When human-centred design met landscaping
- UXcentric
- Jan 9
- 7 min read
Updated: May 21
How I apply human-centred design beyond digital to create luxury garden experiences
Darren Wilson
If you’d told me over twenty years ago that I’d one day be applying the same UX design process to luxury garden design, I’d have laughed.
Back then, my world was software, systems and screens. My brother Paul was paving, installing driveways and doing proper hard graft. I've barely put a spade in the ground!
And yet, somehow, those two worlds collided.
This isn’t a story about switching careers or discovering a late love of landscaping. It’s about what happens when human-centred design is applied beyond the digital world, with one constant at its heart: people.
Two worlds, one idea
In 2015, I became a co-director, with my brother Paul, in his paving and landscaping business.
By then, he’d built a strong local reputation through years of high-quality work and word of mouth. It was the kind of setup where the phone kept ringing because people trusted you.
My own career had taken a very different path. I’d spent around ten years working away from Teesside, designing digital products, systems, and services for large organisations.
Most of my work happened on screens, in workshops, and in conversations about users, journeys, and experiences.
When we first discussed working together, it was intended to be straightforward. I’d help bring some structure (admin, a website, maybe a bit of process) and take some of the pressure off Paul so he could focus on building.
What I hadn’t anticipated was that the way I approached design and problem-solving would start to shape far more than just the admin.
Between us, we were combining very different perspectives: digital design thinking, practical construction expertise, and years of experience working directly with customers. That mix turned out to be far more powerful than either of us expected.
I thoroughly enjoy working with my brother in a completely different domain, using my UX expertise to help shape something tangible and lasting.
There is something hugely rewarding about helping people transform their gardens, while also developing my own skills and supporting Paul’s business along the way.
Over time, that combination changed the way we thought about the work. Not just how projects were sold, priced or delivered, but how customers moved from uncertainty to confidence.
My brother, Paul, and I
How things worked before
Before the pandemic, the customer experience was simple and increasingly stretched.
A potential customer would call Paul, often reaching voicemail because he was on-site.
Enquiries came in thick and fast; his work was, and still is, excellent. But time was always tight, and some calls inevitably slipped through the cracks.
If a visit was arranged, Paul would measure up, have a short conversation, and head off to price the job. Occasionally, there might be a quick 2D sketch to explain where things would go, but more often than not, it was left to imagination.
And that was it.
It was a fast, informal process that jumped straight from a loose understanding of the requirements to implementation. If budgets didn’t quite line up, there might be some iteration, but largely it was quote, accept and build.
At the time, the business was doing OK. I knew it could be better, but there was always something more urgent to deal with.
And then everything changed.
The moment we had to rethink everything
March 23rd, 2020. Six days before Paul’s 40th birthday. Lockdown.
While my own work life carried on relatively unchanged, and if anything, actually busier than ever, Paul’s work stopped overnight.
Aside from the one-hour daily walk, my time was filled with video calls, wireframing and design reviews on projects in the UK and abroad. Meanwhile, he wasn’t allowed to visit customers anymore. He couldn’t work. His birthday celebrations were cancelled, and so was his income.
Even when restrictions began to ease, it quickly became clear that the old way of working wasn’t viable.
Turning up at people’s homes, sketching ideas on scraps of paper, and handing over flat quotes for emotionally significant, high-value projects suddenly felt inadequate.
This wasn’t something we could patch or tweak.
We needed a completely different approach.
Applying human-centred design to gardens
Together, we rebuilt the customer journey from the ground up, using the same human-centred design approach I’d relied on for years in digital projects.
Not as a rigid framework, but as a way of thinking.
User Research: Understanding people before designing solutions
The first shift was in how we gathered information.
Phone calls were unreliable and time-consuming, so we introduced an enquiry form. Simple, but powerful. It allowed people to get in touch at any time and gave us the chance to ask better questions up front.
More importantly, the questions themselves changed.
Previously, we focused purely on what people wanted - a patio, new turf, fencing, etc.
We started asking why.
