Picture This: Plant Finder
Prototype

Today the Plant finder app allows users to photograph plants and identify the type of flora in their home and community, as well as save their findings locally on the app.

To improve the app , I have created a Mushroom library that stores all your Fungi findings and a Myco-Community for users to post about to receive consensus on fungi that the app cannot identify.

Two Ideas
Two Solutions

Myco Library

Today, App users cannot catalog their findings in a specialized places for mushrooms. Allowing users to store and share their specimens within the app and the mycelium community will help users to find answers for specimen that the app cannot currently identify.

Myco- Community

Today, The app is unable to connect users others to help identify findings. Being able to connect with other foragers, will give users a more informed experience when using the app .

Myco-Library Persona

Demographics:

For ages 13-85 , for any gender
Single/married/partnered
For beginner/non foragers

Behaviors:

Loves being out in nature
Likes to cook with foraged finds
Likes to read and travel

Needs and Wants:

Post images of specimens to local/nonlocal community pages to get opinions on identification.
Broader range of possible identifications in the app data base/ be able to select from possible ids if first id is incorrect
Organization and notification of personal real world finds. i.e.- showing ‘find’ suggestions based on geo -location and trends posted by other users

Proto-Personas

Myco-Community Persona

Demographics:

For ages 16 and up, for any gender
Single/married/partnered
For experienced users/ or those looking for more advanced information

Behaviors:

Loves being outside
Likes to cook with foraged item and likes to garden.
Is familiar with common plant /mycelium information- usually consults digital communities with findings

Needs and Wants:

To have more detailed information about how to interact with the plant or fungi
Broader range of possible identifications in the app data base/ be able to select from possible ids if first id is incorrect
The ability to share their findings with the plant community .

Mushroom Library User Story

"As a user, I want to be able to catalog my findings to ID later or post to community pages for advice on identification."

Mushroom Library User Flow

Based upon my user story- I concluded that the users needed a way to catalog findings off line- and have a way to Identify them later.

In my flow I explored the possible edge cases that would be needed to fulfil the Library function.

Myco-Library Low Fidelity Wireframe

When outlining my initial idea, it was important to have the photos tell the story of the app to help users identify plants and fungi through the app.

Mushroom Community User Story

"As a user, I want to upload my pictures to a community to get a consensus on my unknown Specimen. "

Mushroom Community User Flow

Since the users were looking for a way to connect with other users, I explored the ways the users can achieve that in the least amount of steps possible.

Myco-Community Low Fidelity Wireframe

The Community experience needed to be minimal to avoid giving a cluttered experience. In a lot of cases the community pages have a concentration of info on the page.

User Needs

Logo Gradient

Color

Primary- Main Brand Colors

Secondary- Accent Colors

Opacity 98% 0%

Typography

Logos

Helvetica

Header 1
Header 2
Header 3
Body text 1
Body text 2
Links text 1
Links text 2

Body text 2
Links text 1
Links text 2

Components

Design System

Mid-Fidelity
Wireframes

Now that the layout of each features has become clear, I need to add content to better understand how the text flows with the desired experience.

On the library landing page the users would be able to see a map of saved and identified mushrooms in their library

When users arrive to the specimen page, they would see unique information about the selected specimen.

Here it was important to see how the apps subscription service would be integrated into the community feature.

I wanted to make the feature accessible to guest users as well as the paid users.

To make the feature accessible to guest users- they can scroll chat threads and chat rooms , but cannot post or interact with posts in the community.

The community home page would illustrate trending topics and allow users to access their account and saved chats.

From the selection of a topic, the users are then directed to pick a chat thread to read up on a post by a specific user.

Validation and Testing

Cohort Demographics

Below are the users I worked with to receive fed back for my prototypes. My users consisted of people who all enjoy nature and learning about flora and fungi while out on hikes. With these users, I hope to find if my ideas are desirable and accessible for all users ,no mater their prior expertise.

Health Care Manager

Jen, 33

Santa Cruz

Trader Joe's Crew Member

Brian, 32

Santa Cruz

Warehouse Supervisor

Susana, 35

Los Gatos

Youth Worker

Keenan, 33

Santa Cruz

Grad student/ Nanny

Kenny, 30

Los Angeles

Product Designer

Mary, 25

Walnut Creek

Round one Testing Details

We hope to understand perceptions of the current experience and if our new layout and information structure is useful. This research will identify ways to improve research capabilities on the trails.

User feed back during testing:

Some of the answers to the tasks had more than one possible answer might need more indication
Some users found it confusing who the library belonged to- the community or the user.
Users found that there wasn't enough imagery on the community pages to reference the species in question.

Summary of Findings for Round one

Top-level insights:

All candidates agree that having a feature that specializes in the cataloging and identification of mushrooms is a super helpful feature for people who like to be outdoors.

All candidates also feel that they would be open to an app to learn about flora and fungi if they had an all in one place to get the information.

All users feel the Myco-community feature is a great way to encourage people to seek advice before eating and touching mushrooms

Theme topic: Finding/using the mushroom community and library

Observations:

Users found the subscription feature confusing and unclear

Users pointed out multiple solutions for the task of finding their mushroom library

Users found that the mushroom library pages needed more images indicating the species identified.

Likes the clear use of a back button

Insight/Patterns:

Home/ Landing- home and landing page direction is clear and concise- all users were able to locate the library and myco-community successfully.

Mushroom Library- the initial landing page is unclear if belongs to the community or user themselves

Mushroom Community-Users wanted to jump to the photo feature to quickly post and identify - which is not accessible to unpaid use of the app

Quotes:

At the point of the myco- community guest introduction- all users would want to pay for a subscription at that point

All users made comment on how information the map idea is for the library pages

Recommendations:

Add more images to myco-community chat thread and chat rooms.

Make intentions on maps of ID info pages more clear

Like adding a key/or stating what the map is supposed to represent

Take out “paid version” on home screen just have 2 options

Add more imagery to the Specimen info page

Round Two Testing Details

We hope to understand perceptions of the current experience and if our new layout and information structure is useful. This research will identify if the areas for improving the cataloging and sharing capabilities of the plant finder app are desirable for the users.

Test Myco-Library Prototype

Test Myco-Community Prototype

Summary of Findings for Round Two

Top-level insights:

Users appreciated the color palette and felt the font was easy to read.

The mushroom library and community is a great idea for new users and experienced users alike.

The subscription feature is more clear to users

Theme topic:

Taking a photo and uploading to the community and library

Observation(s) One of the users gravitated to the library feature while the others gravitated toward the community feature

Users likes the ability to search for specific topics in the community

Insight/Pattern-

The library feature had instances where the task was clear- but the language created some confusion

Most users were able to complete the tasks asked, without straying from the happy path for the community feature

All users wanted to select the circular shutter button on the camera screen to take a photo

all the users are able to use the search bar in both features.

Users gravitated toward wanted a membership with the app after testing and felt that themselves and other in their life would find benefit in using the app

Quote(s)

“What would happen if you selected the wrong ID?”

“ I appreciate the community feature- its like reddit and i find that app useful”

"I like that the search bar says 'Search Mushrooms'"

Recommendation(s)

Add indication on which mushroom is the closest possible ID to help the users make a decision

Creating edge cases for the all possible ID's on ID page

Users suggested that I make an interactive map where you can see where others in your community can find a specific type of mushroom.

Should add info pages on the identify page so that users can read up on the possible choices to be better informed when selecting an ID

Design Iteration

From this point, the design and desirability of my ideas are starting to become clear. From here I was able to get focused on the true needs of my prototype.