Minor Project - Yubari : Self Watering Pot EXPEDIO

21.04.2025 - 01.08.2025 Week 01 - Week 15
Tracy Angeline Tio / 0362222 / Bachelor of Design ( Honors ) in Creative Media
Minor Project / Taylor's University
MINOR PROJECT COMPILATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LECTURES
LECTURES 
All the lectures are conducted online through Mytimes Platforms. We have activities like video and quiz to gain an understanding about design thinking process.
INSTRUCTIONS
MIB BOOKLET :


PROJECT BRIEFING :

IMPORTANT LINKS
TASK 1
Project Proposal
Week 01 - Forming a Group & Topic Selections
On the first week of the class, Mr. Mike explain the MIB and Project Briefing regarding on what our task would look like. In the briefing, we were given an option to select the industry we want to collab and provide a solutions / design thinking to them. At last, we were instructed to form a group that consist of 5-7 People with Different Specialization. 

I grouped with Jessie and Pricillia from Entertainment Design, Nicole, Nadia, Yu Xuen, and Zhi Xuan from UI/UX Design. The topic we are going to select is by EXPEDIO - Yubari : Self Watering Pot. This week, we just met each other and our group leader, Nicole, started to reach the client through Linkedin and assigned us to research the background about the expedio company.
Fig 3.1 Expedio Project Preview Week 01 21/04/2025

Week 02 - Start Contextual Research and Planning to Meet the Client
On this week, Mr. Mike had arranged us about the meeting schedule with the client. We got the schedule to meet expedio client on 5th May 2025. More than that, we were given a miro board and project tracking document to be filled by our group. 

This week, we also started to delegate task for contextual research. Each of the members got a different task and my part was to search the review from the competitor of Yubari.
Fig 3.2 Task Delegation by Group Leader Week 02 02/05/2025
For my part, I cooperate with Nicole since we share the same competitors. Nicole help me to find a product which are smart garden 3 , Le Grow and Back to the roots while I searched on product that most local can access likes in IKEA, Shopee / Online Shop Products and Autopot by City Farm Malaysia. The result of my works can be find on the MIRO board.
Fig 3.3 Review from Competitors of Yubari Week 02 04/05/2025
Despite from the product, I also made a conclusion and key take away from each product characteristic. This helps me to know what typical product consumer want to and important features each product have that could satisfied consumer.

Week 03 - Competitors Details & SWOT Analysis
On first week 3, 05/05 We have a meeting with our client. My team members joined the meet and write the notes regarding on the key point of the product. I didn't join the meet since I have class at the same time.
Fig 3.4 Meeting Documentation Week 03 05/05/2025
On friday class (09/05) , Mr. Mike started to check our contextual research. Our group received several feedback regarding on the target audiences (we need to make it into 3 group instead of 5). Moreover, we have to research more about the competitor and find out how Yubari can win / lose based on it's competitor or known as SWOT analysis.

After class, we have a group meeting on Lepak. we discuss the feedback given by Mr. Mike and start dividing the task.

I'm still working on the same field I did on week 2 where I mainly focusing on the competitor part. This time my task is listed below :
  • Include the price and top 3 bestselling self watering plants (our competitors).
  • Best-selling number of sales.
  • Who are these filets positioned compared to our clients.
  • Identify how this company is losing to them (SWOT).
First I have searched the price through internet and include it on the current canvas. For the online shop product, there were many various price stated and base on it's size, I range it start from RM0 -RM 30.
Fig 3.5 Online Product Review Week 03 09/05/2025
Next, I looked for the number it sold and from my analysis, the top 3 best selling product from 6 competitors are : 
  • Shopee / Olshop Product : High availability, affordable price range, Positive reviews across multiple types, Most frequently purchased online, as we can see there's many review number of user.
  • IKEA Pot : Affordable, Simple, aesthetic, ideal for basic users, Mentioned in key takeaways due to price and convenience.
  • The Smart Garden 3 - Click & Grow : Tech-enhanced features (lights, automation), Even if the price is expensive, the quality premium is suited for modern gardening users / ppl who are love or expert in garden.
Besides from research it's sales, I also looks up for the review in youtube video especially for smart garden product. From the review, we can define the audiences and their age group.
Fig 3.6 Week 3 Overall Research View (See on Miro) Week 04 16/05/2025

Week 04 - User Persona and Data Collection
This week we began to discussing the survey question we have made along with the user persona. We tried to finalize the interview question and start to find target to be interviewed later. My part for this week are to create the user persona from the youtuber I have found during analyzing the competitor. 

