From plant diagnosis to confident recovery

Overview

Helping plant owners move from diagnosis to recovery

GreenCure is a mobile plant-care app that helps users identify what’s wrong with their plants and understand what to do next. I designed the experience around making plant health information easier to interpret and turning diagnoses into clearer recovery steps.

The Problem

Plant owners could tell something was wrong, but not what to do next

Early research showed that identifying a struggling plant was only part of the problem. Users also needed help understanding the cause, deciding what action to take, and knowing whether their plant was actually improving.

Solution preview

Turning plant problems into clear recovery steps

GreenCure brings diagnosis, personalized guidance, and ongoing care into one experience, helping plant owners understand what’s wrong and know what to do next.

Research

I surveyed 7 plant owners to understand what happens when a plant starts struggling

The survey included beginners and hobbyists, along with an in-person interview with an experienced houseplant owner. I wanted to understand how people identify plant problems, where they look for answers, and what they expect from a recovery experience.

In-person interview

Adding real-world context from an experienced plant owner

To complement the survey, I interviewed an experienced houseplant owner to understand how plant problems are noticed and how care decisions are made.

Plants from the participants home collections

“I usually notice something is off in the leaves or growth patten. I’ll look it up, then compare it to a few sources. It’s a bit of trial and error, but you learn over time”

It wasn’t so much an issue of noticing when something was wrong, but understanding why it was happening and what to do next

Product direction

Turning research into a recovery-driven experience

The research showed that GreenCure needed to go beyond identifying plant problems. It needed to guide users toward recovery with clear and useful guidance.

Scan → Diagnose → Recover → Maintain → Repeat

Design Decision #1

Making progress photos easier to compare

Early on, I planned for users to photograph their plant from multiple angles. But that added effort without helping them recreate a consistent view during future check-ins.

I replaced the multi-angle approach with a ghost overlay based on the plant’s previous photo. The live guide helps users recreate a more consistent view during future progress scans.

Testing and iteration

Making navigation easier to see and tap

Testing showed that the original bottom navigation could blend into the interface and feel harder to tap. I increased its height, gave each destination a 48 px touch target, and made the active state more visually distinct.

“Maybe extend the clickable area so it’s not just the icon. I had to click a couple times each time.” — participant

• Original Nav
• Fixed label carrying visual weight
• Lower-profile navigation
• Smaller interaction areas

• Redesigned Nav
• Active tab promotes visual hierarchy
• More visible navigation
• 48px touch targets

Final Design

From diagnosis to recovery

Reflection

What I learned