Timeline
Role
Team
Link
PROJECT OVERVIEW
PROBLEM
RESEARCH + INSIGHTS
SOLUTION + DESIGN EXPLORATIONS
FEEDBACK + ITERATION
FINAL DESIGN
CONCLUSION + LESSONS LEARNED
What is Greenthumb and why does it matter?
Why do beginner plant owners struggle with plant care?
How do existing plant care apps support (or fail) beginners?
How could the experience guide beginners and build confidence?
Greenthumb is a mobile app designed to help beginner plant owners care for their plants with confidence.
Many new plant parents feel overwhelmed by conflicting advice, forget care tasks, or aren’t sure how to tell if their plants are healthy. This project focused on creating a calm, supportive experience that simplifies plant care and helps users build consistent habits—without making them feel inexperienced or intimidated.
Beginner plant owners often lack clear, beginner-friendly guidance and a reliable system to track care routines. Many feel overwhelmed by technical information, forget essential tasks like watering or repotting, and struggle to diagnose plant issues when something goes wrong.
Key Challenges
Poor usability in existing plant care apps for beginners
No built-in sense of community or emotional support
Difficulty diagnosing plant health issues
To understand how plant care apps approach guidance and usability, I conducted a competitive analysis of platforms like Planty, Blossom, and Plant Parent, alongside user interviews with beginner plant owners.
I designed Greenthumb to feel less like a technical tool and more like a friendly companion.
Competitor apps offered partial solutions, but none supported the full beginner journey with clarity, personalization, and encouragement.
Common themes included:
Confusion around plant needs
Lack of confidence in whether they were “doing it right”
Desire for simple reminders and reassurance
User feedback showed the need for a clearer entry point, so I added a sign-in screen and made small layout adjustments to improve flow and clarity.
Greenthumb delivers a calm, beginner-first plant care experience that combines personalized guidance, intuitive design, and community support to help users build confidence and consistency.
Keeping the experience simple helped users feel more confident and willing to stay consistent with plant care.
I learned that beginners need reassurance just as much as instructions, which shaped both the tone and structure of the app.
Testing early showed me how small changes to onboarding and layout can make a big difference in clarity and ease of use.
The experience focused on three core principles:
Personalized Care Plans
Custom schedules and reminders based on each plant and user environment
Intuitive Interface
Simple onboarding, clear navigation, and calming visuals
Community Support
A supportive space for questions, shared tips, and reassurance
Research Questions
What challenges do beginner plant owners face when caring for their plants?
How do users currently track and remember plant care tasks?
What motivates or discourages consistent plant care habits?
User Interviews + Persona
I interviewed 4 beginners plant owners (ages 18-30) to understand their habits, frustrations, and expectations.
“How might I build trust between the user and the app as a reliable plant care companion?”
Key Takeaways
Existing apps each offer something useful, but none fully support the beginner journey
Some apps overwhelm users with too much information
Others lack depth, personalization, or modern design
Greenthumb