Sponsored by PRIVIGLAZE & Chelsea physic garden
Sponsored by PRIVIGLAZE & Chelsea physic garden
Plan A: Plant Planet
Reimagining future gardens when nature becomes untouchable
The project began through a speculative brief from Chelsea Physic Garden, encouraging designers to explore ecological futures. I approached this as a UX designer, aiming to turn abstract ecological disconnection into tangible emotional experience.
We also partnered with Priviglaze, whose interest in non-commercial uses of their smart dimming film led to a co-speculative exploration:
Could we design “emotional distance” using responsive materials?
The project began through a speculative brief from Chelsea Physic Garden, encouraging designers to explore ecological futures. I approached this as a UX designer, aiming to turn abstract ecological disconnection into tangible emotional experience.
We also partnered with Priviglaze, whose interest in non-commercial uses of their smart dimming film led to a co-speculative exploration:
Could we design “emotional distance” using responsive materials?
The project began through a speculative brief from Chelsea Physic Garden, encouraging designers to explore ecological futures. I approached this as a UX designer, aiming to turn abstract ecological disconnection into tangible emotional experience.
We also partnered with Priviglaze, whose interest in non-commercial uses of their smart dimming film led to a co-speculative exploration:
Could we design “emotional distance” using responsive materials?
Duration
12 weeks
My Role
UX Designer
researcher
leader
My Role
UX Designer
researcher
leader
Skill
Speculative Design,
Material Interaction,
Narrative Prototyping
01 The Vision
As climate anxiety grows and human–nature interaction becomes increasingly mediated, this project asks: What if, in the future, plants could no longer be touched — only seen, remembered, or revered?
Plan A: Plant Planet explores this question through speculative design. Our aim was not to solve, but to provoke — imagining a world where plant–human relationships have become distant, symbolic, or artificial.
02 Challenge
From general to specific /
Designing for a speculative future meant working without user pain points or market benchmarks.
Instead of solving problems, we had to create meaning — crafting emotional tension, symbolic interaction, and narrative coherence across unfamiliar materials and abstract themes.
As team lead, I also navigated the challenge of aligning academic, technological, and experiential partners — translating research from botanists and aspirations from a material supplier into one coherent design direction.
Designing for a speculative future meant working without user pain points or market benchmarks.
Instead of solving problems, we had to create meaning — crafting emotional tension, symbolic interaction, and narrative coherence across unfamiliar materials and abstract themes.
As team lead, I also navigated the challenge of aligning academic, technological, and experiential partners — translating research from botanists and aspirations from a material supplier into one coherent design direction.
Let intuition speak first — then decode the meaning behind it.
03 Define
From indifference to attention — we are reframing how humans emotionally relate to plants.
No longer background objects, plants become subjects of care, curiosity, and reflection.
With a provocation in place, I mapped three speculative scenarios:
A worship altar for extinct plants
A sealed garden where greenery can be seen but not touched
A wearable breathing system simulating artificial symbiosis
Each concept explored different dimensions of loss, reverence, and intimacy — pushing UX beyond usability into symbolic interaction.
From indifference to attention — we are reframing how humans emotionally relate to plants.
No longer background objects, plants become subjects of care, curiosity, and reflection.
With a provocation in place, I mapped three speculative scenarios:
A worship altar for extinct plants
A sealed garden where greenery can be seen but not touched
A wearable breathing system simulating artificial symbiosis
Each concept explored different dimensions of loss, reverence, and intimacy — pushing UX beyond usability into symbolic interaction.
04 Ideate & Prototype
I translated these concepts into three physical installations, each designed to guide users through a specific emotional arc: from curiosity, to tension, to reflection.
I used spatial design, light control, and ritualized interaction to intentionally limit physical access — encouraging users to question their relationship with nature not through engagement, but through absence.
I translated these concepts into three physical installations, each designed to guide users through a specific emotional arc: from curiosity, to tension, to reflection.
I used spatial design, light control, and ritualized interaction to intentionally limit physical access — encouraging users to question their relationship with nature not through engagement, but through absence.
User Observation & Interaction Testing
During the final showcase, the installation received over 150 interactions per day.
Its form effectively supported the intended “distance-based” interaction, while the smart glass’s dimming behavior drew significant attention, adding a sense of intrigue.
Visitors were consistently curious — often asking, “Why can’t I ever get close to that plant?”
User Observation & Interaction Testing
During the final showcase, the installation received over 150 interactions per day.
Its form effectively supported the intended “distance-based” interaction, while the smart glass’s dimming behavior drew significant attention, adding a sense of intrigue.
Visitors were consistently curious — often asking, “Why can’t I ever get close to that plant?”
05 Reflect
In this project, I wasn’t designing for usability — I was designing for worship, distance, and longing empathy toward nature. It taught me that design isn’t always about building connection.
Sometimes, the core of design lies in unpacking ambiguity, conducting early-stage research, and giving form to abstract ideas.
I interviewed diverse groups to gather their emotional and sensory impressions of plants. As patterns emerged from these fragments, I was able to shape a design language — a way to materialize an invisible question into something people could feel, react to, and reflect on.
In this project, I wasn’t designing for usability — I was designing for worship, distance, and longing empathy toward nature. It taught me that design isn’t always about building connection.
Sometimes, the core of design lies in unpacking ambiguity, conducting early-stage research, and giving form to abstract ideas.
I interviewed diverse groups to gather their emotional and sensory impressions of plants. As patterns emerged from these fragments, I was able to shape a design language — a way to materialize an invisible question into something people could feel, react to, and reflect on.
In this project, I wasn’t designing for usability — I was designing for worship, distance, and longing empathy toward nature.
It taught me that design isn’t always about building connection.
Sometimes, the core of design lies in unpacking ambiguity, conducting early-stage research, and giving form to abstract ideas.
I interviewed diverse groups to gather their emotional and sensory impressions of plants.
As patterns emerged from these fragments, I was able to shape a design language —
a way to materialize an invisible question into something people could feel, react to, and reflect on.
The final presentation is on Plan A part II