate platform.