The Flourish Sales App
The Flourish App is an all-in-one integrated sales platform for florists to track their sales on multiple platforms, as well as in-store sales. Flourish targets small to medium-sized florist shop owners from all over who use multiple means to sell their flowers.
Problem Statement and Possible Solution
With the increase in platforms for selling products, it is advantageous for independent floral shops to sell their products in as many places as possible. However, independent floral shop owners are busy running their businesses to effectively manage all those platforms. A business strategy that can boost their sales also creates more work for them and their staff to manage.
Floral shop owners need an ideal solution that not only enhances sales but also simplifies the management process. They require a streamlined approach, seeking an integrated app that conveniently consolidates all their sales platforms. This app should be easy to set up and feature a simple interface for easy navigation. The solution aims to empower them with efficiency, enabling effective management of their businesses without the overwhelming burden of navigating multiple channels individually.
My Role
Solo designer: discovery and ideation, interaction designer and prototyper
Project Type
Project completed for Google’s UX Certification
Tools
Figma, Illustrator, Photoshop
Project Timeline: Google UX Design Specialization Coursera
Initial Design: September 2021-November 2021,
Revisited November 2023-January 2023
Design Process
Discover
To begin this project, Sharpen.design prompt generator was use to choose a subject for my app. Once I decided on “a sales tracking app for florist”, it was time to complete a competitor analysis, do some user research, and complete some user interviews to see what independent florist currently utilize.
To further get to know small floral shop owners, I utilized places where they frequent online, such as reddit, Facebook groups, blogs, Youtube Channels, Instagram, and TikTok.
I also spoke with a local florist shop owner in my town to ask some specific questions about how they currently track their sales, such as:
What data is most important to you when looking at sales analytics?
What would help improve the way you track sales?
I put together a sticky note board to group like statements together to identify patterns.
To begin my research I started with a competitor analysis to understand what tools already existed for flourish to track their sales.
The four competitors I identified where:
Shopify
Square
Salesforce
Nutshell
From the research, three major themes were identified. Based on those themes and what I gathered from my competitor analysis, it was time to begin defining.
Define
Three personas were created to help understand user needs to help arrive at better solutions, guide communication strategies, inform decision-making, foster empathy, and ensure a consistent user experience within the app. The personas played a pivotal role in humanizing the development process, grounding it in the reality of the end-users' experiences. By constantly referring back to these personas, it allowed for a user-centric approach, fostering a sense of connection and understanding between the app and its users.
Ideate
In the ideation phase of Flourish, my focus was on developing a user flow that seamlessly guided florists through their interactions with the app, with a specific emphasis on streamlining profile creation within the scope of this project. This involved brainstorming innovative platform integration features and conceptualizing solutions for inventory control.
Design
In the exciting journey of designing Flourish, I dove into the wire framing process. Drawing from the insights gathered in the define and ideation phases, the wireframes became a playground for exploring innovative ideas and transforming them into tangible visual concepts. Each wireframe was a blend of user needs, the adventurous features we dreamed up during ideation, and the overarching goal of creating a user-friendly space for florists. These wireframes not only laid the groundwork for Flourish's user interface but also reflected the spirit of playful exploration that fueled the design journey.
Next, I turned the wireframes of Flourish into a high-fidelity prototype based on insights gained from user testing on the initial wireframes. I took user feedback to heart, making tweaks to enhance the user flow and refine visual elements, ensuring that Flourish felt just right for our florist users. The high-fidelity prototype not only mirrored the envisioned design but also became a living document for ongoing testing and validation. This collaborative and iterative process didn't just refine Flourish into a sleek and user-friendly platform, but it also reinforced its ability to offer florists a delightful experience in navigating sales and, in the future, inventory management complexities.
Looking ahead…
Looking ahead to the next steps for Flourish, my primary focus involves the continued development of features envisioned during the define process, particularly those initially considered out of scope for this current round of iteration. To truly bring these innovative functionalities to life, I recognize the importance of incorporating additional user testing and allocating time for further research. This strategic approach allows for a more nuanced understanding of user preferences and needs, ensuring that Flourish evolves into a robust and adaptable platform for florists.