I choose Professional Gardener among the 4 option have, since we already have a target for someone who likes plant / garden but didn't master it yet and even someone who just started and beginner. Basically we divided the part based on it's gardening level first.
Fig 3.7 User Persona (Youtuber) Week 04 22/05/2025 
I also provide the sources regarding on where I got the information from. The full information can be seen on our Miro Board!  More than user persona, all of the members contribute to distribute the survey. We reach around 50+ responses currently and our target are 100 responses.

Week 05 - User Persona and Visiting Expedio Design
Mr. Mike checking on our user persona and provide a feedback. He said that we need to align with the Yubari marketing, like does this people want  to buy / why so Youtuber persona may not be suitable for this kind of things. We also have 2 student persona with different planting skills but we can only select one and need more widen options like a worker / collector who have interest on plant.

We revise and proceed to finalize the user persona. We have another options where there are office worker (WFA) and some collectors with interest on plant.

After class, we have a schedule to meet Toru on 23th May 2025. Me, Jessie, Pricil and Nicole come to expedio to gain more information of Yubari product.
Fig 3.8 Documentation Week 05 23/05/2025
Toru showed the Yubari product and presented to us on how it works. Yubari comes up with 3 different color which is pink, green, and lime. He demonstrate to us when he waters the plant and they plan to plant herbs after the succulents.
Fig 3.9 Yubari Products Week 05 23/05/2025
Fig 3.10 Expedio Cat Week 05 23/05/2025
After Toru explanation, we clearly can get on what expedio want. They aim to build the communities for the product and we need to analyze the trend and contents it looks like. We also have asked the co founder of expedio, Mr. Wong and asking regarding on Expedio back story.

End of this week, we finalize the user persona and continue to distribute survey to reach the target responses.

Week 06 - Survey Result and Data Analysis
On this week, our survey has reached 85 responses, which means we can start to do the analysis by today. My groupmate, Jessie, Pricillia and Nadia took a part to analyze the survey result. Meanwhile, the rest member do the user persona. For me, there were not much to do on this week, so I just focused on doing my portfolio and project tracking document as well.
Fig 3.11 Survey Responses Preview Week 06 30/05/2025
Fig 3.12 Some Survey Analysis Data Done by Teammates Week 06 30/05/2025

Week 07 - Survey Data Summary, Reiterated User Persona, Insight Discovery and Proposal
By this week, we start to summarize all the data to be putted in the findings section. Our group did a split work to reach more outcomes for this week. Nadia was in charge to do the overall summary for the survey, Zhi Xuan for proposal slides, and I'm in charge to do the persona reiteration. 

For my part, I firslty change the style from 3:4 to 16:9 to fit in the proposal. After that, I added on new section which are plant experiences and motivations. The motivation chart previously has been changed to the factors to purchase the items.
Fig 3.13 Working on Persona Reiteration Week 07 06/06/2025
Through the survey, we decided to add more 2 persona, resulting in total of 5 persona for the final. This is the new persona I made, which is sylvia and adrian. Two of them share similar things from previous persona, only the difference is personality and their priority factors.
Fig 3.14 Added Personas Week 07 06/06/2025
Later then, all of us have to come up with top 5 findings and the group leader, Nicole are gonna categories the finding, define the key themes, insight and problem statement. (My findings are on the purple sticky notes).  The problem statement and goals are completed by the next week.
Fig 3.15 Insight Discovery Sections Week 07 08/06/2025

Week 08 - Problem Statement, Goals, User Stories, Journey Map and Ideation
We did not have a physical class by this week due to mid term break week, but Dr. Mike have arranged an online meeting on teams to check our work status. 

