Racines Communes

June 2025

Product Design

UI/UX Design

School project

To combat social isolation in community gardens, Racines Communes pairs a solar-powered, low-tech E-ink terminal with a mobile app to seamlessly centralize information and reconnect members.

Blender

Figma

Gemini

Context / Issue

Racines Communes (Common Roots) is a graduation project that puts interactive design and low-tech philosophy at the service of social connection in community gardens. Rooted in a personal history of gardening, this project confronts a major paradox: while society and institutions define community gardens as convivial, intergenerational spaces, the reality on the ground is often solitary. Once through the gate, users unintentionally avoid each other, visits are staggered, interactions remain superficial, and knowledge transmission is lost.

The core challenge was: How can we easily centralize garden information to break the members' isolation?

UX research highlighted two distinct user profiles that illustrate this fracture:

Léa (21 years old): A student seeking an escape from academic stress, but who is paralyzed by a lack of reassurance and fears doing things wrong on her own.
Daniel (64 years old): A passionate retiree whose major frustration is the lack of coordination. He exhausts himself redoing tasks because no one knows what was done while he was away.

Methodology

To bridge the gap between nature and human connection, the project adopted a user-centric and eco-responsible approach, creating a hybrid ecosystem:

Research and Conceptualization: Through questionnaires sent to organizations, the “Crazy 8” method, and a prioritization matrix, on-site access to information emerged as the primary need. A “UX Blueprint” was used to define a seamless user journey, tailored to both novice and expert users.

Low-Tech Physical Terminal: To introduce technology without betraying ecological values, I designed an autonomous, eco-friendly terminal (modeled in Blender, 2.10m high) installed directly in the vegetable garden. It relies on digital sobriety: powered by a 5-10W solar panel, it features an E-ink screen (which consumes energy only upon page refresh and offers glare-free readability) and IP67 physical buttons designed for earthy or gloved hands. A concrete anchor ensures a 15-year lifespan against weather and vandalism.

Mobile Application: Acting as a remote extension, the app allows users to check the logbook, chat, and plan visits from home.

UI & Art Direction: The interface uses familiar patterns (inspired by messaging apps) to eliminate the learning curve. The visual identity uses a dynamic green and orange palette, incorporating tangible symbols to guide users and providing short practical guides to reassure beginners like Léa.

Impact & Results

Ultimately, the project resolves the ethical contradiction of bringing screens into green spaces. Technology does not replace nature; it fades into the background to empower users, foster intergenerational transmission, and reconnect humans.