UI/UX Project | Desktop Productivity Garden

Background

This was a passion project of mine that I started just after COVID had happened and people were just getting back to work. I noticed such an influx of people working from home and wanted to find a way to help alleviate procrastination by introducing a relaxing game focused on routine. This was also a major passion of mine because I love illustration so much.

Challenges

The challenge that I faced when creating this one was that everyone has different ways of working. Some people work better in bursts, some people work better in certain environments. So, I was focused on doing my best job to curate to all of my users.

What I Accomplished

Designed it to be a gacha game so people had reason to keep growing their plants
Created an interactive garden builder that would overlay on top of someone's workspace
Added an educational aspect that gave quick facts about plants that you're growing

Type

Product Design

Role

Research & UI/UX Design, Illustration

01 Research

Defining Research Goals

The impact routine has on productivity

Role of visual cues in work environments

Effectiveness of gamification in habit formation

Benefit of plants for mental health

Understanding my Goals

Working from home causes a decline in productivity

Based on research done by the University of Chicago: The Covid-19 pandemic's shift to work from home significantly impacted urban planning and business operations, with a study of a large Asian IT company showing a 30% increase in work hours but a 20% decline in productivity due to more meetings, less uninterrupted work, and reduced networking.

Gamification and forming habits

Based on research done by Aftenposten: Gamification transforms habits by using techniques like consistent triggers, immediate rewards, and engaging challenges to encourage repeated behavior, ultimately making actions feel automatic and routine.

How plants affect mental health

Based on research done by Indiana University Bloomington: Mental well-being significantly affects overall health, and exposure to nature, such as spending time with indoor plants, can enhance mental health by reducing stress and increasing happiness, especially for those with limited access to natural environments.

Key Takeaways

The Users...

Are having a difficult time staying productive while working from home. They want an environment around them that promotes healthier work processes.

Key Ideas

Cohesive

Learnable

Sellable

Delightful

Functional

02 Define

Meet the Remote Marketing Manager

When designing, especially before starting to implement my solutions, it helps me really get into the user's mindset by creating personas. Having the ability to bounce ideas off of list of preferences, needs, and frustrations have elevated my understand for the designs I'm creating.

How can we improve Emma's routine?

So what features were needed?

05 Measuring Success

Identifying our goals

Completing my goals in a project is important because it ensures the project truly addresses user needs, resulting in a more satisfying and effective experience.

Boosted users' productivity

Allowing user's to have little mental breaks within your work flow resets their mental production load

Created an environment to improve user's mental health

The greenery and nature aspect of the application ease the user's stresses through their visual cues

Formed habits through the likes of gamification

Introduced achievements and objectives to get users to focus on work while enjoying the tedious tasks

06 Next Steps

Where are we today?

Whenever I have discussed this personal project, whether seeking feedback or conducting user testing, I consistently receive enthusiastic responses about the potential for it to become a desktop application. As the next step, I will continue my studies this fall at Georgia Tech, pursuing a Master’s in Computer Science. My goal is to enhance my development skills and explore innovative methods for interacting with my designs.