How Putting Faces (Literally) to My AI Garden Images Gave It a Personality

#ux #devjournal #buildinpublic #ui

Pure Illustrations

To display rotating images during the long Image Edit API calls to transform users' messy backyards, I have started to create educational gardening tips. At first, they were purely about the landscape itself, like something out of a gardening textbook.

I made before-and-after images like:

Lighting vs no lighting

Technically, the images were useful. But something felt missing.

Then I realized: I wasn’t actually showing who the app was for. Then I tried adding characters into the scenes. Instead of a blank garden, I showed this instead:

Suddenly, the images stopped looking like generic landscaping diagrams and started feeling like lifestyle outcomes.

Who Specifically Am I Helping?

I realized my target users were probably not hardcore gardeners. They are more likely:

Busy professionals in their 30s
First-time homeowners
People with decent income but limited time
People who want a beautiful space without spending every weekend doing hard labor

The garden itself is not really the product.

The product is:

Less stress
Pride in the home
A relaxing lifestyle
Confidence inviting friends over
Avoiding expensive gardening mistakes years later

Adding characters with expressions — stressed, tired, peaceful, proud — made the consequences emotionally obvious within seconds.

Ironically, this lesson had almost nothing to do with programming. But it may end up being one of the most important product decisions I’ve made so far.