Role
Product Designer
Timeline
12 months (Nov 22-Nov 23)
Core Responsibilities
Product strategy, Market research, IXD, Industrial design, Visual design, Usability test
The U.S. faces a fragile vegetable supply chain heavily reliant on imports, leaving local farmers struggling to compete. Disruptions like COVID-19 and wars worsen the situation, causing shortages and price hikes, leaving many without enough food.
Our project responds to this crisis by introducing a home gardening solution that enables individuals to take control of their food security, protecting against shortages and inflation during market failures.
The goal is to create a versatile solution that caters to the diverse needs of urban residents, providing a manageable and year-round gardening option that aligns with their varied lifestyles and experiences.
When supply chain disruptions from events like COVID and natural disasters occur, local markets cannot supplement from local farms, leading to produce shortages and price hikes. Before COVID-19, 11.1% of Americans lacked access to adequate food for an active, healthy life, jumping to 38% amidst the pandemic.(Louie 2021)
As people cannot foresee disasters but can prepare, enabling self-empowerment through home gardening allows consumers to take control of their food security to protect against shortages and inflation when market conditions fail to meet needs.
Crafting a system that accommodates varying levels of planting experience and hands-on abilities within a household, addressing both software and hardware components. Focused on delivering a user experience infused with positive and encouraging emotional value, this design strives to position itself as a welcomed addition to the family, transcending the realm of traditional home appliances.
In the current market, consumers can choose from traditional soil home gardens, hydroponic farms, and smart planters. Soil gardens offer a familiar, natural approach, while hydroponic farms provide a soil-less alternative with faster growth. Smart planters integrate technology for monitoring and control via mobile apps.
Pros:
Larger Cultivation Area;
Flexible upgrade Options;
Affordable prices for semi-finished parts.
Cons:
Requires installation knowledge and experience;
The additional learning curve for future upgrade.
Pros:
Compact Footprint;
Ready to use without installation;
Built-in LED lights
Cons:
Not upgradable;
Requires more frequent maintenance;
Unmeasurable outcome.
I'm designing the product for a wide-ranging group of urban dwellers, including young couples or families, who share common challenges in incorporating gardening into their lives. These individuals have limited farming experience and face obstacles such as adjusting to urban living, managing work and family commitments, and dealing with limited planting environment (in terms of space and climate)。
Experience the future of home gardening with our pre-manufactured enclosed growth environment. Our automated hydroponic system, driven by advanced AI, simplifies homegrown food, offering customized yields tailored to your family's tastes.
Intelligent planting decisions and continuous AI oversight ensure a diverse and personalized harvest. The modular design allows space customization, providing flexibility as your garden grows. This affordable solution guarantees a year-round supply of fresh, nutritious produce, delivering sustainable and cost-effective food autonomy for your family.
Modular Design
Soilless Cultivation
AI Oversight
Installation Assistants
Custom Family Garden
Interactive Guidance
. . .
DESIGN
By sketching a preliminary walkthrough of the primary user flow, I envisioned the initial steps a first-time user would take when planting their first seed with HomeBloom. I crafted the journey maps for soil and soilless farming, which served as the groundwork for the app's design. Subsequently, users can easily monitor the growing status through various data and infographics, providing a comprehensive and insightful understanding of their cultivation process.
After completing the majority of the feature design, I realized that excessive data display not only fails to deepen users' understanding of the plants they are cultivating but may also lead to confusion. This is because my target customer base lacks the knowledge and experience to interpret intricate growth data. Consequently, I need to convey filtered information to users in a more intuitive and concise manner, using language that is easily understandable.
I conducted a Usability Study within a controlled environment where 5 participants were asked to perform and provide feedback for three tasks using the clickable Low-Fidelity Prototype. The results from the test yielded 3 research insights that called for changes to be made to the primary user flow.
To see the complete Usability Study and Analysis, view my Process Deck.
P0 Insight: Inconsistent UI elements pose clarity issues, urging streamlined functions and better task organization;
P1 Insight: Users desire more control in AI conversations, advocating for increased choices and interactivity;
P1 Insight: Users seek clearer clickable elements, emphasizing the need for stronger visual cues and improved layouts.
Information Overload
Implementation: Simplify by showing only essential task prompts on device cards, standardize styles, prioritize cards based on task urgency, and amplify the size of the most critical tasks for improved visibility and user focus.
Device Discoverability Issue
Information Lack of Emphasis
Implementation: Enhance information clarity by replacing the lengthy AI report with key words and tags to emphasize crucial details. Represent the plant's health status using a percentage format. Additionally, offer an option for experienced users to delve into more comprehensive growth data through a designated button for an enriched user experience.
Task Discoverability Issue
Implementation: Optimize task visibility by featuring the most critical task prominently at the top of the dashboard in a large card format. Tasks are systematically categorized at the bottom of the page based on attributes, displayed in a list format for convenient reference.
To test the flow of my new designs, I conducted an Unmoderated Usability Study where 5 participants were asked to perform three tasks using my Mid-fidelity prototype. The study generated three new vital insights that would further help my design.
