Challenge
Design an intuitive gardening app that helps users care for plants successfully without overwhelming them with botanical complexity. Balance educational content with actionable guidance. Users range from complete beginners to experienced gardeners, requiring flexible content that serves multiple knowledge levels.
Approach
Conducted user research with gardeners at different experience levels to understand pain points and information needs
Created information architecture organizing plants by user goals rather than scientific taxonomy (e.g., "Plants for Low Light" vs. family names)
Designed content hierarchy prioritizing actionable care instructions over botanical detail
Developed microcopy making technical concepts accessible to beginners while maintaining accuracy
Prototyped a complete user experience in Figma with real content, showing different user paths
Tested navigation and content comprehension with target users across experience levels
Content Design Solutions
Plant Organization: Content architecture based on user mental models and common questions rather than botanical classification
Care Instructions: Clear, jargon-free guidance with contextual help for technical terms that users might not know
Onboarding: Educational content introducing app features through actual use cases rather than abstract feature lists
Notifications: Timely, helpful reminders using an encouraging tone rather than nagging or overwhelming users
Result
User-centered gardening application with intuitive information architecture and accessible content that serves both beginners and experienced gardeners. Content design reduces barriers to entry while providing depth when users need it.
Skills Demonstrated
User Research • Information Architecture • Content Hierarchy • Educational Content Design • Figma Prototyping • Usability Testing • Microcopy • Domain-Specific Content Strategy • Progressive Disclosure
