Thrive / App Design
UX/UI Case Study Conceptual
Introduction

In recent years, plant ownership has grown significantly in popularity, with more and more people turning to indoor plants as both a source of joy and as an decorative addition to their living space. This trend can be attributed to many factors, from the mental and physical health benefits plants provide, to their ability to effortlessly enhance the appeal of any room. For many, the simple act of caring for plants offers a therapeutic benefit of taking care of something and a connection to nature. 66% of American households own at least one plant and 59% of plant buyers say that plants are important for their overall health and wellness according to a study done by Terrarium Tribe back in 2024 that analyzed over 350,000 google searches related to plant care. No matter the reason, it’s clear that indoor plants ownership is not just a fad but a growing movement in today’s world.
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The Problem
Even with the added benefits of indoor plants, owning and caring for plants also presents various challenges as well such as maintaining proper and consistent care, plant health, and creating an environment that not only allows their plants to survive but to thrive.

The Solution

Join us as we dive into the development journey of our plant care device and app. We'll explore the challenges we faced and the creative solutions we implemented. Paired with our device, users can easily track their plants' needs, from soil moisture to light levels, ensuring only the happiest plants out there. This case study showcases how a user-centered design approach has helped us create an intuitive, effective tool that empowers plant owners to maintain thriving plants with minimal effort.
Define the Problem
Strengths
Sends care reminders
Interactive & Entertaining
Intuitive to use
Shows different
modes on screen
Weaknesses
Limited charge
Expensive
Not all plants are compatible
Frequently returned item
Opportunities
Market Expansion
Subscription service
Product improvement
Create a community form
Threats
Smart device competition
Hesitant consumers
Economic downturns
Smart Planter
Traditional Plant Care
Strengths
Rely on intuition
Cost savings
Observation Skills
Hands-on experience
Weaknesses
Vulnerable to mistakes
Difficult to track
Not conducive to busy lifestyles
Opportunities
Promote mindfullness
Building community connection
Plant-care workshops
Emphasize sustainability
Threats
Pests
Poor soil quality
Environmental changes
Pet toxicity & allergies
Interviews
User research is an important step in the process as it can provide key insights that inform the design process. A total of 4 interviews were conducted who were all asked a set of questions related to their plant care experience.
Demographics
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28 - 35 years old
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​Lives in the US
Characteristics
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Uses a smartphone
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Owns plants or has owned plants in last year
Behaviors​
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Busy lifestyle
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Variety of plant care experience
“I try to water to once a month and I don’t really know when they need water so I’m just really winging it.”
“I like knowing that I grew something myself and that I am keeping something else alive. It also gives me a routine.”
“For plant care I consult my mom she does really well with plants so I will usually consult her for advice”
“When I killed my jade by bringing it outside I learned to not take extremes and use patience”
Affinity Mapping
Plant Selection
Plant Benefits
Importance of Routine
Care Practices
Networking/Social
​Learning through experience
User Personas
Bio
Rose is a busy mom of a two-year-old boy and lives at home with her husband in Burlington, VT. She is new to plant care and loves how beautiful it makes her home feel. Rose has a very busy schedule between home and work life that she often forgets to water her plants which leads to a lot of plant care failures. She’s been on a mission to establish more of routine and improve her mental health.
Goals
Establish a Routine
Rose wants to develop a more consistent schedule for watering and caring for plants to prevent neglect and ensure their health.
Enhance Home Environment
Desires to create an inviting and welcoming home with her plants, contributing to a positive atmosphere for her family.
Gain Knowledge
Wants to learn more about different plants and their care requirements so she can feel more confident and successful as a plant owner.
Rose
Age: 31
Occupation: Bookstore Owner
Education: Bachelor’s Degree
Location: Burlington, VT
Family: Married with Children
Frustrations
Time Constraints
She often find it challenging to find time in day for her plants with her busy schedule at home and at work. This often leads to failures and neglect in plant care.
Forgetfulness
She struggles with remembering to water plants regularly among her many responsibilities.
Overwhelmed by Information
As a person who is new to plant care, she may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information available to her, making it hard to know what sources to trust.
Bio
Reed is a tradesman who works in the Burlington, VT area as a residential contractor. Reed owns his own house and has been trying to enhance his living space by adding more plants. He has been an avid plant owner for almost 10 years now. He has been noticing his plants do better in certain areas of the house than others do but he’s running out of places to put them and isn’t sure what plants need more light
Goals
Enhance Plant Knowledge
Wants to learn more about his plants and their specific care and light requirements
Optimize Space
Wants to optimize his space with his plants while also ensuring his plants are getting what they need
Enhance Home Aesthetics
Wants to arrange his plants in way that complements his home while also making it feel inviting and personal.
Reed
Age: 28
Occupation: Contractor
Education: Trade School
Location: Burlington, VT
Family: Single, Lives alone
Frustrations
Inconsistent Growth
Noticing that some plants do well while others struggle can be frustrating and leads to a lot of trial and error
Space Limitations
As he tries to make his space feel more like home he struggles to find optimal spaces for his current plants which leaves little room for any new additions.
Work-Life Balance
Balancing his busy life as a tradesman with his desire to take care of his plants may lead to him feeling like he is not providing them with the attention they need to thrive
Research Insights
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For the design and development of the Thrive App, we conducted 4 user interviews and an in-depth competitive analysis. Here’s what we learned.
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Plant-owners learn through their own experiences
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They seek out the advice of other, more experience plant care owners.
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Moms know a lot about plant care.
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They want to be able establish better routines with their plant care.
Problem Statement
"Indoor plant owners want to be able to keep their plants alive in their homes to enhance their living space and foster a sense of accomplishment, but they struggle to establish effective care routines.”
Designing the Solution
The design of the Thrive App is focused around putting our users at the center of the experience and creating an intuitive experience for all users no matter their experience level. Through our research, we found a few keys items needed to be featured in order to accomplish this task.
Plant Database

