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Plumeria
Plumeria is an app to help florists find a product in a fast and easy way. It will help make Customer Service faster by locating a floral arrangement or a product easy to find to show to the client. It will also help know the stock of the products.
The product
Local flower shops offer a variety of flowers arrangements and gifts to their customers.
Project duration
November 2022
The problem:
Florist loose time searching for a flower only to find out they are of stock and they also waste time searching for a photo of a past flower arrangement in their cellphone to show customers.
The goal:
Design an app to help florists find a product in a fast and easy way. It will help make customer service faster by locating a floral arrangement or a product easy to find an show to the client. It will also help know the stock of the products.
My role:
UX designer designing the app of Plumeria from conception to delivery.
Responsibilities:
Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs.
User research
I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to understand the users I’m
designing for and their needs. A primary user group identified through research
was florists who needed manage their time more effectively.
This user group confirmed initial assumptions about time management of florist, but research
also revealed that time was not the only factor limiting florist to have a proactive day of work. Research also showed that they needed an easier way to catalog their stock and also to be able to show their past flower arrangement creations to show to their customer so the process of ordering could be faster for both parties.
Pain Points
Time
Working florists are to busy to lose time searching for flowers out of stock
Time
Searching for images of flower arrangements in various platforms isn’t that fast.
Interface
Non-existing
Persona: Alexis
Problem statement:
Alexis is a florist who needs to find the flowers and floral arrangements quickly because he wants to be more efficient with his time
User journey map
Mapping Alexis user journey revealed how helpful it would be for users to have access to a flower catalog app.
Paper Wireframes
Taking the time to draft iterations of each screen of the app on paper ensured that the elements that made it to digital wireframes would be well-suited to address user pain points. For the home screen, I prioritized a quick and easy search or the principal items of the app which are Albums, Projects and Catalogues to help users save time.
As the initial design phase continued, I made sure to base screen designs on feedback and findings from the user research.
Easy navigation was a key user need to address in the designs in addition to equipping the app to work intuitively.
Low Fidelity Prototype
Using the completed set of digital wireframes, I created a low-fidelity prototype. The primary user flow I connected was searching a flower in the catalogues page, so the prototype could be used in a usability study.
Usability study
Findings
I conducted two rounds of usability studies. Findings from the first study helped guide the designs from wireframes to mockups. The second study used a high-fidelity prototype and revealed what aspects of the mockups needed refining.
Round 1
Adjust the app for a client use.
Calendar should be easier to find.
The album’s page should be able to open from different routes.
Round 2
A search bar in the flower’s screen.
A change of colors in the design for better usability.
A better description of the catalogues page.
Mockups
Early designs mentioned the word “catalog” repeatedly, I added the word Catalogues above the buttons for a better use of space. I also changed the colors of some elements for a better visualization.
The second usability study revealed frustration with the lack of an element to search for a flower easily. to correct this, I add a search navigation bar.
High-fidelity prototype
The final high-fidelity prototype presented cleaner user flow for searching flowers and add them to a project. It also met user needs for searching flower arrangements based on the flower they selected to use.
Takeaways
Impact:
The app makes users feel like Plumeria app really thinks about how to meet their needs.
One quote from peer feedback:
“The app made it so easy to find a flower. I would definitely use this app to manage my projects and to save time”
What I learned:
While designing the Plumeria app, I learned that the first ideas for the app are only the beginning of the process. Usability studies and peer feedback influenced each iteration of the app’s designs.