We continue on our progress which is to do the problem statement, how might we and goals, that was done by Nicole. Dr. Mike gave us a feedback in a sticky notes regarding on things that need to be revised. After that, we have a task that divided us into 2 groups which is for Miro and Proposal Slides.
Fig 3.16 Work Delegations for W8 Week 08 11/06/2025
I choose Miro team for this week and my task is to create the empathy map and user stories based on 3 persona we have interview. I need to get done my part first so then we can move to the next step. This is what I have done for this week.
Fig 3.17 Empathy Map and User Stories for 3 Interviewed People Week 08 13/06/2025
On 13/06, We have a group meetings to discuss the idea on how we should work on the solutions. From feedback given by Dr. Mike, we need to align Yubari with the Big Idea most Brand have like example on Snickers Chocolate Bar.  We think to make Yubari as a companionship, so it can be like having your own pet. 
Fig 3.18 Meeting Brainstorm (Anwering the HMW Statement) Week 08 13/06/2025
Once it was fixed, we moving on to the art direction. From our ideation phase, we have divided the actionable items into 4 things :
  • Packaging - That have a scan QR Code to the Website later
  • Instagram Account and Mascot Design (2D/3D)
  • Website Mockup (2 Pages - Home and Purchase )
  • One Mobile App Mockup (Showcases the Plant tracking - Home Page, Watering, Profile ).
Fig 3.19 Branding Phases Progress Week 08 13/06/2025
On this part, we also dicussed on the UI Toolkit especially for Typography, Color Scheme and Iconography. Most of it align with Yubari design that have sans serif and rounded style.  My task for this week is to do the Website mockup design on the home page until the next week.

Week 09 - Art Direction and Working on Design Proposal
This time, our group met at uni and discussed on our art direction part. As we already divided it, Each of us focused on our own part and discuss to ask other opinion. In class later, we showed Mike our presentation slides so far and he give us several feedback we need to revise especially on the big idea and solutions stage. Mike also suggest us to not showing the design we have made and keep it for the final presentation.

To do my part, I first find a references in the pinterest and my partner for this part, Nicole, give me a click and grow references to be used later.
Fig 3.20 Finding References Week 09 20/06/2025
After that, I helped the presentation slides by adding website references and a bit of short media content. Mike also announced that we will have a presentation on the next week, 26th June 2025. 

Week 10 - Design Proposal Presentation
This week, we have a proposal presentation with our client, EXPEDIO Toru on 26th June. All group have a 15 minutes to present their proposal online. For my group, our group leader took part to present our proposal and Toru feedback for overall things was a positive one and the next step is to continue producing the solutions.
Fig 3.21 Proposal Presentation Week 10 26/06/2025
Fig 3.22 Proposal Presentation Pt 2 Week 10 26/06/2025

FINAL PROPOSAL SUBMISSION TASK 1
Canva Link : HERE
Fig 3.23 Final Task 1 : Project Proposal Week 10 26/06/2025
TASK 2
Design Management Protocols
Week 11 - Working on the Creative Solutions & Gantt Chart
This week, most group members were busy doing other modules task and there were not much progress created. We compile all the week 10 presentation and see if there's refinement and start to create our final proposal presentation. Zhi Xuan and Yu Xuen have started to design their app design and for Pricil and Jessie start to create character mascot for Yubari. Nadia were assigned to do packaging stuff meanwhile I and Nicole are doing the Website Mockup.
Fig 3.24 Yu Life App Design by Zhi Xuan and Yu Xuen Week 11 03/07/2025
Fig 3.25 Logo, Mascot and Packaging Exploration by Jessie, Pricil and Nadia Week 11 03/07/2025
In class, Mr. Mike briefed us about sample of final proposal from previous student and we were tasked to start fill the Gant Chart. The group leader was responsive to fill out the part and group member is going to produce the outcome.  
Fig 3.26 Gantt Chart Preview Week 11 04/07/2025

