MSc Final Project
Thryve
design brief
My final MSc project was a self led project. I chose to design a mobile application that supported users who want to learn how to grow food in urban spaces. Secondary research showed that users face many barriers to growing such as lack of garden space and lack of knowledge. This project leveraged UX design practice (Double Diamond Designer method), behaviour change design (Behaviour Change Wheel) and theories in Learning Design (Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning).
25-35 year olds living in urban spaces who want to start urban food growing face many barriers in taking it up
Problem
Outcome
A mobile application that supports users in starting their urban food growing journey by helping overcome these barriers
Discover
The secondary research showed that there are many barriers for urban growers. To understand the target user (25-35 year olds) better, I conducted primary research with 50 participants, following the Behaviour Change Wheel framework. This identified some key barriers to overcome in order for the new behaviour to occur:
01
Lack of access to garden space
(physical opportunity)
02
Lack of knowledge + feelings of overwhelm
(psychological capability + automatic motivation)
03
struggle to stick to
New habits
(psychological capability)
The primary research also helped identify enablers and motivators from the target user group which included being inspired by family and friends, microlearning, video learning and following a healthy lifestyle. Following the Behaviour Change Wheel framework again combined with competitor research, helped me to outline how these enablers could be implemented to overcome the barriers:
01
Personalised user experience to tailor available garden space
(Enablement)
02
video training to make learning easier + social feed
(Education + Training + Modelling)
03
Notifications + Task checklists + Recipe section to act as reward
(Enablement + Incentives)
Define
Using the user research, competitor analysis, heuristic analysis, I began the define stage of the double diamond process. I used insights from the research to create an empathy map, which lead to defining user personas:
Once these had been defined, I was able to explore the Point of View statements (POV), How Might We statements (HMW), and Jobs to be Done (JTBD). These were then placed onto Kano and MoSCow models in order to determine the priority.
Design
01
Onboarding and Add Beginner Plan to Garden
(Enablement: Change perception of garden space, personalisation)
I started the design process by exploring the information architecture, task flows and user flows to get an idea of the different screens needed to present the different features used to overcome the identified barriers. The flows identified included:
02
Search for a Vegetable + Start Lesson
(Enablement + Training + Education: Microlearning, Video Learning)
03
Complete a Harvest Task and Find a Recipe
(Incentives + Training + Education: Using harvested food as reward)
04
Explore Community + follow
(Modelling+ Training + Education: Motivation by seeing peers with )
I was then able to move on to low-fi paper wireframes to brainstorm layout ideas:
The low-fi wireframes were then user tested. This was important in attaining unbiased feedback from users early in the design process, to identify any usability issues and gain insights into the user experience. The user testing found that some pages were too crowded and overwhelming and that the warning screen was too dramatic, so was switched for a friendlier tooltip. I was then able to start designing mid-fi wireframes.
Deliver
After developing low-fi and mid-fi frames I was able to move onto designing and delivering my high-fi wireframes:
01
Onboarding and Add Beginner Plan to Garden
Key details that it was important to include in this flow:
Ability to personalise experience level and garden space available to enable users
Ability to personalise climate zone to prevent users from choosing food plants that aren’t suitable
Suggested gardening plans based on personalisation to remove decision fatigue which was lead by the competitor research
02
Search for a Vegetable + Start Lesson
Key details that it was important to include in this flow:
Locked lesson content that encourages users to progress through lessons at their own pace removing feelings of overwhelm
Video lessons which leveraged cognitive theory of multimedia learning principles
A growing schedule which populates the users to-do list to help motivate and encourage habit building
03
Complete a Harvest Task and Find a Recipe
Key details that it was important to include in this flow:
A recipe library that would motivate users to continue growing their own food to eat, using harvested food as an incentive
Easy to follow video recipes that follow the same cognitive theory of multimedia learning principles as the gardening lessons
User streaks and badges to encourage and motivate users to continue progressing and built new habits
04
Explore Community + follow
Key details that it was important to include in this flow:
A social feed that leverages further learning principles including microlearning, modelling and social learning. A space where users can watch and learn from other urban food gardeners
A video feed, inspired by the target demographics favourite social app, TikTok. The video content allows users to take in information easily, while being inspired by peers
Users can comment, connect and learn tips from other users. This feature leverages “modelling” aiming to inspire users by demonstrating the possibilities from others in similar situations or environments
