Patch Plants App
Presently accessible through a desktop, tablet and mobile optimised site, this case study imagines an interface and features of an app for iOS. Patch helps you discover the best plants for your space, delivers them to your door and helps you look after them.
About
With every project it is important to base design decisions on research and evidence.
As this case study looks at a conceptual User Interface, including many elements of the existing mobile website, we will instead touch on basic facts and stats that inform user needs and an approach to design.
Stats
As a designer I contribute to research efforts through planning and facilitation, this could show up as contextual studies, user interviews and usability tests before starting any design. These stats from Horticulture Magazine show a basis for Patch Plant's need in the market - a way to differentiate themselves from competition is to support customers with after care.
User Stories
User stories are a simple way to keep the focus on what customers actually need rather than jumping straight to features. By framing everything from the customer's perspective, they help me tie design decisions back to real motivations and outcomes. For this case study, I'm using them to connect the bigger strategic insight (that aftercare is an underserved gap in the market) to the specific functionality the app would need. They also make the reasoning easy to follow for anyone reading the case study: each story is a small argument for why a feature should exist and what it's trying to achieve.
User Flow Diagram
This user flow diagram maps out the key path a user would take through the Care tab of the app. It covers two main journeys: working through short video courses to build plant care knowledge, and using the Plant Doctor feature to get help when something goes wrong.
By plotting out each step such as selecting a course and tracking progress, to submitting a help request with photos, I can see how the interface needs to behave at each stage and where users might get stuck. It's a useful tool for thinking through the logic before moving into higher-fidelity design and helps me make sure the experience actually supports the user stories identified earlier.
Wireframes
These low-fidelity wireframes let me quickly explore layout and structure without getting distracted by visual details.
They cover the core screens across the app including product pages, the home and care tabs, the Plant Doctor questionnaire flow, and the courses section. This allows me to can see how content and navigation might work at a basic level.
Working at this fidelity makes it easy to test ideas and make changes before investing time in polished designs. It also helps communicate the concept clearly to others as the focus stays on how the app is organised and how users will move through it rather than typography or colour choices.
Branding
I've stuck closely to Patch's existing brand identity to make sure the app feels like a natural extension of their website and social channels.
The typography pairs Source Serif Pro as the primary typeface and Roboto as the secondary. The aim of this is to give headings a slightly editorial feel while keeping body text clean and readable. The colour palette draws on their signature green alongside soft neutrals and a darker charcoal colour to keep things fresh.
Carrying these choices through to the high-fidelity wireframes helps show how the concept would look and feel, making it easier to imagine as a finished product ready to serve users.


![Five user story cards displayed in a horizontal row on a beige background. Each card follows the format "As a customer, I need/want [action] so that [outcome]." The five stories are: "As a customer, I need to find information on how to best care for my plants so that I can keep them healthy." "As a customer, I need to know how much care a specific plant needs so that I'm sure it's right for me." "As a customer, I need to know if a plant is safe around my pets and children so that they are safe." "As a customer, I want to search by room so that I can find the right plant for my home." "As a customer, I want to be able to get help when I need it so that I can prevent my plants from dying."](https://framerusercontent.com/images/odESRSZBGxMCjw3G6Kxf0uXTLA.jpg?lossless=1&width=1400&height=950)








