Design Process
Research
Ideate
Define
Prototype
Test
Empathize
Competitive Analysis
Barkerz
A dog meetup app! to Match, chat, and meet dogs and their owners using geolocation.
App also top rated vets, pet food stores, walkers, or anything else related to pets?
Also aims to build the biggest community of dog lovers around the world.
Features
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Custom Profile
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Match with Pups
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Customer support
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Chat Services for pet owners
Petzbe
Social media pet app connecting pet owners in a community where the pets live
Ecosystem for services and products for pet owners to explore
Aims to to break down barriers between people and foster freidnships
Features
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Daily Insights
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Connecting pets
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A community for pet owners
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Access to Products & Services
PetDesk
Supports pet health compliance, reducing call volume, and overall communication.
Provides adoption services, with complete information about the pet
Also maintains calendar on pet related appointments and reminders
Features:
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Simplifying communication
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Virtual care
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Customized messaging
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Mass messaging to pet owners
Bauwow
Its a social application and a directory service, providing complete pet services
Covers pet health, pet products, training and travel, as a end to end service
A community for pet-related business to promote their products & services.
Features
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Profile
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Social Media
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Events & Areas of Interest
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Pet services community
User Insight
Avery needs help to find a companion or friend for her dog, Buddy located closer to their home.
She feels like it is an absolute necessity.
The Problem
Just like people, dogs also require friendship and companionship. Unfortunately, pet parents find it challenging to arrange activities and meetups with other pets.
Featured Projects
Design an app/webpage that allows pet parents to create profiles and use geo location in order to find friends and companionship for their dogs.
When Buddy met Rover
It was just like any other day when Buddy and Rover went out for their routine walks. They didn’t expect to cross paths, but when they did, it was friendship at first sight—something even their moms noticed.
Is Buddy lonely?
After returning home, Buddy’s mom couldn’t help but think about how happy he had been to see Rover. She wondered if he felt lonely at home while she was at work and decided it might be time to find him a friend.
Time to take action
She started searching online and quickly found the website for Pawz & Play, where she discovered that Rover was already a member. Excited, she signed Buddy up right away, filling in a few simple but important details.
On the other side
Meanwhile, Rover’s mom, already familiar with the app, had also noticed the special moment between the dogs during their walk. Curious, she began browsing and realized that Buddy would be a perfect match for Rover.
The play date
After reading through the well-laid-out profiles of each pet, both moms found it easy to set up a play date for the following weekend. It was a breeze to coordinate through Pawz & Play.
PFF
The play date was a blast, and now Buddy and Rover are pet friends for life. Thanks to Pawz & Play, they meet up every week, and their friendship continues to grow.
Story Board
With the problem and solution in place, the next step was to depict a storyboard to help create an insight into the user’s experience and with a goal in mind for the end product and to visualize the features necessary to create a functional product.
User Persona & Customer Journey Map
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Meet Avery and her dog, Buddy Smith — an inseparable pair! Buddy isn't just a pet; he's family. Avery is eager to find new friends for Buddy and connect with like-minded dog owners.
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Avery’s journey begins with discovering our app, where she easily creates a profile and finds compatible playmates for Buddy. She explores nearby events, receives notifications for meetups, and engages with a community of pet lovers. Our app supports Avery at every step, fostering connections that promote the well-being and happiness of both pets and their owners.
Define
Mood Board
With the features in place, the vision for the app's look and feel began to take shape. Inspired by the mood board and dog-related apps, a palette of Lavender Frost, Periwinkle Dream, Soft Apricot, and Creamy Petal was chosen to create a light and welcoming atmosphere.
The dominant shade, Lavender Frost, conveys friendliness, youth, and openness. The logo combines text with a pet-themed image, while subtle graphics like a paw in the navigation bar enhance the playful spirit of Pawz and Play.
Prototype
Ideate
Test
THE STORY
The project aims to develop an application connecting pet owners locally to find companions for their dogs. This platform enables users to create profiles and communicate with other pet owners. Many pet owners seek companionship for their dogs to alleviate loneliness and foster social interactions.
