Urban Roots is a product that will help to bring gardening back inside city boundaries, and it can also become a source of organic and locally grown food but can also create connections and community impact, building a stronger social integration.
Growing plants or vegetables in a city can be challenging, for lack of space, unsuitable conditions like temperature, humidity, and sun exposure or the absence of skills. Getting close to gardening as a hobby could help people to get away from their hectic life.
$ 50+ Billions
Spent in lawn and garden industry per year Nation wide, according to the 2019 National Gardening Survey.
+265%
Increase in researches for “sustainable living for beginners” since 2017, with Millennials and iGens twice as likely to search for it.
58%
Of neglected backyards in the city, for lack of interest, time, or for the high renovation costs.
Giving a new purpose to unused space like rooftops or neglected backyards, creating common green areas for community gardens. A survival kit to start gardening with essential tools and seeds. An app to learn about plant requirements and to schedule time and request spaces in communal gardens.
EXCHANGE OF SPACES
LEARNING
Expert gardeners living in the city without green spaces at home, looking to share their experience.
Willing to be gardeners, without experience, but looking for information to start their journey.
Having a new space for gardening in the city. Sharing some quality time with her son. Meeting and engaging with other gardeners.
She doesn’t have a garden to take care of anymore. Needs to figure out the kind of plants she could grow in a city garden.
Finding a new hobby, to relax and recharge his mind and creativity. Receive information to start gardening and get help from gardeners.
He can’t find a way to get away from his devices like laptop and phone. He needs a lot of different tools to start gardening.
Hannah would like to find out more about gardening in the city, so she would start reading articles on the home page and, after that, change the feed, using the filter, to pick and sort the more suitable options for her and her interests.
Ross wants to begin his gardener adventure, so he will get ready buying some items, starting with some basil seeds and then some basic tools, creating his own supply box, submitting the order and checking out.
Hannah has to find a new spot to practice her gardening passion in the city, so she will look through the map which options she has and then decides which kind of garden plot she wants to start using, also selecting the time duration.
Explore the home page feed and then personalize it.
“The option to change your feed in the explore page is not very clear.”
The filter that was previously in the top navigation bar is now next to the search bar.
“The explore page seems to be overcrowded with too many articles.”
In the next prototype, I used a grid system with a more considerate gutters size and the option of horizontal scroll.
Buy some items to fill the supply box, including seeds and tools.
“Deciding your skill level up front seems to be a limitation, I would make this decision later.”
I took away that extra step in order to avoid the feeling of limitation and make the process faster and smoother.
“Having to click again on the check your cart button inside the supply box page is uncommon.”
I added a new icon for the cart in the top navigation bar, consistent through all the pages.
Find a garden and request a plot space.
“The gardens map page should have more options and details to make a considerate choice.”
I added a lower bar to scroll through the available gardens, seeing pictures of it in the map page will prevent going back and forth through two pages.
“The selected garden on the map should be more recognizable and clear.”
I added an active visual look to the selected garden, to avoid confusion and be more clear.
Receive information and learn new skills by changing the feed according to the user preferences.
Easy to navigate online shop to get all the tools and items that a gardener will need to take care of plants in house or in the communal garden.
Search engine to look for community garden, browse and request a space.
This experience taught me that the research could go on and on, getting new insights, changing or confirming first assumptions, and also that the testing process is a valuable source of information to find out more about users' real needs.