Plant Care Research

Owning indoor plants has increased in popularity possibly due to work-from-home culture and increased time overall spent indoors. Demand for houseplants rose 18% during the Covid pandemic and 66% of American households own at least one houseplant (Statista, 2022). Millennials are the generation with the most plant owners (70% of millennials own plants). A recent study discovered that 48% of those plant-owning millennials cannot keep their plants alive (OnePoll 2020).

The same poll also discovered that the average plant owner kills around seven houseplants in Lifetime (OnePoll 2020). Specifically, researchers found that the problems were (1) making sure the plants got enough sunlight (reported by 60%), (2) over and under watering (reported by 56%), and (3) stressing the plant by relocating them within the home (reported by 37%). These findings underscore a gap in resources and lack of efficient and valuable tools for indoor plant owners. In this study, we asked: “how can a technology-based solution help users care and choose indoor plants suited to their environments?”

Although there are scores of articles, books, and videos about choosing and caring for indoor plants, we found many of the resources contained jargon. Additionally, there were technical solutions that included: Planta, Florish, Blossom, PictureThis, ThePlantMe, Gardenia, and Vera.

• Planta offers an overall care approach that includes watering tips, placement tips, lighting, and addresses common plant issues.

• Florish gives the user reminders, and can sense if the lighting in the plant’s environment is insufficient. It also provides the user with a “plant quiz” to check if the plant is getting everything it needs.

• Blossom gives a detailed report on each plant with specific care instructions.

• PictureThis and ThePlantMe both offer water scheduling features, reminders, and progress tracking.

Our goal with this research was to find a niche in this crowded space by determining user needs in a technology aimed at helping people care and choose indoor plants.

.Observation

A. Observation Participant

We recruited eight participants, four identified as female and four as male. They were between 23 and 52. Six of our participants have indoor plant-care experience.

B. Observation Data Collection

We conducted our observations through Zoom and Microsoft Teams. After introductions and aquiring informed consent, we started by asking questions regarding the participants' experience owning an indoor plants. We then asked participants to proceed with an activity: Share your screen and demonstrate how you would research to find three plants that require minimal care in a low-light apartment.

We recorded the participant's actions during the activity using a screen recording tool and/or by taking notes. After the activity, we asked follow-up questions about how informed they felt after completing the task and if there was anything they found helpful while searching.

C. Observation Data Analysis

We analyzed our data individually using the AEIOU framework (activities, environments, interactions, objects, and users). We then combined all the AEIOU notes as a team and created an affinity diagram focusing on participants' sequence of actions (see Appendix C for the Team Affinity Diagram).

.Interview

A. Interview Participant

We recruited eight participants, five identified as female, two as male, and one as gender fluid. They were between 24 and 44. All participants have indoor plant-care experience.

B. Interview Data Collection

We conducted our interviews through Zoom and Microsoft Teams. To take part in the study, participants had to be at least 18 years old and have owned at least one indoor plant. After introductions and acquiring informed consent, we asked about the participants' experience owning an indoor plant. After the warm-up questions, we asked participants to (a) discuss their currently owned plants, (b) plans to purchase plants, and (c) how technology could improve their maintaining, researching, and purchasing plants process. Following the interview, we asked demographic questions and asked if they had any final thoughts or questions.

C. Interview Data Analysis

We transcribed our interviews and created codes for interviewees in Atlas.ti ( Interview Codebook Link ). We organized the codes into an affinity diagram to identify common themes (see Appendix F for the Interview Affinity Diagram). We also identifived four spectrums representing our themes to develop personas:

1. Experience being a plant owner (0-10 years)

2. Preference for asking experts (unlikely-likely)

3. Living Space (small-large)

4. Preference for purchasing plants (local shop-chain store)

In the observation, all participants began with a web search using related keywords that fit the profile of the scenario, all participants reviewed articles and resources for more in-depth information, and all participants chose their final selections based on reviewed resources and articles. Through interviews with participants, we discovered that participants primarily perform research either during or after plant purchase. Additionally, we uncovered three important themes for user needs for a technology-based solution to help novice plant owners find the best plants suited to their living environments: plant compatibility, detailed plant care, and expert opinions. These themes align with the stages identified during the observations.

A. Search

During the observations, all participants began with a Google search using keywords that included a combination of plants for low-light, low-maintenance, basement apartments, and living spaces. Two participants searched for web results they had previous experience with and found trustworthy. The other six clicked on the first or second recommended results. One participant conducted a second search on YouTube. On average, participants conducted two searches. Interview results depicted similar findings where two of the eight participants performed research before purchasing plants; p4 did a video search on YouTube, and p7 asked an experienced plant owner for advice. Three participants conducted their research while at the store by asking a store clerk during the shopping process. Five participants needed to search Google after purchasing their plants to learn how to care for them at home. During this stage, all participants preferred to know as much about their plant options before purchase for better plant compatibility with the size of their space, lighting conditions, water needed and pet safety.

B. Review

In the observations, participants reviewed several resources from the search results until they found plant recommendations they deemed satisfactory for the profile. During this stage, participants skimmed through resources and identified plant type(s) from one resource to conduct a separate Google search to cross-reference additional resources for further review before making their final decision. We found similiar results in the interviews, i.e., participants performed some level of research before, during, or after the purchasing process, whether on Google, with store staff, or with an experienced plant owner to glean the most details on plant care instructions and pet safety. Seven of the eight participants reviewed resources from Google about watering their new plants, with two of these participants also reviewing details on proper lighting conditions, one participant reviewed resources about pests present on the plant, and two participants looked more into the safety of their pets around the plants.

C. Choose

Once participants felt informed enough to choose three plants in the observation scenario that fit the minimal care in a low-light apartment profile during the observation, they began to narrow their choices. A snake plant was chosen by four participants (the most common choice), the monstera plant was chosen by three participants, and finally the cast iron plant was chosen by two participants. All other choices were unique to the participant. We then asked observation participants how informed they felt after researching relevant plants. Sydney and Aish felt moderately informed after searching for plants. Dave and Tim were well-informed, and Sarah was fairly informed. Mary and Jonas mentioned how keywords affected their initial search. As a new plant owner, Jonas chose not to search by the keywords given in the scenario observation and opted to search “Plants in Chicago” because he would generally not know where to begin his search. Mary, however, found that the keywords were great for finalizing her choices as she knew what to look for in the plant product descriptions.

Five of the eight interview participants mentioned that they sought an expert’s opinion on their new plants as an additional source of information before choosing which plants to purchase. All participants were likely to buy their plants from a local or chain store; however, four participants specifically relied on the expert opinion of store staff to feel well-informed on their final decision. Interview participants described combination of tactics, including web searching, in-depth reviewing, and seeking expert opinions to educate themselves on plant compatibility and care during and after the purchasing process. As in the observations, all participants used keywords to search for resources that met the needs of their environment, used resources to compare and contrast, and searched for reviews or expert commentary to validate their plant choices.

Based on our interviews and participant spectrums (see spectrums below), we created two personas that represent different user’s goals and motivations when making decisions about purchasing a plant.

A. Persona

B. Priority Matrix

A limitation of the study was the relatively small sample size. Additionally, most participants had limited knowledge and experience with owning a plant. While novice plant owners were the focus of this study, diversifying the participant pool to include more experienced plant owners in future studies could provide more insight that novice plant owners do not possess. Another limitation was the similar living environments with our interview participants.

For future work, we recommend researching users' plant-care experiences and exploring potential features of our to-be-designed product.