GrowTec

A Smart Space System that assists with plant care to allow
the store owner to focus on customer care
and packaging online orders.
Design Challenge
The challenge was to design an integrated smart technology system to enhance an existing real world space, for a specific user.

I had the opportunity to select a small business of my choice and had to develop a smart technology system that enhances how the business operates, to improve its efficiency.

The system had to be designed to align with the small business's needs and that provides a smarter and more connected environment for the business owner
| PROBLEM: Tamryn does not always have enough time to take care of or water her plants on a Saturday when she is busiest or when she is simply away for the holiday as she is also a solo-business owner. She also juggling tracking stock that is coming in or going out, due to not having a point of sales system.

| DESIGN FRAME: How might we enhance work efficiency by implementing a system to assist with plant care?

| INTENDED SOLUTION: A Smart Space Technology System that allows Tamryn to track, control and manage her plant care. This system will also allow her to water her greenhouse plants and will have a self-checkout counter. By implementing this system, she can focus on customer care, stock & packaging online orders.

Key Research Insights

It was a passion project that turned into a business, it was never really planned, it just happened to take off.

They are only open to the public on Saturdays. During the week Tamryn processes online orders.

She is extremely busy and her business is not yet at the point where it can afford full-time employees. She has two assistants that help her every second week to help care for the plants and assist in packaging orders.

Her main shop works as her "photobooth" as well as her office. She doesn't always get the time to water her plants, take care of them as well as assist her customers in the store on weekends.

Importing complimentary products to the plants and selling them to customers has been a successful implementation to her business.

The business started in March 2020.

Flow diagram

This was a crucial part of the project, as it was essential to interact with the physical space of the small business's store to understand their movement and their main touch points. It was important to understand the user and who the system would be designed for as well as the space and smart technologies that would be used.

user persona

The user persona design provides an outline of what Tamryn's goals are for her small business and what her frustrations are, so that a solution can be made according to her goals. The persona gives some insight to who Tamryn is as well as a bit of her background so that we may understand her goals more.

The Smart Tech

It was important to establish what kind of smart technologies would be implemented before hand, so that the storyboards could be designed accordingly.

Alexa & Dashboard

Having Alexa as a virtual assistant allows Tamryn to control her smart sensors such as her growing lights, humidifier and automated sprinkler by voice activation or by manually adjusting them on the dashboard.

Plant Monitor

This smart tool can help Tamryn monitor her plants and find out what they need more or less of i.e. humidity levels, water levels etc.
She can adjust these settings on her dashboard accordingly to assist the plants growth.

Automated Water Sprinklers

Instead of manually switching the sprinklers on, Tamryn can set timers on her dashboard for when and how long the plants should be watered. She can also make use of Alexa to switch the sprinklers on or off.

Grow Lights

Tamryn already makes use of growing lights, but to save time, she can use Alexa to dim/brighten the lights according to what the plants need. She can also set timers on the dashboard so that they switch on the same time daily.

Auto-start Humidifier

This will save her time from setting this up manually and can use the built in timer as well as the auto-start and backup memory to view what humidity setting she used for which plants.

Self-Checkout

This P.O.S system will allow Tamryn to assist other customers who may have questions while those customers who are ready to pay can easily do so with the self-checkout counter.
She can then also track outgoing stock.

Going with the flow!

Wireframes and wire flows showcase the user's journey throughout your application design. This step in the design process allows the designer to figure out any last changes that need to be made so that the user can easily navigate through the application.

let's go on a journey!

The user journey aided the final walkthrough video as it showcases the user and how they would interact with the smart space technologies. This allows the designer to understand which are the main touch points that the user interacts
with and where it would be best to place the smart space system touch points.

Dashboard Visual Interface Designs

connecting to the smart system
Tamryn switches on her GrowTec Smart Space System and connects her smart plant monitor app from her phone.

This way she is able to monitor her plants on her Dashboard as well through her smart plant monitor application.
Using her smart plant monitor
Tamryn places the smart plant monitor in the soil of the plants that she wishes to monitor.

She can then check with Alexa what her plants might need or she can have a look on he Dashboard if she
has a moment.

Now he can adjust the care for those plants
accordingly! This saves Tamryn time from having to check all of her plants and what care they would need.
GROW LIGHTS & humidifier
Tamryn asks her voice assistant Alexa to activate her grow lights and to switch on her humidifier.

Alexa activates both (Tamryn can also switch them on and off from her Dashboard) and notifies Tamryn.

Tamryn can also adjust the timers as well as the humidity levels and grow light strength according to what the plants need. She can also set daily timers this way.

Once the timers have been completed, a notification will pop up on the Dashboard and Alexa will notify Tamryn that the smart tech has been switched off.
By using the smart grow lights and automated humidifier with daily timers, Tamryn saves time from having to go and switch each technology on.

Now she can use that time to package orders and help customers.
automated water sprinklers
Tamryn asks Alexa to switch on her automated water sprinklers for a certain amount of time.

Alexa confirms that the water sprinklers have been turned on and Tamryn gets an update on her Dashboard that her water sprinklers have been switched on in the greenhouse.

Once the timer has ended, she gets a pop-up notification that it has been switched off.

This smart tech is very helpful as the switch for Tamryn's water sprinkler is on the opposite side of the shop. That way with this new smart space, she does not have to run up and down to ensure that the sprinklers came on.
self-checkout system
Lastly, Tamryn is able to assist customers freely without worrying if a paying customer wants to pay and she is unable to help them (due to her being the only staff), when assisting another customer.

With the self-checkout, the user can read the simple instructions, scan their item, make their payment and enjoy their new plant!

So, what's next?

Project Learnings
User journey storyboards really allows a designer to understand how their user would interact with certain technologies or interfaces.
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It was also important to note that although there were various technologies and interfaces within the smart system, they work together to complete various goals that the user has.
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It is crucial that designers understand the user's frustrations and their goals, in order to create something that they would benefit from.
Next Steps
Ensuring that for future projects, the goals of the user and how their goals are achieved are made clear.

A designer can benefit from fully understanding the user's goals before trying to create a product for them, that may not be beneficial for them.

Making use of storyboards more often, to understand how the users might interact with the interface designs and technologies that we design for them.