BestBuds banner

.02 Wellness with... bestbuds

ROLE

Product Design
UX Design

TOOLS

Figma
Inkscape
Adobe Illustrator

TEAM

4 Designers

TIMELINE

Sept - Dec 2023

Overview

BestBuds began as a passion project between friends, but is now a fully functional mobile UX/UI prototype and physical kiosk that is designed to recommend personalized seed packets based on lifestyle and self-care goals. I led interaction design and prototyping efforts with a focus on emotional resonance, and blending playful visuals with functional flow. The project was rooted in enhancing everyday wellbeing through design, and was showcased at UCSD's design convention and celebrated for its unique blend of digital and physical experience.

Problems

  • Beginner gardeners often face decision paralysis when choosing plants
  • Many worry about their plants dying, which adds more stress instead of relief
  • Existing retail environments (e.g., Lowe's, Armstrong Nursery) often lack knowledgeable staff, making it harder for beginners to get advice

This revealed an opportunity to create a guided, stress-relieving solution.

Goals

  1. Provide personalized plant recommendations based on lifestyle or birth flowers
  2. Reduce decision fatigue for beginner gardeners
  3. Equip users with the knowledge and tools to feel confident and successful
  4. Create a product that combines digital interactivity with physical engagement
BestBuds flowchart

Pencil IconIdeation

In the ideation phase, the goal was to balance fun with usability. Wellness practices often lose traction when interfaces feel overwhelming or dull, so the design prioritized creating an engaging, playful atmosphere while maintaining an intuitive structure.

Moodboard 1Moodboard 2
Typography and palette

Our user research showed that users typically only sustain wellness habits when tools present an attractive, low-cognitive-load interface, so we kept this in mind while creating the low fidelity wireframes. Our user research consisted of interviews, storyboards, and user personas in addition to individual research.

WireframesWireframes

How will the physical prototype affect digital engagement?

We developed a click-through prototype on Figma to conduct usability tests to get an in-depth understanding of how users interact with our interface. We did 200 tests in total over two weeks with fellow designers and students before its launch!

Physical kiosk prototype

Kiosk 1Kiosk 2

Reflection

BulbaBites started as a fun idea and quickly grew into one of the most rewarding projects I've worked on. From day one, I was sketching out playful concepts, experimenting with layouts, and testing how far I could push the product within the tools and budget we were given. Looking back, I'd love to spend more time refining the onboarding flow. Helping first-time users understand the features right away would make the playful concept even more engaging. If I were to revisit BulbaBites for a v2, I'd dive deeper into that journey!

View more of my work below!