What is Localogy?
Localogy is my graduating project that I worked on for my final year studying at Emily Carr. Throughout this project I explore many stages of the design process from research and user testing to high fidelity prototyping and service design.
Inspiration
Inspired by my work as a gardener and my passion for plant life, I decided to work on a project that would connect people to plants and nature in their local community.
Phase 1: Research
Mentor Interviews
In beginning stages I researched local plant learning happening in the area. I found a lot of work being done with invasive plant species in Vancouver, so I decided to find a mentor in this field. Through further observation, I saw an opportunity to involve kids as a key user. I also connected with an elementary school teacher for an interview to uncover further design opportunity. In this venn diagram I have highlighted some key findings from both interviews.
Mentor 1: Invasive Species Council Metro Vancouver Director
Mentor 2: Teacher (grades 4-6)
Competitive Analysis
I researched other products and services with similar goals in teaching people about local plants. I found that much of these services were focused on invasive species. At this point in the project I found a key design opportunity space for Invasive Species Council of Metro Vancouver.
Design Opportunity: Create a resource for local Vancouver Invasive Species Council’s to distribute to the public to educate people about invasive and native plants in their area.
Phase 2: The Service
Brainstorming Products and Services
Based on my research, I came up with potential products and services to be a part of the design solution. I was excited by the idea of creating a toolkit to be given out to the public. I was keen on not only designing a product but also a positive experience that gets people learning and involved with the plants around them.
At this stage in my project, I was pretty set on creating a physical toolkit that involved physical and digital components.
Creating The Service Flow
Key Touchpoints
1. Sign up feature on website
2. Localogy Toolkit
3. Takeaway/ Invite to the app
4. Localogy mobile app
Inside The Toolkit
The Localogy toolkit is designed as a resource for the Invasive Species Council to give out during community meetups, where they have volunteers help to remove invasive plants.
This physical kit is a key feature of the service flow, for it provides people with the information they need to identify and help remove the invasive plants. The kit also includes another key feature- an invitation to join the Localogy app to continue learning about plants in the local area.
Localogy Toolkit Touchpoints
Phase 3: Plant ID Cards & User Testing
Plant ID Cards
When designing the service, I learned that the Plant Identification cards are a key feature of the Localogy toolkit for they allow people to understand and successfully identify plants in the outdoor space. At this point in the project, I decided to focus on the testing and design of these cards.
User Testing
I performed in person and remote testing workshops. I asked participants to identify the plant on the ID card using many different photographs of plants, then asked them about their experience using the cards. During in person testing, I also asked participants to design their own plant ID cards after using my design.
