baesil

all-in-one social media and plant care tracker for all plant parents

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Inspiration

One thing that sparks joy for us is our houseplants since we find fulfillment in watching them grow and thrive from the effort we put into taking care of them. In addition, we wanted our app to foster community. We find joy in connecting with other people who share the same interests. As a result, we aimed to create a product that facilitated building relationships through daily interactions to keep community members up to date with each other.

What it does

baesil is a social media app that connects plant parents to each other while also acting as a plant care tracker. Users create personalized profiles for their plants, which personify them through taglines and “lifestyle” details. In addition, these profiles draw from baesil’s plant care database to provide care tips, such as recommended light levels and a custom watering timeline. baesil also promotes connection and community through features such as displaying mutual plants, providing a daily feed of your friends’ updates, and offering a variety of niche communities to join.

How we built it

We used Figma to create the prototype of the app. We also designed assets such as the logo, icons, and loading page using both vector art and Procreate.

Challenges we ran into

Half of our group had no prior experience with Figma, which proved challenging at certain points of the prototyping process. However, we overcame this by dedicating a portion of time to teaching the most crucial skills needed to use the software, which paid off in the long run when all four members were able to contribute to prototyping. Another challenge we faced was feature prioritization. The four of us came up with an abundance of ideas for app features and design choices, but due to the nature of a designathon, we were limited on time. To address this, we mapped out features on a grid based on how much work they would require and how fruitful they would be, only choosing those that were low effort and most effective.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that we created a cohesively designed, effective prototype in a limited time frame despite our limited knowledge of Figma. To have come up with an idea and bring it to life is incredibly rewarding. Additionally, we are proud of the little details that we added throughout the prototype which showcased not only our design skills but an understanding of utilizing design to reinforce a product’s goal. For example, we consider brand identity to be crucial; if it is strong and identifiable, the target audience will feel recognized and included. To accomplish this, we chose a cozy, organic color palette to convey a sense of peace while staying consistent with a garden theme. In addition, our layout strived to reinforce a feeling of immediate belonging by drawing upon an already familiar app structure (eg. nav bar). Finally, our text and taglines aimed to spark joy in our users through personalization, humor, and a fundamental understanding of our target audience.

What we learned

Half of our group was completely new to Figma, so we had to learn the technicalities of using the program. We also learned the aspect of design-thinking, from specifically emphasizing the user’s needs, to thinking about clear communication and messaging. Additionally, working in a team allowed us to see each other’s workflow and integrate useful tools and processes into our own for future work.

What's next for baesil

As some of us are hoping to take more CS classes, the next step would be to create baesil as a fully functional app, after tweaking the prototype and specific features based on any feedback. We’d also like to implement a feature that tracks individual plant growth, perhaps through gamification or a Snapchat memories-esque slideshow with past photos.

Built With

  • figma
  • procreate
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