Garden Hub
Role: UX/UI Designer
People interested in gardening often feel overwhelmed by where to start—choosing the right seeds, tools, soil, and organic supplies, while also learning sustainable practices.
"How might we design an intuitive app that centralizes all gardening resources—tools, seeds, plants, and organic supplies—while providing guidance on sustainable practices, thereby empowering users to cultivate their green spaces with ease and confidence?"
Imagine wanting to grow your own garden but feeling overwhelmed by where to start — from choosing the right seeds to finding organic supplies. I envisioned a place where everything a gardener needs could come together effortlessly.
Garden Hub began as a simple seed of inspiration: to create an app that nurtures not just plants, but also the passion for sustainable, organic gardening — making it easy, joyful, and accessible for everyone. This is the story of how that idea took root and began to grow.
Project background and personal journey
As a passionate gardener and advocate for sustainable living, my journey into creating Garden Hub began from a personal need to simplify the often overwhelming process of gardening. From selecting the right seeds and tools to understanding soil types and organic practices, I realized many enthusiasts—both beginners and experienced gardeners—struggled to find all resources in one place. This inspired me to build a platform that makes gardening accessible, enjoyable, and stress-free.
Starting with extensive research and hands-on experimentation, I identified key challenges gardeners face and envisioned a solution that centralizes everything they need. Garden Hub was designed not just as an app, but as a companion that guides users through every stage of their gardening journey, providing tools, supplies, and expert advice in a single, intuitive platform.
Garden Hub reflects my commitment to empowering users to nurture their green spaces with confidence and joy. Every feature is crafted to simplify decisions, inspire sustainable practices, and foster a deeper connection with gardening—turning a complex process into a seamless, rewarding experience.
Everything for your garden, all in one app!
Your complete gardening journey, from seeds to indoor plants, at your fingertips
PROBLEM
There’s a distinct need for an all-encompassing gardening app that not only provides access to tools, seeds, soil, and organic supplies but also empowers users with practical guidance, simplifying the often overwhelming process of cultivating a garden.
Garden enthusiasts—whether beginners, families, or seasoned growers—struggle to find a singular, efficient platform for their diverse gardening needs. The current market’s fragmentation of resources, from purchasing supplies to learning sustainable practices, leads to a disjointed and often frustrating experience.
Gardeners, the heart of the green movement, face challenges in sourcing authentic organic products and trustworthy information. This scattered approach creates barriers, discouraging many from pursuing gardening as a sustainable lifestyle.
The existing applications lack a user-centric, holistic approach, failing to combine shopping, learning, and guidance in one seamless experience. This oversight results in limited accessibility, missed opportunities for community growth, and reduced confidence for users starting their gardening journey.
A unified app that offers centralized resources—tools, seeds, plants, and sustainable tips—while making gardening simple, accessible, and inspiring is conspicuously absent, highlighting a need for innovation in the gardening space.
This proposed problem statement for Garden Hub underscores the necessity for an integrated gardening solution and emphasizes the importance of sustainability and accessibility, aligning with the broader mission of empowering individuals to cultivate their green spaces with ease and joy.
Research: Competitive & SWOT Analyses
SWOT Analysis — PlantSnap
SWOT Analysis — Blossom
PlantSnap is a popular app that uses image recognition to identify plants, flowers, and trees. It stands out for its vast plant database and AI-powered accuracy, making it a go-to tool for plant identification. However, its functionality is limited to identification, offering little support for gardening supplies, step-by-step guidance, or community-driven tips. While it excels in quick identification, its lack of holistic features leaves users seeking multiple apps to fulfill their gardening needs.
Blossom provides plant care tips, reminders, and identification features, focusing strongly on houseplants and daily maintenance. Its user-friendly interface and personalized reminders enhance the gardening experience for beginners. Yet, its scope is narrow—primarily focused on indoor plants—and does not extend to broader gardening needs like tools, seeds, soil, or organic supplies. This limited coverage reduces its utility for users looking for an all-in-one gardening solution.
Comparison with Garden Hub
User Surveys & Interviews
Venturing into local gardening communities, nurseries, and farmers’ markets, I sought first-hand insights from both novice and experienced gardeners. Engaging in face-to-face conversations allowed me to validate our hypotheses with direct, qualitative feedback about their gardening challenges.