How did they want to use the space? Who was it for? What did a good day in the garden actually look like for them? How should it fit their lifestyle?
The conversation moved away from materials and measurements and towards experiences and emotions.
Following this, we introduced a free consultation, treating it less like a site visit and more like a semi-structured interview.
We weren’t just designing for people in isolation, but for how they live day to day, across seasons, changing needs, and the realities of using and maintaining an outdoor space over time.
We also deliberately structured the process so people could build confidence gradually, rather than being asked to commit everything up front.
We talked about lifestyle, mobility, maintenance, budgets, long-term plans, and whether people arrived with a clear vision or needed creative support.
In the consultation, we ask people to put together a moodboard, which gives us an idea of the look and feel they want to create and is another useful piece of information as we work to realise their vision for the new space.
With all these changes, for the first time, we had something we’d never really had before: clarity.
Design and Prototype: Concepting ideas before building
Previously, design had been minimal, a means to an end. Then, it became central.
We still used paper for quick ideas and planting plans, just as we would with wireframes in UX. But I also started learning SketchUp, a 3D modelling tool widely used in architecture and landscape design.
With proper requirements and a shared understanding of intent, I could create realistic models of proposed designs, not just to show what materials went where, but to explore how the space would feel.
We expect the design to change. Early versions aren’t about getting things right, but about learning quickly and safely before everything becomes fixed.
In digital work, we prototype to reduce risk. In gardens, the stakes are often higher (financially and emotionally), so the principle matters even more: people need to see and experience the space before anything is built.
These models acted as prototypes. We could test ideas, explore alternatives, and identify issues early, without risk.
It also meant our build team had accurate measurements, reducing waste, rework, and uncertainty.
User Testing and Iteration: Shared ownership and reassurance
One of the biggest changes was how we involved customers in the design process.
Instead of sending a quote and hoping it aligned with expectations, we invited people to
Zoom calls to walk through the model together. They could see the design from every angle, understand the thinking behind it, and suggest changes in real time.
“Move this wall.” “Change that material.” “What if we did this instead?”
That conversation is incredibly powerful. It allows ideas to be tested and refined collaboratively, long before anything is built.
What people are really buying at that point isn’t paving or planting, it’s confidence. Confidence that they understand the design, that it fits their life, and that they won’t regret the decision later.
When the process is successful, customers feel heard, involved, and confident. They’re no longer buying a line item on a simple quote. Rather, they’re investing in a vision they have helped to shape.
“The design process was excellent – the team understood what we were looking at and were able to add their own thoughts to enhance our ideas. The fact that we then received a comprehensive design package made it much easier for us to see what was needed and was key to us making our final decisions.”
Jill and Tom
The impact
This shift has been massive.
Looking back, the biggest change hasn’t just been the quality of the finished gardens, but the experience people have had getting there.
For customers, the process removes much of the uncertainty from a major financial and emotional decision. They can see the proposed space, question it, shape it and build confidence before anything is built.
For us, it creates clearer briefs, better-qualified conversations and smoother builds. The design work reduces assumptions, gives the build team more accurate information, and helps avoid costly surprises later.
It has also changed the type of work we attract. We now take on larger, more complex projects with clients who value the thinking, collaboration and reassurance behind the finished result.
In other words, the design process is no longer just a step before the build. It has become part of the value.
Final thoughts
I never imagined that the way of thinking I learned while designing in-vehicle infotainment systems would one day help shape luxury gardens.
But that experience reinforced something important: human-centred design was never really about screens or software.
It is about helping people make better decisions in unfamiliar, complex or high-stakes situations.
Whether you are designing a digital product, a service, a physical environment, or a customer journey, the fundamentals are the same: understand people properly, explore ideas safely, test before committing, and reduce uncertainty before making expensive decisions.
Get in touch with the author
f you’re working on a digital product, service or customer experience where people are getting lost, decisions feel unclear, or complexity is slowing progress, I’d be happy to talk.
Human-centred design can help bring clarity before you commit time, budget and effort in the wrong direction. Get in touch, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Darren Wilson
Managing Director at UXcentric
07854 781 908