The Plant ID Application : Building a Virtual Plant Handbook

Abstract

The author describes the process of designing a mobile guide to plant life based on a dichotomous key identification system. The goal was a simple field guide with a clean interface that could be easily expanded. The author describes a minimalist design with two buttons on each screen, representing the two branching options. The final screen tells the user the common name, species, family, and other descriptive factors of the plant that matched the user’s selections. It also ensures that the user can go back to the previous screen (and thus, the previous question) at any time in case of a mistake, and that any confusing descriptors or terms would have explanations.