Utilizing a hands-on approach, I collected critical insights that revealed pain points across the gardening journey—from sourcing seeds and organic supplies to finding trustworthy information on sustainable practices. These personal interactions provided nuanced feedback, integral to shaping a user-centric design that truly addressed the needs of gardening enthusiasts.
User Survey Takeaways
Before conducting the survey, I carefully formulated questions to explore how gardeners currently source products, what difficulties they face, and what kind of support they expect from a centralized gardening app. The survey, reaching out to a diverse group of users ranging from beginners to hobbyists, highlighted two clear themes: the lack of a one-stop solution for supplies and a growing demand for reliable guidance on organic gardening practices.
From the user perspective, there was a pronounced call for convenience—having seeds, tools, soil, and plants available in one platform—while more experienced gardeners emphasized the need for trusted information and resources to maintain sustainable gardens. The feedback illuminated a keen awareness of the challenges caused by fragmented resources and underscored the need for a unified mobile application. This dual-sided insight served as a compelling indicator of the potential for Garden Hub to achieve high adoption, driven by the community’s desire for simplicity, sustainability, and accessibility.
Card Sorts & Affinity Mapping
Following the survey findings, I conducted card sorting and affinity mapping sessions with gardening enthusiasts. These exercises revealed how users naturally grouped their needs—seeds, soil, tools, and organic care—while also surfacing their priorities and expectations from a one-stop gardening app.
The insights highlighted not only functional needs but also the emotional value users place on simplicity and sustainability. By clustering themes, I was able to shape Garden Hub’s structure and navigation into an intuitive flow that resonates with both beginner and experienced gardeners.
Meet the Users:
Personas, Task Flows, Journeys
To begin wireframing, I immersed myself in the world of gardeners — exploring local nurseries, tending community gardens, and observing discussions in online gardening communities.
By talking directly with both novice and seasoned gardeners, I uncovered their challenges, habits, and what they truly value in nurturing a garden. These insights shaped realistic user personas for Garden Hub, which then informed task flows and user journeys that mirror actual gardening experiences.
This hands-on research revealed key patterns and expectations, forming the foundation for a design that makes gardening simpler, more enjoyable, and accessible to everyone.
Add a Title
User Persona
Empathy Map
Exploration, Ideation:
1A & Wireframes
During the exploration and ideation phase for Garden Hub, my focus was on the core features that would truly support users passionate about gardening — easy access to organic supplies, step-by-step guidance for planting, and tracking garden progress.
I mapped the journeys of Emily, a beginner gardener planning her first vegetable patch; Rahul, an urban gardener managing multiple indoor plants; and Saira, who wants to order seeds and tools efficiently for her backyard garden. Key features identified included a personalized gardening planner, a catalog of organic products, and in-app tips for plant care.
Based on these insights, I sketched initial concepts that gradually transformed into wireframes for Garden Hub, laying the foundation for a user-friendly, visually engaging gardening experience.
In the ideation phase for Garden Hub, I focused on key features highlighted by our personas—seamless plant and supply browsing, intuitive garden planning, and easy access to organic gardening tips.
I mapped out the user journey for gardeners like Emily, who is starting her first vegetable patch, and Rahul, managing multiple indoor plants. Core to the app’s design was a personalized garden dashboard that tracked planting schedules, growth progress, and reminders. Features like a seed and tool catalog, in-app guidance for plant care, and notifications for watering or fertilizing were also sketched.
From these insights, I moved into wireframing, emphasizing smooth navigation and clear organization of gardening tasks. The wireframes evolved into mid-fidelity prototypes, incorporating user feedback to create an experience that felt approachable and motivating, supporting users at every stage of their gardening journey. These prototypes acted as a blueprint, demonstrating the app’s structure, interaction points, and intuitive flow.
Design System
Garden Hub taught me
Garden Hub has been a journey of creativity and discovery, evolving from a personal idea into a comprehensive platform that empowers users to cultivate their own green spaces. The project, undertaken independently, was guided entirely by understanding the needs of gardeners—beginners seeking guidance, enthusiasts looking for organic supplies, and urban gardeners managing limited spaces. Their insights became the foundation for the design, ensuring the app genuinely supports users in growing and caring for their gardens.
As a solo project, my design philosophy centered on empathy and usability. I devoted time to understanding the routines, challenges, and motivations of my users, shaping features that simplify gardening while keeping it engaging and rewarding. The satisfaction of creating a solution that aligns with real user needs reinforced the value of human-centered design and strengthened my skills in research, ideation, and end-to-end design execution.