Week 12 - Working on the Creative Solutions
This time, our group are focusing to do the Project Tracking Document. One of our group member divided task to do it and My task is to do the Defining Insight. As we have done it in Miro Board, I just copy the information and revise some sentences.
Fig 3.27 Project Tracking Document - Insight Week 12 11/07/2025
We continue with our progress as well. Pricillia has started to explore mascot emotion, while Nadia doing the mockup for keychain, meanwhile Jessie focused to build 3d mascot. Based on the feedback on week 10, we need to more focusing on the Collectible items.
Fig 3.28 Mascot Exploration - Face, 3D, Mockup Week 12 11/07/2025
Through this week, we have come to finalized our app name : Yu Life. Yu means about Yubari Product and Life means plant growth, lifestyle, self-care, and emotional well-being.
Fig 3.29 Yu Life App Mockup Week 12 11/07/2025

Week 13 - Working on the Creative Solutions
By this time, I quickly finished the content ideation for the websites. The website are gonna have around 6-7 pages. The pages are : 
  • Home
  • About Yubari
  • Shop
  • Care Guide / FAQ
  • More Page - Contains App Download and Insta Promotion
  • Contact Us
  • Cart Logo on Top Right to go into Checkout Page.
The Content Structure can be seen on this document : 
Fig 3.30 Yubari Website Content Week 13 17/07/2025
After that I start moving on to the Figma to progress with the website. Since my work partner is the group leader also and she do have a lot of task, I volunteered to do this website by myself. First, I structure the layout and later I will built the interactive components.

Home Page
The first page user encountered are the home page. This home page contains Navigation Bar, Yubari photo and big title with CTA Button to Shop Yubari. Under it, There are 3 reason why user need to Buy Yubari which are the Design, Fun and Eco Choices. I implemented user testimonials after it by creating 5 people from user personas as a reviewer for Yubari Self Watering Pot.
Fig 3.31 Home Page Design Week 13 19/07/2025

About Page
The about page contains a short description of Yubari, with our big idea : Name them, Pet them, Never Overwater them. To boost user confidence, I added 3 reason what makes Yubari special and the core values of Yubari. There are 4 core values and it will be designed using component later so user can hover it to increase interactivity.

The last part for this pages is a CTA button to make user go to the shop pages after they have read and understand what is Yubari about.
Fig 3.32 About Page Week 13 19/07/2025
Fig 3.33 Progress (BTS) Week 13 19/07/2025

Shop Page
The Shop Page are the key important part for the website. It contains Yubari product photo with information related like the color, prices and description. There are buttons to add product into cart and Buy Now button. If we click the "Buy Now" it would direct us to the checkout page.
Fig 3.34 Shop Page Week 13 19/07/2025
As we have made the mascot, we plan to make the mascot as Yubari accessories that could be purchased on the websites as well. For the next week, the page left are FAQ / Care Guide, Promotion for App and Instagram, Contact Us and Checkout Page.

Week 14 - Working on the Creative Solutions
This time, I was sick and not able to attend the classes. I continue with my part which is to finish up the web page remains. Progress shown below :

FAQ Page
The FAQ Page Consist a care guide for Yubari designed in dropdown menu. I have made the interaction as well so all elements would be clicked and increasing interactivity.

The guide were divided into 3 categories which are about the product, care and maintenance and tips & trick. Inside the page, I applied auto layout so when the button is clicked, its not overlap other elements and going down instead.
Fig 3.35 FAQ Dropdown Components Week 14 27/07/2025
This page ended with CTA button linked to the contact us page if user still need a help / guidance for their Yubari.
Fig 3.36 FAQ Page Week 14 27/07/2025

More Page
On the fifth page, the more page were introduced to promote the app and instagram we have made the mockup on. I try to find the phone mockup in Canva and download it so I can applied in my Figma later.
Fig 3.37 Asset Mockup in Canva Week 14 27/07/2025
The interactive elements for this page its only the hover button for download app and instagram link.
Fig 3.38 More Page Week 14 27/07/2025