To see the complete Usability Study and Analysis, view my Process Deck.
P0 Insight: Inconsistent UI/UX elements reduce clarity, while consolidated functions, better progress indicators, and task organization could improve usability.;
P1 Insight: Inconsistent icon and button clickability confuses interactive elements. Need for more vital visual cues for actions along with better information hierarchy and layouts to improve discoverability;
P1 Insight: AI conversation lacks user control and flexibility in information flow, hurting engagement. Suggestions include increased choices, focused dialogue, and user-driven interactivity for livelier, less overloaded exchanges.
Task Efficiency Boost
Implementation: Enhancing Task Visibility and Efficiency Through Priority, Color Coding and Time Indicators. Increased the size of the primary task card to emphasize its importance.
Changed Page Name to "My Garden"
Implementation: Renamed the Device page to "My Garden" to better encompass both devices and crops within the sub-pages.
Implementation: Established a consistent card design for both devices and their sub-devices, emphasizing the tag attributes with an icon at the top edge.
Task Navigation Difficulty
Implementation: Unified plant location and time display, enhanced plant visibility, changed vacant slot color for contrast, removed addition symbol, replaced with stronger text cues.
Here is a preview of Homebloom's key features that assist novice users in completing complex tasks such as germination, seedlings, and harvesting. The AI assistant functions as an all-day online agricultural expert, continuously monitoring the growth of all crops inside the device and autonomously handling most situations. User intervention is only required for specific tasks, allowing users to spend minimal time and still harvest fresh vegetables.
AI assistant will recommend more personalized choices based on the family's preferences and needs. Even if users cannot precisely pick the target plants, they can still complete the harvesting with the assistance of the AI assistant and real-time camera footage.
AI will recommend seeds based on the seed inventory and past consumption records. Users only need to scan the seed packaging and insert the seed tray with a standardized base into the corresponding position in the seedling incubator.
The Hydro Hub unit consolidates all necessary equipment. Once users are familiar with it, they can independently handle tasks like nutrient addition and water change. The mobile interface acts as a prompt screen, providing system feedback during task completion.
We conducted usability testing on the HomeBloom App and gathered valuable insights from 10 participants. The SUS scores, a measure of perceived usability, provide a comprehensive overview of user satisfaction. Achieving a top score of 92.5 and an average score of 81 attests to the excellent usability of the Homebloom app in the realm of UX design.
In the realm of smart vertical farming solutions, there's a prevailing trend toward prioritizing aesthetics, often at the expense of functionality. This prompts a pivotal inquiry: do consumers lean towards an eye-catching, illuminated smart planter, or do they gravitate towards a design that optimizes plant growth, ensuring a consistent supply of fresh, diverse vegetables? From the vantage point of both supply chain dynamics and user consumption habits, the latter resonates more profoundly with genuine user needs, presenting an intriguing design challenge and opportunity.
In the initial stages of the design process, my vision was to create a new home appliance that seamlessly integrates into the overall interior design of a household. I aimed for a design that doesn't overly draw attention but rather harmonizes with a home's existing aesthetic. Moreover, I envisioned the product to evolve with the growing needs of a household. Hence, I adopted a modular design approach to provide flexibility and scalability to meet the expanding requirements of a growing family.
Moving forward, in my exploration of the initial design direction, I opted for a tech-forward aesthetic. However, upon closer examination, the window configuration within the grow cell module, coupled with the vertical segmentation of the planting area, imbues it with a resemblance more akin to a laboratory incubator than a household appliance.
In this approach, a palette dominated by large neutral color blocks creates a calming and harmonious visual experience. The device's exterior is predominantly adorned with extensive wood veneer, providing a warm and organic aesthetic. Accentuating the design are small, elongated glass elements strategically placed as both decorative embellishments and observation windows.
In the realm of material selection, I consciously veered away from expansive displays of cold metallic components. Instead, I incorporated large swaths of natural wood-toned veneers, ensuring a harmonious color palette that resonates seamlessly with the domestic environment—complementing furniture, cabinets, and flooring. A consistent top-to-bottom glass window design visually links the three distinct equipment modules, preserving a cohesive aesthetic throughout.
The forthcoming 3D renders will intricately showcase the practical manifestation of this unique design concept. From color to texture, every detail has been meticulously crafted to create a visually striking masterpiece that seamlessly blends the beauty of technology with nature. We believe this is not just a device but an extension of lifestyle, offering users an exceptional blend of aesthetic delight and functional experience.
Providing concise and clear task guidance posed a challenge.
Enhancing liveliness in AI assistant conversations presented a design hurdle.
Assisting users with no agricultural experience in raising task-related agricultural questions was challenging.
Simultaneously designing the product and its accompanying app required careful coordination.
Expand design and testing to include additional workflows like remote control and disease procedures.
Introduce more variety in device options to cater to diverse user needs.
Design a standard package for seeds and other consumables to enhance user convenience.
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