SCHOOL PROJECT
Stay Leafy
Plant care service and app design project to keep houseplants healthier and build companionship by offering clinic, community, workshop, hotel, and delivery service
2022. 10 - 2022. 12. (8 weeks)
DURATION
TYPE
TEAM (3)
MY ROLE
Service Design + Mobile App Design
Research, Project Management, Digital Wireframing, Prototyping
Sohee Kang, Monica Perezagua-Beato,, SeungHyun Rebecca Kim
PROBLEM STATEMENT
66% of American households own at least one houseplant and 7 in 10 millennials call themselves plant parents. However, according to an article, an average plant parent has killed 7 houseplants. Also, to keep buying new plants worsens carbon dioxide emissions.
My solution should enable plant owners to
1) keep their plants healthier, 2) build companionship with plants, and 3) prevent dead plants from going to landfill.
AT-A-GLANCE
PROMPT
Implement a new service including delivery system to improve people’s daily life experience
Stay Leafy is a plant care service, including a hotel, clinic, workshop, community, and delivery. The service includes in-person experiences and virtual experiences, so connecting these two was the key to the project. I worked as a UX/UI Designer on the project.
I designed all the service diagrams and end-to-end user flow for the mobile platform to help users experience hassle-free plant care service and learn about their plants as their companions.
FINAL DESIGN
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![Home Screen]()
Home Screen
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![Plant Detail Page]()
Plant Detail Page
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![]()
Plant Archive Screen
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![Plant Clinic Appointment]()
Plant Clinic Appointment
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![]()
Workshop Screen
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![]()
Plant Hotel Screen
BREAKDOWN OF SOLUTIONS
Connect virtual service and physical service for the users’ (plant parents) holistic experience
Create a place to view houseplants and plant-related information
Help users learn about plants and build companionship with their plants
Provide an easy request system according to users’ plant-care needs
PROJECT TIMELINE
AFFINITY DIAGRAM
Our team had a chance to run an affinity diagram with 11 classmates. We learned people’s concerns and thoughts about plant care and plant delivery before beginning our research.
HYPOTHESES
Users can care for their plants if we offered the mobile platform and connected each service as a part of the whole plant care service.
Users wouldn’t kill their plants if we reminded users of regular check-ups and learning opportunities.
Users would choose a tailored service to their needs and feel less burdened with payment if we connected Disease Archives, AI Diagnosis, Virtual Clinic Sessions, and In-person Clinic Sessions.
Users wouldn’t worry about their staycation or hiring strangers inside of their house if we offered hotel & delivery service.
HOW MIGHT WE’S
How might we simplify the plant care process?
How might we help plant parents can dive into in-depth and sustainable plant care learning?
How might we connect our physical facilities and mobile platform?
FIELD RESEARCH
Our team visited 7 plant stores in the Boston area to find out about current plant care service and plant delivery.
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![Niche]()
Niche
Local plant shop in Boston, MA
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![Pond View Gardens]()
Pond View Gardens
Small local garden store in Woburn, MA
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![The Sill]()
The Sill
Brick-and-mortar store of The Sill (Online plant store) in Boston, MA
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![Growing Season]()
Growing Season
Local plant shop in Brookline, MA
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![Ferm]()
Ferm
Local plant shop in Boston, MA
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![Mahoney's Garden Center]()
Mahoney's Garden Center
Local chain garden center in Winchester, MA
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![Garden Center at The Home Depot]()
Garden Center at The Home Depot
A branch in 5 Allstate Rd, Boston MA
What They Offer
Plants and plant-care products
Plants info sticker/ care card
Plant delivery (in-person visit)
Return & Refund within a set amount of days
Answers to plant-related questions
Diagnosis of plant problems through pictures
Share in-depth plant care tips
Re-potting
Treat plant disease
Hold group workshops
Plant pick-up (delivery)
Points of Opportunity
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Mobile applications and websites on current market
What They Offer
Plant & Plant care products shopping
Plant care schedule and recurring reminders according to cycle
Plant identifier
Plant care guide
AI Diagnosis
Plant consultation (vary)
Lack of building lasting relationships & loyalty
In-person plant care service
Community between users
Workshops and event sign-ups
Points of Opportunity
SURVEY
Based on the Backward Design (A lesson planning method), the survey questions were created to collect the evidence according to the goal.
Survey Brief
Nov 08-10, 2022
23 respondents
Open-ended survey questions
Survey Insights & Findings
PERSONAS
Based on the previous research and the survey, our team created three personas that will represent our target users’ demographic, plant experience, needs, consumption behavior, and paint points.
SKETCHES & PROTOTYPES
Since Stay Leafy is a comprehensive plant care service, we sketched and prototyped the physical facility before designing the platform for communication and information.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
PAPER WIREFRAMES
Our team ran a design sprint and shared the sketches. We discussed the part to be implemented as a digital wireframe. The selected part is highlighted in yellow.
STYLE GUIDE
PROTOTYPE (Figma)
REFLECTIONS
1. Explore as many options as you can
Due to the limited timeline of the project, I tried to be a completionist and was afraid of making a failing design. Because of that fear, I was unable to try various experimental designs. If I had a chance to do it again, I would have explored more options through brainstorming and design sketches.
2. Do more tests after the final design
We interviewed plant shop owners and plant parents during our research process, and we asked some of the participants to evaluate our wireframe prototype. However, we couldn’t recruit the same people to evaluate the final design. If we recruited them to evaluate it again, we would have been able to get more in-depth insights.