Hydroponics
A Mobile App UX Case Study
An application which enables people to shift from buying to cultivating organic produce.
Why Hydroponics?
Hydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil.
It is a soil free nutrient based farming method which allows us to grow our own fresh produce without requiring too much technical knowledge.
This farming method not only allows us to grow more in less space but hydroponically grown foods taste better,are more nutritional and pollutes less.
My Role
UX Designer
Skills
UX Research
Duration
6 Weeks
Tools
Adobe XD, Figma, Miro
The Process
Discover
Discovering The Problem
Living in the city comes with many constraints especially on wellness. A healthy environment is what one longs for. However, man cannot control every aspect of their life but new trends in diet is something that is bringing a positive change all over.
With the help of hydroponics farming method, fresh produce will be easily accessible even to novices. The rise of novel corona virus has also led to major dietary regulations among people.
Day by day the general public is more watchful of what they eat and consume. Hydroponics farming might as well be the new way to go about it.
Challenges
- Pesticide and fertilizer free crops are not easily available and if so, they then are expensive.
- Polluted crops. Freshness of crops deteriorates by the time they reach city from the farm.
- Decreased Nutritional value of produce.
- Soil based farming requires lot of space i.e. large farmlands, fertile soil and continuous water supply. Not a viable option for urban areas.
- Traditional farming method requires knowledge of subject matter.
- Little awareness of the nutrients present in fruits or vegetable that are being consumed.
- With the emergence of covid-19 and social distancing being the new norm, how does one implement a more healthy dietary change in cities?
Solutions
- It is a pesticide free method of farming thus providing better nutritional value. Since the plants are grown by us, it will be easily accessible at a less expensive rate.
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Provides users the option of growing their own fresh produce while living in the city. Thus, making it a feasible option for the urban population.
- Plants take up the exact amount of water they need at any one time and the rest remains in the reservoir to be used later. Comparing this to soil gardening or farming where you have to water your plants or crops daily and most of the water is wasted.
- Does not require subject mastery. Even novices can grow their own produce.
- One can change the properties of food and monitor what goes into it.
- Gives the users the opportunity to deal with less diseases and pests because one is not using soil, making it get rid of lot of soil-borne diseases and pests that can normally wreak havoc on plants and make gardening and farming a pain.
Discover
Qualitative Research
After talking to various like minded people about consumption of fresh produce, I narrowed down the interviews to fit my challenges and solutions. I also got different perspectives as to what people think about consuming fresh fruits and vegetables, if they have thought about growing their own produce and how have those ways changed during Covid-19.
Gaining insight of into user experiences
I conducted a total of ten interviews understanding the thoughts and the challenges that users face while trying to obtain fresh produce. The primary goal was to gain insight and understanding into user challenges and struggles.
Discover
Quantitative Research
I built my quantitative research on the basis of the problem faced by people who longed for better quality food. Their methods by which they acquired these products differed but the motivation was the same; to maintain a healthy lifestyle and hence, this validates my challenges and their reasoning.
Gives us an insight as to what users feel and think about growing their own food.
Does traditional soil based farming methods cause hindrance?
Does the city life act as an obstacle?
93% live in an urban are and 51% feel that there is a permanent shift in procuring fruits and vegetables.
71% have thought of growing there own produce and 80% are interested in exploring Hydroponics as a method for growing.
74% feel that an application which guides them through the process of Hydroponics would be helpful.
Define
User Stories
User stories gave me a perspective from the user’s end. How they would like to use and what they would liked to accomplish from the said service. The four interviews mentioned, tackle different situations and experiences and give insight into the user’s thought process.
However, his mother has been showing an inclination towards starting a kitchen garden and has successfully grown tomatoes, green chilies, coriander, spinach and fenugreek leaves. She believes that the family’s dependence on purchasing fruits and vegetables from the market will be less if she is able to grow most of the produce the family consumes on a daily basis.
Prospective Masters Student,
21 years old
She wishes that the authenticity of organic produce was more believable and available at a cheaper rate. In her opinion gardening would be a good way forward but it is something that requires time effort and space and difficult to implement in urban areas.
Design Student,
21 years old
The thought of growing his own produce has crossed his mind many times but wishes for convenient methods which would make the process more hassle free. In his opinion, just the idea that you are aware of what you are growing and eating is the only motivation one needs if only there was an detailed procedure, a way to track growth and get the right materials.
Entrepreneur,
25 years old
She feels organic produce is not easily recognisable. It cannot be distinguished very easily and hence the only way to know is by consuming it. She wishes for a way to know the authenticity and mentions the frustrations faced by her mother while growing a few fruits and vegetables such as space, direction of sunlight, time and maintenance. She believes that it should yield good results otherwise it can be a demotivating factor.
Engineering student,
20 years old
Discover
Competitor Analysis
It helped me better in recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of products. It determines where your product strategy stands and lies, how different is your product and how it identifies the gap.
Define
User Persona
Consequently, two persona’s were created; Mr. Faizal Azmi who has been trying to maintain an organic kitchen for the last 10-15 years and Suhasini Deshmukh who has been trying to grow a few fruits and vegetables through soil based methods.
Thus, this highlights the troubles of obtaining organic produce and growing your own produce. Hence, synthesizing further, gave me insight to the different sides of struggles, goals, motivation and frustrations.
Here, Suhasini Deshmukh’s persona describes the struggles of growing produce via soil based methods.
Define
Empathy Mapping
Both the personas differ with respect to their experiences but are in line with the challenges identified. They say that they want organic produce, They feel authenticity is an issue, They think ways sin which organic produce can be obtained and they go through the cumbersome process of looking for organic fruits and vegetables.
Ideate
Ideation
User and App pains & goals are derived from the conclusions drawn from both qualitative and quantitative research. The intersection between these Pains and Goals further establishes an umbrella objective, thus enhancing the user experience of the Hydroponics App.
Ideate
Customer Journey Map
Here, Faizal Azmi’s journey is mapped out who has undergone through the process of obtaining organic produce and is most likely too in the future as well. Needs, goals, emotions and activities specific to him have been drawn out thus giving a greater insight into his customer journey.
Fazial Azmi, faces the most struggle when he identifies his need for organic produce and ways in which he can obtain it. He is the happiest when he gets in touch with a organic supplier of his liking and choice. So to be able to have a better User Experience at Hydroponics, one should be able to resolve availability and authenticity in the most efficient way.
Ideate
User Flow
We tackled availability and authenticity of organic fruits and vegetables with minimum navigation.
Design
Information Architecture
The purpose is to let users of hydroponics easily navigate through with minimal effort. Individuals, irrespective of age groups should be able to understand how things are organized and that it can be accessed easily.
Design
Low Fidelity Wireframes & Prototyping
Design
UI Style Guide
Colour Palette
Typography
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Iconography
Design
High Fidelity
Next Steps
The Journey Ahead
Our definition of health and wellness has constantly been changing. This shift in recent times is greater due to advent of Covid-19 pandemic. It was only a matter of time that consciousness of one’s well being took priority.
Possible Outcomes
Hydroponics has been gaining lot of popularity as a method of growing one's own produce especially amongst the city dwellers.
It tackles lot of inconveniences such as space, maintenance, cost etc.
However, availability of materials, proper guidance and the motivation to invest time and grow are they key improvement areas.
User Satisfaction
Although the project was made by keeping in mind the gaps that existed and the inconveniences faced by the users, it is necessary to understand that how the proposed project has helped them overcome those gaps in order to improve further.