FYTA
Redesigning Plant Care
for the IoT Age
From zero design system to shipped product. 2 years, 1,000+ users, and a sensor character that came to stay.
FYTA is a Berlin-based IoT startup with a simple mission: help people understand their plants before it's too late. A sensor placed in the pot measures moisture, nutrition, temperature, and light; transmitting real-time data to a mobile app
The company’s mission: providing users with real-time data and guidance for plant care.
What I did
Lead UX & UI Design
Graphic Design
Communication Design
Project Management
When?
March 2021 – December 2022
My Misson?
Redesign the UI, make sensor data understandable while coordinating with a team across different parts of Europe
The Design Challenge
How do you visualize complex sensor data (moisture, nutrients, temperature, light) in a way that is understandable, actionable, and engaging for users?
As well as redesigning an entire UI while building a design system it on the go (which later became the foundation of what FYTA is now)
Overall Challenge
Create a product that would be useful for our users (help them stop killing their plants), viable for the investors, buildable for the developers, and feasible within production cost and timelines. At an early-stage startup (and specially at a Hardware startup) your challenges are everywhere.
Prevented fragmented UI decisions by establishing a design system early
Introduced Beamy as a lasting brand element now used across FYTA's ecosystem
The Impact
1,000+ Users Onboarded
Post-launch customer base reached within the first product cycle
The foundation built during this project now supports a product running in 80+ countries.
Aligned product, marketing, and dev teams around a unified design vision
What was the journey to achieve this results?
The App
Design Process
First, tuck the old design and re-design it on the go taking the priorities into consideration
Before
After
During the design process I introduced Beamy (a personified sensor character) bringing empathy into the product.
On Boarding with Beamy
Data Visualization
"Valeria mastered this task excellently and made a significant contribution to the success of the project. With her team-oriented working style and positive energy, she also shaped the team atmosphere for the better."
— FYTA CEO Reference Letter, 2023
