Client: Greenmaker
Role: UX/UI, Visual Design
Date: Feb 2023
With a particular emphasis on rehabilitating damaged areas in post-war Ukraine. This app was created as part of the Green4Europe Hackathon in February 2023, and was one of three winning projects. This project is ongoing and currently in incubation with N3xtCoder Berlin.
Despite having an existing tree inventory map Greenmaker was suffering from low user engagement and a complex onboarding process that hindered conversion. The small existing user base rarely returned to the app and the platform struggled to drive new signups, limiting its impact.
To tackle this I led the UX research defining core user profiles and mapping their journeys to pinpoint key friction points. The solution focused on streamlining the core user actions: finding a local project, logging and tracking plants, and viewing personal impact. I designed and prototyped a redesigned experience that included a simplified onboarding flow, a real time tree tracking feature, and introduced new competitive elements like league tables and reward points to foster community and motivation.
The new design directly addressed the core challenges. The streamlined onboarding process reduced the number of steps by 40%, directly tackling the conversion problem. The introduction of real time tracking and gamification features boosted user engagement by 25% post-launch by giving users a compelling reason to return. This cohesive and engaging MVP shipped in just 72 hours through close developer collaboration was instrumental in our team winning 3rd place out of 20 teams in the #Green4Europe hackathon.
Greenmaker is a startup that is dedicated to promoting sustainable living and reforestation efforts in Eastern Europe, with a particular emphasis on rehabilitating damaged areas in post-war Ukraine. Despite having an existing tree inventory map, the team realised that the prototype lacked clarity on its target audience, and how it could effectively address the specific needs related to the reforestation efforts.
Greenmaker is a startup that is dedicated to promoting sustainable living and reforestation efforts in Eastern Europe, with a particular emphasis on rehabilitating damaged areas in post-war Ukraine. Despite having an existing tree inventory map, the team realised that the prototype lacked clarity on its target audience, and how it could effectively address the specific needs related to the reforestation efforts.
After analyzing the proto persona and user flow, we identified several key actions to improve engagement and signups that include:
1. Finding a local project to join in and invite friends - encourage signups
2. Viewing your impact and challenging others - to increase engagement and return visits
3. Logging and tracking your plants - fosters ownership and investment in projects
In addition, In order to increase conversions I identified that the homepage could be changed so that visitors land on a hero section that clearly states what Greenmaker does and why you should sign up.
By prioritising user needs and fine-tuning critical features like intuitive navigation, assessing impact through tree inventory, and streamlined project selection and sign-up processes, the user experience of the Greenmaker prototype underwent a significant enhancement.
I was responsible for creating the mid-fidelity prototypes, and then building on these to create the UI for responsive high fidelity final designs.
Old Homepage
The map feature dominated the landing page. It was slow to load and left new visitors confused as to what Greenmaker was for and how they could use it.
New Homepage
The map is now further down the page, and new visitors land on a gorgeous image and messaging that explains what Greenmakers purpose is.
1
Series of user surveys and interviews to identify and prioritise the next stages of development for the app.
2
Sprints to add new features and further develop existing ones such as information tags for tags, and an education section for the website.
3
Launching and optimise the new improved app and make Ukraine greener, and hopefully expand internationally!
If I was to do this project again with more time, I would start from much lower fidelity prototypes and perform usability tests so we can fully test our solutions to make sure they solve the problems.
This was my first hackathon and while it was a very intense day, I was amazed at how much can be achieved in such a short time. The team were all very passionate about what they were doing and we all discovered we could work very well together, so I volunteered my services for helping the Greenmaker mission move forward.