My Role.
UX/UI designer. I designed and came up with the idea for Malibu Succulents. I was responsible for the user research, user flows, prototyping, and visual design. I based my design iterations on my user research.
The Problems.
Making a user friendly live plant shopping experience.
Other websites for live plants are complicated and hard to figure out without having prior plant knowledge.
My Solution.
Malibu Succulents is a modern and luxury brand, from the name to the products. The word Malibu being in the name is a worldwide sign of status and makes people feel like the products are “fancy and luxurious”. The name is to the point and easy to understand for a user that will be using the website. Malibu Succulents is fresh, and useful for beginners, and experts in the succulent game.
There will also be a subscription box option, which is very popular among the potential users. Although there are already boxes that do this, I feel the packaging and price will set them apart. There is also going to be a hand painted ceramics, and customizable options for large orders.
What do user’s want?
There is a big market for succulent buyers. This is for a few reasons. One, seeming to be the most popular is for buying succulents for events i.e. weddings, fundraisers, and parties. I also found that there is a large amount of succulent enthusiasts online. They often use Etsy, and Ebay as their main sources. Etsy is a favorite due to users being able to buy succulents from outside of the United States, and have them delivered right to their door. These enthusiasts are looking for rare succulents, which the top competitors do not have. The other succulent businesses were mostly very packed with information that is difficult to navigate. Due to these reasons I feel strongly that if done in a user friendly way, this business can be very successful.
Branding.
The message being conveyed by Malibu Succulents is luxury. This starts with the name and logo. I kept the logo very simple and clean. I have seen many succulent logos and icons, which all look rather cheesy to me, and much too obvious for a succulent company. I did have a lot of fun with the color palette, I love colors from nature so these 5 colors I chose were a beautiful combination. With current interior design trends being so neutral these were obvious choices to blend well with that aesthetic.
User Persona.
User Testing.
Through user testing, I was able to see that the Malibu Succulents was easy to navigate for beginner plant lovers, and experts. Users liked being able to get a quick description on each plants. They had no issues figuring out how to purchase a plant and pot combination, but did wish there was a way to show them together. Some users did have some confusion around the subscription box and felt there needed to be more information. They were able to navigate the main menu extremely easy and also felt the “how it works” section was very helpful. Most users did find the blog section is important to the website, and said it would be a feature that would keep them coming back. One user thought it would be nice to be able to submit their own blog to the website to be featured. This is something I did incorporate to make the site more interactive.
Iterate.
Based on my User Testing, I was able to make some decisions, and changes to my iterations. I really wanted to focus my attention on the blog section, as I believe this could bring a lot of users. Users who might not ready to make purchases yet, but do want to be apart of the community, and utilize our content. I chose to make the landing page focus on the three step by step instructions showing how it works in a very simplified way. I did not want the user to be scared off by too many options, and no clear direction. I also chose to make the subscription section a focus, since I believe this is where the most money will be made. Subscriptions are a great way to retain customers, rather than needing to re-engage them in the future.
Challenges & In The Future.
Unfortunately due to a time crunch, there are some changes I would have liked to make. I came up with the following solutions, and felt like I would focus on improving three main things.
Purchasing plants and pots together. I believe adding a section where the user can see their plant next to different choices of pots would be extremely useful, fun, and interactive.
The Subscription Box section. I want to make this easier for users to figure out how to make choices. I would add more pricing information, and also pot selections, which is currently lacking.
Working with a creative team to create a “how it works” animated video in the future. I believe this simple way of learning is a successful tool for users, that will keep them interested.
