To begin the process of creating my lo-fi prototype, I created flow diagrams. This would help me understand what decisions and screens are involved in the user journey. I made different flow diagrams for different scenarios the user would use the app for. I started each diagram on paper.
Downloading App and Starting New Project
The red circled parts of the flow diagram represent steps I made notes on or I felt needed explanation. For the step “User fills out short questionnaire on what outdoor space they have….” I wrote the note, “Some of this information could be auto-filled if the user is starting their second or third project”. The questionnaire could also be skipped for them, maybe just including the question asking which type of project they’d like to complete. For the step “Bought locally- receive points for sustainable choice” I added the extra note, “I want to encourage eco-friendly choices, a high number of points will put users at the top of the leaderboard and points could be exchanged for discounts at local shops.” While researching into packaging options I found that shipping big items will create large CO2 footprints, which isn’t offset by the recyclable packaging, therefore I’d like to encourage users to shop locally as much as they can.
I then updated some parts of my flow diagram and recreated it on FigJam to make the diagram clearer and easier to understand.
Identifying a Species
I repeated the same process for this flow diagram. This one is a shorter and more simple journey. From my competitor analysis exercise, I knew I wanted to add a feature that helped users identify species. There are already apps that do this on the market and users enjoy learning about the species around them.
The user will go to the in-app camera and point their phones at a species. An AI will scan the image and go through a list of possible matches, showing the user the most likely match. (In other apps, the user is shown the list of possible matches and selects the one they think it is- could help in cases where AI misidentifies). If the user has found a “new” species, a species they haven't identified before, they will receive a badge. If the user has found a species they have logged before they will not receive a badge. The note I have written at that step is, “To avoid users getting frustrated if they keep finding species they’ve found before it could log the number of each species”. This is an idea that I like, although logically it will be hard to know whether they are logging the same species twice. I do think that the app could log the number of each species but would have to be organised differently, such as counting the number in a particular section every couple of months to track changes. After identifying the species the user is brought back to the home page. (I will change this to profile). The user can go to their profile and see the badges they have earned. They can read more about each species by selecting the badge. They will be given the option to share the badge as a post to the community.
Visiting Community Forum
Similar to identifying a new species flow diagram, this journey was short and simple. I knew that community engagement was an important factor in this app. I wanted users to have the ability to encourage each other and seek advice through the app. Looking at the results of my user survey, respondents also liked this idea. “80.6% agreed that being able to see other people's wild space projects in their community would encourage them to start their own.” and “80.6% also agreed that the ability to ask for help with their project from experienced gardeners or people in their local community would encourage them to start your own wild space”.
When a user first selects the community feature, they will see all the popular topics at the top. If they just want to peruse popular topics and add their comments to them and/or like others’ comments. If the user is searching for something in particular they will select the search bar and type in keywords related to their search. Related topics and posts will appear below. The user can select one to find the information they need. If they do not find the information they need, they can go back to the search bar and amend their search terms, bringing them through the cycle again. Alternatively, if they can’t find the information they want, they can create their own post.