Onboarding Experience
During user testing, participants consistently preferred the option to select an item or preference and then click "Next"—rather than being automatically taken to the next screen upon selection. This two-step interaction was seen as more intuitive and user-friendly. It allows users a moment to review and confirm their choice before progressing, giving them the opportunity to change their mind if needed. This approach not only reduces accidental selections but also makes the onboarding process feel more controlled and deliberate. As a result, it leads to more accurate user input, which in turn improves the app’s personalisation features and overall user satisfaction.
In App Functions
Additionally, it was recommended to include a “Back to Top” button and other scroll-heavy sections. This would improve navigability, especially on longer forms or setting pages, and reduce frustration by allowing users to quickly return to the beginning without having to scroll manually. Finding a more prominent place and making the back button bigger was also recommended.
Another valuable insight from testing was the need to accommodate multiple users within a single household. In many homes, especially shared or family environments, plant care is a shared responsibility. To address this, a proposed a feature that allows users to “Add a Plant Carer”—a secondary or additional profile linked to the same plant collection. This would enable households to collaborate on plant maintenance, with the ability to assign specific tasks or plants to different carers. An option for a temporary plant carer to be added would also be a welcome addition. This could also bring more users to the app by growing the community in a different way. Add a Person to Household, Invite housemates, family members, or friends to join a plant care team. Share responsibilities, receive tailored alerts, and grow a plant community together. By adding this feature it will help to keep all team members accountable and help to make sure that all plants thrive. By splitting up the chores it will help users feel on top of everything and not become overwhelmed.
Introducing social features, such as group forums, discussion threads, or even localised plant swap events, can create opportunities for users to engage with others who share similar interests or challenges. This not only increases time spent within the app but also strengthens the sense of community identity. Existing users could also be rewarded for their involvement, such as through badges, leaderboards, or recognition for helpful contributions, encouraging them to remain active and advocate for the platform.
By cultivating a strong, active internal network, the app builds community value — making it more appealing for existing users to invite others and stay long-term. Ultimately, growing the community from within focuses on quality, not just quantity, helping to establish a more sustainable and loyal user base.
Alongside this, the app should include a feature to create alerts and reminders that can be customised for each user. For instance, notifications could be sent to the appropriate carer when a plant needs watering, feeding, or repotting. Users should also be able to toggle notifications based on their preferences, ensuring that each person receives only the updates relevant to their assigned responsibilities. These features would not only increase the app's flexibility but also strengthen engagement by making it more inclusive for shared living arrangements.
More customisation options were discussed. One area to add to was to add more options to customise your profile, such as being able to add lifestyle factors such as how busy you are and if you have pets. This would help the app to learn your habits and adjust plant care and buying advice. Also specifically being able to choose watering unit choices.
The main settings to improve would be within the smart home element of the app. Adding a virtual room feature to see where all plants are located in the room and seeing where they are and being able to move them within the app for maximum plant health would be beneficial for accessibility, especially for people with limited mobility. Creating a range of additional smart devices such as pots and home monitors would definitely be part of the wider products available. More options would be to improve the diary feature and make it more prominent. Progress photos would be a nice addition to this also and customisation of the in app displays would be nice too.
Another bit of feedback was to add more profile set up things for beginners and add more to plant recommended. More options to customise profile be able to build a picture of your life to see what plants are best and the ability to change preferences ect.