rooted. UX/UI — Nicole Do

rooted

UX/UI
Mobile App Concept & Design

Figma
Illustrator
Indesign
Photoshop

Overview

Rooted is a social experience, educational resource and plant management app all in one place. Connect with other users to share inspirations of your newest leafy friend or share your knowledge about what you’ve learned throughout your years of plant ownership. rooted connects you to other plant owners, creating a new found community where you can chat, swap and learn from each other, all while tracking and taking care of your plants.

Concept

Designed with users of 2020-21 in mind, rooted is created with care and understanding for its users to bring a new found sense of staying grounded and connected in times of uncertainty and separation.

What makes rooted different from other plant management apps?

Rooted is different from other plant management apps because it works as an all in one source for the plant community. It beings together social interaction, educational media, and management/tracking options for all your plants. Rooted keeps the plant community close and works to inspire others by sharing their insights and ideas while also helping each other out by sharing their plant concerns and working together to find solutions.

Research

During my research period I first took a look at how users are interacting with social media on a daily basis, how people are interacting with plants, and how both social media and plants are connected. This first stage of initial research brought a lot of new perspectives on how plants and social media can interact with each other but also separately.

The main takeaways I learned from this portion of research is this:

People are actively using social media for upwards of ~2+ hours a day on average, however as time progresses the amount of time is also increasing (Pew Research).
One of the biggest group of plant owners right now are millenials. This is because of rising prices if homes, tuition, and the competitive job markets causing them to postpone major money spending milestones (money.com).
For some people plants are more than just a touch of greenery to their home but a form of emotional support and anxiety reliever. Especially during the covid-19 pandemic many have turn to buying new plants as a form on companionship when they can’t be around others (NBC News)

I also took into consideration why some people have difficulties keeping their plants alive, from looking into this I learned that the main cause for this is due to unintentional neglect and lack of knowledge of basic plant care. After learning this, I wanted to make sure to address this issue and include an educational aspect to the mobile app.