Cabinet

UX Case Study · 2025

A personal herbal apothecary for hobbyists and budding clinicians

01 · Overview

A herb library,

remedy builder,

and daily practice tool.

The project

Cabinet is a website born out of a desire to practice herbalism simply and safely. Designed for beginners and hobbyists, it lets users catalogue their herb collection and build remedy recipes with safety guidance woven throughout.

My role

This was a personal project, so I handled all of the UX, IA, and visual design.

Tools

Figma · FigJam · Cursor • Claude

TIMELINE

Ongoing in 2026

02 · THE PROBLEM

I was always worried there was a

safety consideration I was missing.

When I started my herbalism journey, I couldn't find a resource that would help me keep track of the herbs I was exploring safely. So much of herbalism is about making remedies at home, but dosage varies greatly depending on the form of the herb being used.

There's also an enormous amount of variety: where you source the herb, how you prepare it, what you combine it with, what other herbs or medications you’re taking. I found myself building a complex Google sheet to cobble together notes from websites, books, and other apps because I couldn’t find a tool that was both personalizable, trustworthy, and beautiful.

03 · Target User

Josie.

Josie

31 · Los Angeles

Yoga practitioner

Farmers market regular

Herb garden

Growing tincture collection

Casual hobbyist

Frustration

Googles constantly, worries about mixing herbs incorrectly. Information is scattered across bookmarks, notes apps, and paper journals and needs manual organization.

Goal

One trustworthy, beautiful place to organize her herb collection, track what she’s taking, and continue her herbalism education without distraction.

CONTEXT

Not an expert. She reads, experiments, and wants to learn at her own space. She’s not ready for a more formal program just yet.

NEEDS

A tool that uses plain language, clear safety guidance, and a visual experience that reflects the beauty she finds in the practice itself.

04 · Design Process

Focusing on what matters most.

Early sketches tried to account for every variable. Too many filters, too many features, a daily log that I knew I wouldn’t actually use. The process involved a lot of paring down and prioritization.

05 • Information architecture

An interconnected system

The structure follows a user's natural herbalism workflow: discover herbs, build a collection, make remedies, learn more. Each section has a distinct job and is designed to flow into other sections.

Herb Profile Schema

Every herb.

Same structure.

Data structure informed by David Hoffmann's Medical Herbalism.

Common name

Also Latin name

Actions

With plain-language synonyms

Indications

Plain language, clinical stored

Safety considerations

Appears in Library and Remedy builder

Taxonomy & plant family

Formats, parts used & dosage

Dosage varies by form

Seasons & growing notes

Zones included

Harvesting guidance

Safe to forage flag

Personal herb collection. Includes

saved herbs, remedies and a shopping list. Browseable by benefit, category or form.

Generates a personalized

formula with safety flags and

preparation instructions based on plain language or applied filters.

Curated herb spotlights,

safe-to-forage herbs by region,

and a glossary of herbalism

terminology.

06 · Key Design Decisions

Three key design decisions

07 · Visual Design

Design system

08 · Key Design Decisions

Design evolution

09 FINAL UI

The outcome

HERB PROFILE

Full-bleed video hero. Herb name as display type. Content organised in the two-column data grid.

LIBRARY

Filter by action, indication, format, or harvesting. 240+ herbs. Cards show key snapshot data.

REMEDY BUILDER OUTPUT

Generated formula with herb list, safety callout,
numbered directions, and dosage cards.