Smart Plant Sensor by Willow

The development of the product design behind the Sensor and Hub presented a multifaceted challenge bridging user experience and technical functionality with style that complemented the houseplant and its environment. The product needed a user-friendly and attractive exterior with an interior that would house the technical components necessary for the product to perform its intended functions: to constantly monitor soil moisture and ambient environment of the houseplant and transmit data. This necessitated a robust exterior to ensure durability and protection against external elements like dust, dirt, and water, to provide a product that achieved long-term performance and quality.

We began by collaborating with product designers at Ingenuity on sketches of the exterior, informed by research on interior design. Form Designs produced 3D renderings of the product prototypes from the sketches to achieve the form and function. Software engineers at Danae condensed hundreds of components – 30 for the Hub and 85 for the Sensor – into a compact circuit board within the enclosures. Evolve Group refined the prototypes and prepared the tooling design. Lastly, Sofeast recommended and produced changes to the final solution to improve user experience and longevity of the tools during manufacturing.

The Sensor and Hub represent a groundbreaking advancement in the intersection of technology and horticulture, integrating innovative design principles with functionality to revolutionise the care of houseplants. Through attention to form, function, and quality, the Sensor has set a new standard for product design with commercial, environmental and societal impact. The product has global appeal, shipping to 27 countries since launch in November 2023. Beyond commercial success, the product empowers users to make informed decisions regarding the well-being and longevity of their houseplants and contributes to their well-being by leveraging the proven health benefits associated with nurturing healthy plants.

The Sensor’s design necessitated a delicate balance: facilitating airflow for humidity and temperature measurements while shielding technical components from water damage. Careful consideration was given to design elements that would enable airflow while safeguarding the circuit board. The placement of the light pipe within the upper polygonal structure of the Sensor also presented a design and engineering challenge. It required the exterior positioning to align with the aesthetic while transmitting light exposure accurately to the specific component on the circuit board, ensuring precise light readings. Powering the Sensor was a critical design and user experience consideration. Reliance on wall outlets and cables presented limitations, hindering the flexibility of plant placement and impacting user experience. Ensuring product safety was paramount and factored into the design: the presence of electrical cables during plant waterings could pose a safety risk to the user, and other power sources like button batteries entailed potential choking hazards to children. Lastly, the varying size and pot depth of houseplants and its relationship to the soil moisture probes was factored into the design. To address this, we incorporated the capability for interchangeable probes in the Sensor’s bottom half; users can purchase a longer probe for pot depths over 20cm.