OASYS : Smart Sensor For Your Plants

What if you knew exactly how your plants felt?

Business Description

OASYS (o·a·sis) is an indoor and outdoor gardening sensor that keeps track of the needs of different types of plants in different locations.

CASE STUDY OVERVIEW

Challenge/Problem: A persistent challenge for both indoor and outdoor gardening is keeping track of the needs of different types of plants in different locations. As the number of plants, as well as the types of locations of plants scale, so too does the complexity. How do we allow gardeners and community farmers to monitor their plants wirelessly through an easy-to-use iPhone app?

Solution: Created a garden sensor (solar-powered stick) to place in the soil of your indoor plant pot or garden bed and the stick therefore monitors moisture, temperature, sunlight, and soil quality. Using wifi technology the data is then sent to an app on on your iPhone, with the ability to track data over time and get notifications on when to water, add fertilizer, or protect your plants from extreme temperatures. The sensor will allow home gardeners to take better care of their plants as well as for community and rooftop farmers to improve food production yields for edible crops.

Process: Discover, Define, Design, Test

Methods: User Research, Competitive & Comparative Analysis, Feature Prioritization (MVP), Personas, Wireframes, User Testing, Prototypes

Tools: Sketch App, Adobe XD, Principle, POP (Paper On Prototype), Cinema 4D, Marvel, Slack, Google Forms, Pen and Paper

My Role: Project Management, Research, Sketching & Wireframes

Platform: Mobile iOs App

Also collaborated project with:
• Jen Byers - Research, IA & Product Design
• Oliver Apte - Visuals

Sensor Overiew

D I S C O V E R

Market Research | Industry/User Interviews | Surveys | Feature Priortization

Market Research

To understand the gardening/urban farming industry we researched important sensor components featured in competitor products. Based on our review, most competitors came with remote-watering control valves and plant databases. OASYS is the first in the market to allow 360 cameras to monitor your plants while you're away.

User Research

We conducted surveys to understand interest levels, pain points, and demographics. The survey was created through Google Forms and was publicized on our social media handles. In addition to surveys, we also interviewed urban farmers based in three different climates. The infographic below indicates our key takeaways.

Feature Prioritization

We prioritized features based on responses to user surveys and market research. We took the information we received and, through card sorting, determined our minimum viable product (MVP):

D E F I N E

User Personas | User flows

Our Personas

We synthesized our survey data and created three personas based on the wide age range represented by our respondent population. Between 'the seedling,' 'the sprout,' and 'the flower,' we narrowed it down to Kelsey 'the sprout' as our primary persona since we felt that she accurately encompasses the characteristics of a novice urban farmer.

User Flow

Initial brainstorming of the user flow raised several key decision points (i.e. what should be the home screen?). Using the POP app, we tested lo-fi sketches to determine a user flow that made sense to 'Garden Beginners' and addressed their pain points as they opened the app. This lean implementation of user testing allowed the team to build consensus quickly and move the design process forward.

Now the fun part!

D E S I G N

Sketching | Wireframes/Flows

Initially, we sat in Design Studio and sketched up frames for the home screen and secondary screens. Again, we ran into some design challenges and solved them through another stage of casual user testing and agile framework.

WIREFRAMES:

After design studio, we took our sketches and quickly digitized lo-mid fidelity wireframes in Sketch to start our first phase of mobile testing.

OASYS IN HI-FI:

Hi-fidelity digital wireframes were finalized in Sketch and put through a stage of wireflow testing. The initial response from users was that they loved the visual feel of the app - the colors and typography were on point. However, some functions were still not clear and an 'alert' to check your sensor was simply not enough. We prioritized those concerns and added tips for alerts, text to describe icons, and continued alerts in the detail page.

Users also suggested minor future improvements that we noted for our next stage of planning.

T E S T

Usability Testing | Prototype

The wireflow workshop above provided us with tons of ideas to help improve the app and make it even more intuitive for users. After making those changes in Sketch App we brought OASYS to life in Marvel. Take a peek!