-1.png)
Bloom Buddy
A gamified plant care app designed to help new plant owners stay consistent, organized, and engaged in their plant care routines.
Role
UX Designer
Timeline
Sep 2023 - Dec 2023
Team
4 Designers
Tools Used
Figma
Context
This project was part of a Human–Computer Interaction Design course, where we applied the human-centered design process to create accessible and engaging digital guidance for plant owners.
Bloom Buddy is a gamified calendar and community app that reminds users to complete plant care tasks while connecting them with a supportive network for advice and motivation. The app aims to make plant care less overwhelming by blending organization, accountability, and playfulness into a cohesive user experience.
Problem
New plant owners need a streamlined, convenient, and reliable source for specific plant care guidance because the internet is too broad and they often lack the time to dedicate the effort towards their plants necessary for reaching their personal plant care goals
User Research
Interview
We conducted 8 interviews (2 each) aimed to understand the behaviors, needs, and challenges of new plant owners who genuinely care for their houseplants but lack experience and seek simple, reliable guidance to improve their plant care routines.
Insights
Plant owners often don’t have enough time to dedicate more effort into taking care of their plants.
Plant owners find the internet to be too broad when seeking information to care for their specific plant, and seek reliable advice from experienced plant owners.
Plant owners have difficulties adapting their plant care to unfavorable environments, such as lack of direct sunlight, cold temperatures, and disruptive wind pressure.
Plant owners believe it is important to be prepared and knowledgeable about their plants, as they care for their plants as a responsibility and a living being.
User Persona
Vivian recently bought a basil plant and wants to take better care of it. She often forgets watering schedules but loves connecting with others who share her interests. She’s motivated by visuals, reminders, and community encouragement.
Needs & Goals
Stay consistent with plant care routines
Learn from others’ real experiences
Feel motivated and connected through shared progress
Pain Points
Forgets watering or reporting schedules
Unsure if she’s providing the right care for her basil
Needs quick, visual guidance rather than long instructions
Designing
Prototype Design Goals
Task 1
Help users stay organized and feel comfortable with the long term care of their plants
Task 2
Hold user’s accountable
for conducting
their plant care routine
for conducting
their plant care routine
Task 3
Help users understand the responsibility of caring for a live plant
Task 4
Help users exchange plant care knowledge and resources with other plant owners
Storyboard
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Prototyping
Low Fidel Sketchs
High Fidel Prototype
Task 1: Personalized Plant Care Scheduling and Guidance
Task 2: Interactive Calendar (Reminders, Feed, & Photo)
Task 3: Avatar (reflects how well user takes care of actual plant)
Task 4: Public Forum (Asking Questions / Outside Resources)
Evaluating
Heuristic Evaluation
Heuristic Violation:
Consistency
The “Show more love!” text is meant to be clickable, but it doesn’t look interactive. It lacks visual cues that signal it is a button.
Heuristic Violation:
Aesthetic and minimalist design
There are placeholders and incomplete content, and the horizontal scrolling feels awkward.
Heuristic Violation:
User In Control
The leaf icon is not clickable, preventing users from reviewing their selected details.
Heuristic Violation:
Visibility of system status
The Avatar lacks interactivity and does not show which actions trigger points to be earned, making it feel static rather than game-like.
Key Major Severity Violated Heuristics
Usability Test & User Feedback
Problem: Users couldn’t navigate directly to the current day by tapping on the calendar; instead, they had to use the “Day” tab.
Evidence: User tried to click the current day on the calendar but nothing changed.
Problem: The color scheme lacked sufficient contrast and didn’t align with the app’s natural theme.
Evidence: Users mentioned the colors felt dull and didn’t match the calming, plant-focused purpose of the app.
Problem: The app’s gamification elements felt minimal, reducing engagement and motivation.
Evidence: Users said the experience didn’t feel like a game and wished for clear progress rewards, such as earning points for consistent plant care.
Problem: After submitting a comment, the text disappeared with no confirmation or visible feedback.
Evidence: Users were unsure if their comments were posted and asked whether the submission was successful.
Final Outcome
Task 1
Task 2
Task 3
Task 4
