The Project Brief: "Planting UX/UI"
Students were tasked with designing a mobile application centered around the theme of plants and gardening. This thematic constraint provided a shared foundation while allowing for vast individual interpretation—ranging from e-commerce solutions to educational tools and gamified gardening experiences.
Core Requirements:
User-Centric Design: Students defined specific user needs, such as tracking plant care or identifying ailments.
Visual Identity: Developing a mood board and color scheme early to establish a "solid foundation".
Prototyping: Utilizing Figma to create interactive, high-fidelity prototypes.
Iterative Process: Navigating the frustration of "learning as you go" to simulate professional technical challenges.
Pedagogical Alignment: Avoiding Homogenization
A key goal of my pedagogy is to avoid "homogenizing students’ work." The success of this approach is evident in the radically different visual styles and functional goals chosen by the students:
The "Gamified Vintage" Aesthetic
Student: Matthew Hoerster
Concept: "Greenhand" – A digital garden tracker that gamifies plant collecting.
Pedagogical Outcome: Instead of a standard modern interface, this student explored a unique Art Nouveau style with textured paper backgrounds and intricate borders.
Key Feature: Tracking "Lifetime Plants" vs. "Current Plants," turning gardening into a collectible achievement.
The "Holistic Wellness" App
Student: Shea Murphy
Concept: "Herbs & Alchemy" – An app connecting plants to specific health issues (e.g., Anxiety, Burns, Digestion).
Pedagogical Outcome: The student focused on empathy and user needs, organizing navigation by symptom rather than plant name. The visual style used soft sage greens to reinforce the medicinal theme.
The "Minimalist Conservationist"
Student: Quinn Davies
Concept: "Fig." – A non-profit foundation app focused on regrowing Borneo's forests.
Pedagogical Outcome: This project prioritized mission over product. The interface feels like an editorial digital zine, using bold typography and stark color blocking to highlight transparency reports and donations.
The Commercial AR Experience
Student: Ayodeji Okuleye
Concept: "Planty Greens" – A shopping app with Augmented Reality features.
Pedagogical Outcome: The student tackled technical complexity, integrating an AR camera view that allows users to place virtual plants in their real-world room.
Student Reflections & "Real-World" Friction
The project-based model introduced necessary friction that deepened learning. Student feedback highlighted the transition from passive learning to active problem-solving:
Trusting the Process: Students noted that "learning as you go" was sometimes frustrating—such as realizing too late the importance of "working in frames"—but ultimately rewarding.
Project Management: Advice to future students emphasized discipline: "Do the mini assignments well because it makes developing your final product way easier".
Collaboration: The "in-person part" and peer feedback were cited as critical for staying on task, validating the instructor's goal of a collaborative, supportive classroom dynamic.
Facilitator’s Impact
By acting as a "facilitator" rather than a lecturer, I enabled students to produce work they initially found "intimidating". The course successfully transformed students into confident designers who could defend their choices—whether they were designing for a non-profit mission, a vintage game, or a commercial storefront.