Design landscaping for the back yard

No longer my responsibility.

My back yard is a small plot of weedy, weak grass under a lot of shade. During the winter I want to make a landscape plan that will make better use of the space. This will have either a smaller lawn with more shade-tolerant grass, or else no lawn at all. I’m interested in native plants and grasses, groundcovers, xeriscaping, things that I can do to keep the maintenance requirements low.