Product Design
Prevent overwatering and under-watering of succulents using visual and auditory cues
Year
2018
Client
Personal Project
Role
UX and UI
Team
2 designers
Scope
UX Strategy and Product design
Background
Gardening is a versatile hobby practiced by individuals of all age and in every household. Since many people have started settling in apartments and similar facilities, new forms of gardening such as kitchen gardening, terrace gardening, terrariums, vertical gardening, hydroponic and aquaponics systems have evolved.
The Challenge
How can people adopt without putting in a lot of time and effort? Also, making it easier for pet parents to care for their pets by having all of the necessary information in one place.
Design Process
Design Process
The project began by studying the challenges that arise when gardening, with a particular focus on caring for succulents. To gain insight, we conducted interviews with gardeners in their own homes or gardens.
User Research
Phase 1
To understand indoor gardening behaviors and problems faced by Users.
Children below 10 years of age were excluded as they were mostly supervised by adults.
Phase 2
Understanding plant preferences and problems faced with nurturing them.
Users mostly like to keep Air purifiers, Good luck plants, Bonsai and other low maintenance plants
Succulents are popular choice as new additions to indoor gardens. Users reported receiving them
as gifts.
They are often sold as low-maintenance plants but users are unsuccessful in growing them.
Lack of guidance from local nurseries and too much information available online makes users confused and they end up over-caring and killing the plant.
The most common dilemma is to understand when to water succulents.
Ideation
Wishlist - Divergent Thinking Method
For Ideation, Divergent Thinking method of Wishing was used. Wishing helps expand thinking. It is thinking beyond sensible, beyond practical and feasible. It helps to step outside the box.
Enhancement Checklist Method - Convergent Thinking Method
Enhancement Checklist is Convergent Thinking method which further develops the idea and gets it ready for implementation. They guide us to consider emotional and people-related issues, the strengths and weaknesses of the idea, systems effects and consequences, and the need for trials and prototypes.
Conceptualization
Conceptualisation
The concept was based on enhancing a magnetic levitation planter. Using visual and audio cues to help users determine water needs of succulents and eliminating a mobile or web based application was the goal.
Pot shape explorations
Logo
The chosen brand name implies that plants are grown more easily by preventing over- and under-watering. The colours green and blue in the logo represent nature, growth, and life.
Solution
Components
Details
The product can be used individually or in set. The hexagonal shape of the base and pot allows multiple arragement options for the users while using minimum space.
The moisture sensor determines the height of each pot. When the sensor detects sufficient moisture, the pots levitate to maximum height.
As the moisture level decreases, the sensor regulates current through the magnetic levitation circuit and gradually decreases the height of the pot. The LED turns Off (thus saving power) and the system emits ‘beep’ sounds at intervals to gain user’s attention.
To avoid pot from falling suddenly in case of power failure, the system is equipped with a battery that slowly discharges. This helps gradual descend of the pot to the base.
Mockup
3D Model
Limitation
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Because the weight of the product is vital when working with levitation, it only works with small plants.
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The product has to be waterproof.
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The product will be targeted at high-end gardeners due to the mechanism's high cost.
Future Scope
One of the most common concerns among plant parents is leaving their plants alone and overwatering them before leaving the house. The next step is to ask your neighbours to water your plants every now and again. The introduction of an app could provide plant parents peace of mind knowing their plants are being watered.