The app should feature a way for users to be to search and identify plants with complete information about their care requirements and ideal environments.
Plant Care Routines

Integrating routine reminders can help users stay on track with their plant care tasks.
Community Support
Through our research we found that a lot of our users would seek out advice from other more experienced plant owners. So including a community support feature inside the app, seemed like a no-brainer and an excellent way to increase community engagement within the app.
Branding
Hi-Fidelity Wireframes
Outcomes & Reflections
Throughout this project, I encountered many challenges along the way. I learned that plant care is so much more than just remembering to water. It’s about the right light amount. Does your plant need more humidity? Less humidity? It’s about using the right soil and knowing what to do when a plant gets sick. It’s about re-potting your plant at the right time to a bigger pot, but not too big of a pot. I also learned that most moms know all there is to know about plants. It’s more than just keeping a plant alive, its a sense of accomplishment. 

For the design, I tried to keep the user interface as simplistic yet as functional as possible. Since most of our research showed that most users relied on traditional plant care methods, I wanted to ensure our users didn’t feel overwhelmed while also prioritizing features that allowed users to effectively care and manage their plants.
What I would do differently?
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Get feedback on user interview outline before working with interviewees to ensure questions align with research objectives and focus less on marketing direction.
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Perform usability testing after the prototyping stage: While I was able to gain insights using only paper prototypes. I believe there would have been more valuable data had the user been able to see how each page was intended to flow into the next.
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Save previous versions or take better notes. Looking back on this project, I believe this is an area where I could have improved and provided more of story in this case study from start to end.
Future Direction
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Enhance community support features: Building on this feature could help build a sense of community through forums, Q & As, and recommendations from real users who have learned through experience.
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Gamification: Including a gaming aspect to the app could help give users a sense of achievement and encourage more engagement within the app
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Refine app interface: by continuing to gather user feedback through more testing to ensure all features are intuitive and user-friendly.
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In conclusion, the Thrive App and Thrive device represent a thoughtful solution to a very real problem. Even with busy schedules, we can help users identify problems and establish more consistent plant care routines. The hope of this app from the beginning was to empower our users. With the overwhelming amount of information out there, its easy to feel intimidated and not know where to start. Thrive shows indoor plant owners, that no matter what their experience level is - they can be confident, knowledgable, and supported in their plant care journey. When our plants thrive, so do we.