Contact Us Page
The contact pages contains expedio contact list like email , phone number, and address. I also added form that user can fill and I showed the result if user click the button that said "We got your messages" to increase user experiences.
Fig 3.39 Messages Result (Element by Zhi Xuan) Week 14 27/07/2025
Fig 3.40 Contact Us Page Week 14 27/07/2025

Checkout Page
The last page I have made is the Checkout Page that contains the billing address, payment method and our order summary. When user click the Place Order button, it would shown a messages that our Yubari is on the way.
Fig 3.41 Purchase Done Messages (Element by Zhi Xuan) Week 14 27/07/2025
Fig 3.42 Checkout Page Week 14 27/07/2025

Components Design
The components design were made to increase user experiences. I implemented some features that could be interact like hover and dropdown mostly.
Fig 3.43 All Components Week 15 31/07/2025
Components List : 
  • Hover for 3 Reason You Should buy Yubari in Home Page
  • All Pink Button Design have a Green Hover Color.
  • The Core Values in About Page
  • Select Color Choices in Shop Page
  • Checkout Page Billing Address Data
  • Dropdown Menu for FAQ
  • Navigation Bar Hover Design

FIGMA WORKING FILE
Fig 3.44 Figma Working File Preview : Yubari Week 15 31/07/2025

Fig 3.45 Figma Prototype Preview : Yubari Week 15 31/07/2025
TASK 3
Final Presentations

Week 15 - Final Presentations - 01 / 08 / 2025
On 1st August 2025, We presented our design solutions in front of Expedio member Miss Gina. Our presentation received a positive feedback by them, said that our design is girly pop and the overall works was align and great job. Thanks to them, our hard works were paid off. At the end, we added more videos ads into slides to highlight the big idea.
Fig 3.46 Presentation Documentation #1 Week 15 01/08/2025
Fig 3.47 Presentation Documentation #2 Week 15 01/08/2025

FINAL PRESENTATION TASK 3
Canva Link : HERE
Fig 3.48 Final Presentation : Yubari by Group 10 Week 15 01/08/2025
REFLECTIONS
WEEK 1
In the first week, Mr. Mike explains the overall modules task and company overview. After that, he ask us to form a group that consist of 5-7 people in different specialization. Mr. Mike gave us samples from previous student which help me gain more references on the task would looks alike. From the industry list, I choose Yubari - Self Watering Pot, even I'm not a graphic design student, but I do have interest on that field and want to challenge myself learning something I never learned before. After selecting the topic, I grouped with other teammates and start know each other. There were not much task to do in first, instead we tried to connect to the client first and prepare for the meeting happened in around next week.

WEEK 2
This week is our starting point of the task. Mr. Mike has gave us all the miro board and project tracking document to be filled on. In class, Our group leader have already prepared several questions to be asked on the next week when we meet the client. We have discussed regarding on idea and plan about what should be prepared for the upcoming days. During contextual research, I have learned pretty much about the company background, its product, , several competitors and how should we make our ideas unique rather than competitor have. 

WEEK 3
This week, Mr. Mike checking out our progress and he targeted us to make sure the contextual research is finished. We have finished it but need to revise some part since we receive feedback from him. After class, we have a meeting in Lepak with all full members gathered. We discussed what step should we do next and planning on what day we are gonna visit Expedio Company. From Mr. Mike feedback, we mostly need to figure out the competitor details, audience and start preparing some questions for survey and interview.

WEEK 4
I continue to do my assigned part which is the user persona starting this week. In other modules, I ever did a user persona so it was not like something new to me. The new insight I have learned is to understand how smart pots literally work by reviewing other people's reviews, research on persona data proof and understanding if these people are related to Yubari or not. The gardener review and more article information could help me get to know the basics to become a gardener.

WEEK 5
I and some of my group members did a discussion to determine the target audience that can fit / might want to purchase a Yubari product. From Dr. Mike feedback, the user should be in different categories like students, young adults, etc that can have different personalities or motivations. I learned that user persona plays an important part, especially that we need to pay attention to user pain and gain points that would lead us to finalize the findings and problem statement later on. It also could not be based on assumptions. Better if we have a proof or have interviewed the target at first. This could be useful information I can apply if I was assigned to make a user persona again.

More than user persona, me and some of my group members also did a visit to expedio and that's our first time seeing a yubari product physically. Having small talks with Toru and The Boss also made me learn on how the company and product works.

WEEK 6
This week I helped to distribute our survey to reach the target number. There were not many things I did since another member was already in charge of doing their part by this week. I'm just helping to check the board and arrange it to make it look more clean and easy to view. It's better to make our Miro Board clean so the information could be easier to understand as well and helps us to build the proposal well designed.

WEEK 7
Our group did a different task since there was so much work load and we needed to split so we could move faster. My task for this time is similar to week 5, where I'm focused on Reiteration of User Persona. I revised some parts a little and added 2 more from the survey answer. After I'm done with it, I'm moving on to do the findings and by doing it, my knowledge on how to bring Yubari on this project presentation has broadened.

WEEK 8
Although this week is a mid term break, we keep progressing to finalize the problem statement, goals, etc so that we can move to the art directions. For this week, I did an empathy map and user stories from the 3 persona we have done interviews with. On Friday, we have a meeting to discuss the solution and start planning the outcomes. We can carefully look at the timelines also since we need to be realistic. After the discussion, I'm gonna do the website design on the home page, with Nicole doing the other pages for the next week. In short, by creating empathy maps and user stories, I learn to think beyond surface-level needs and consider your users’ emotions, pain points, motivations, and daily context.

WEEK 9
This week, since it was a heavy rain day, we discuss the work in the syopz and then consulted with Mike regarding on what we have so far. Mike feedback was valuable and make me realize how the big idea plays an important part and it should have answered all of the how might we questions. More than that, as I'm working on the website part, this give me a new challenge since I rarely make a web, more likely into the app. I would like to look forward on how I execute this work.

WEEK 10
This week is the presentation day for task 1 where my group presented at last. We all came prepared and our group leader took a part to present our work. From Toru feedback, I'm glad that most of it are positive thought and we can still improve some of the solutions to make it better. By looking from other group presentation, I can learn from their materials, insight and design that is different but still looks interesting as well.

WEEK 11
This week, we have a physical class as well and Mr. Mike briefed us for the final presentation. He showed some example from past students and we can learn how to structure our slides later. Moreover, we were introduced to Gant Chart, which means we should start to produce our creative solutions now. 

WEEK 12
This week I learned that doing project tracking documents made me learn back the insight we have made from previously. Learning the audiences and insight made me realize that our creative solutions should match with what we have learned. As for my part in doing the websites, I start to find and take notes of what contents I need to add for the website. By managing the content structure, it would help me in the next step to build the website prototype.

WEEK 13
This week I have started to build a website for a Yubari product, with the MVP is to guide users through the information given and purchases. Designing the website may be challenging for me since I rarely did the website design previously. By this task, I have learned how to design the layout for a good website. Thinking about the Yubari contents also taught me the understanding for these modules and the client product. So far this week I have realized new things about Yubari and I am eager to see the final result for the website later.

WEEK 14
This week I continue my progress to designing the website for Yubari. The page remains are contact us, checkout page, FAQ and More Page. I started to finalize everything and create the interactive prototype as well so the website is gonna look like a fully functional web. It was a great experience since it matches well with my specialization which is UI/UX. After that, we started to divide our part for the final presentation that happens on 1st August. I took the user persona and data summary part as for the final presentation. In class, we also receive feedback that we need to align what we have worked on with the customer journey map.

WEEK 15
This week we had a final presentation with Dr. Mike and Our Client Representative Miss Gina. She complimented our works and said it was well done. I was grateful with the feedback given and completed my website part on time make me felt satisfied. After the presentation, I continue to finish my portfolio, project track document and updating Miro Board to submit it.

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