Problems
Pet owners often face difficulties in finding suitable local companions for their dogs, leading to feelings of loneliness and a lack of social interaction for their pets. Despite the desire to connect with other pet owners, there is no easy and reliable way to facilitate these connections within their communities.
Challenges
Developing a robust and user-friendly application that effectively matches dogs and owners based on compatibility, while ensuring scalability, security, and a seamless user experience, poses a significant challenge in creating a reliable platform for pet companionship.
Tools Used
Industry
Entertainment
Empathize
User research
Define
User Persona
Empathy Map
Competitive Analysis
Ideate
Story Mapping
User Journey Mapping
User Flow
Prototype
Low Fidelity
Wireframes
High Fidelity
Objectives
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To assess the usability, flow, and overall user experience of the Figma prototype for the app’s core features.
Scenario
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You are a new user looking to find a compatible pet through the app.
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Start by creating an account, verifying your identity, and completing your profile.
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Then, use the pet-matching feature to find a pet that suits your preferences.
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Finally, initiate a chat to arrange a playdate with a pet owner.
Tasks
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Registration and Verification: Navigate through the registration and verification process to create a new account.
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Profile Setup: Complete your user profile by filling in the required details and uploading necessary documents, such as vaccination records.
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Pet Matching: Use the pet-matching feature to search for a pet that matches your preferences using the available filters.
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Chat Interaction: Initiate a chat with a pet owner to arrange a playdate.
Suggestions
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Registration & Verification: 4 out of 5 users found the registration process intuitive, but 1 user struggled with unclear instructions.
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Suggestion: Simplify instructions and incorporate visual guides.
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Profile Setup: All users found it easy to complete, though 3 suggested adding a document preview option.
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Suggestion: Add a document preview feature for clarity.
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Pet Matching: 3 out of 5 users were satisfied with the filters; 2 requested more specific options, like behavior and energy level.
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Suggestion: Expand filter options for a more tailored search experience.
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Chat Interaction: 4 users found the chat easy to navigate, while 1 experienced delays.
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Suggestion: Improve the prototype's responsiveness for smoother transitions.
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Overall Navigation: Users found the app mostly user-friendly but suggested improvements in the visibility of key features.
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Suggestion: Refine navigation elements and icon design for better clarity.
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Objective 1
Identify the challenges pet owners face in finding suitable companions for their pets.
Objective 2
Investigate the current methods pet owners use to find companions for their pets.
Objective 3
Understand the motivations behind pet owners seeking companions for their pets.
Research question
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5 people were Interviewed
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We attempted to discover what's important to a user while finding a friend/ companion for their dog
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Google Survey was used to provide a quantitative element to our research. Results of8 surveys were used
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Based on findings, we further decided on the most important aspects of the design & features
BRUNO
When he's alone at home. He might be feeling a little lonely.
BELLA
When he's alone at home. He might be feeling a little lonely.
TAKUN
When he's alone at home. He might be feeling a little lonely.
RUSTY
When he's alone at home. He might be feeling a little lonely.
Feature Prioritization Matrix & BMC
Using data from the affinity and empathy maps, we categorized features by complexity and importance, prioritizing those that would initially be showcased in the app, avoiding less critical ones, and earmarking others for future use. This process was key in delivering the features users valued most and avoiding scope creep.
The Business Model Canvas helps us outline the app’s key elements, including customer segments, value propositions, revenue streams, and more. It provides a strategic framework for aligning the app’s features with both user needs and business goals, ensuring a sustainable and impactful product development process.
User Flow & Wireframes
The user flow prioritized delivering immediate value by focusing on a seamless registration and verification process, followed by an efficient pet-matching experience. Key features included access to pet and parent profiles, vaccination verification, and chat options for arranging playdates. The wireframes were designed to visually represent these core features, ensuring a user-friendly experience through simple navigation, clear call-to-action buttons, and organized sections for pet profiles, user information, and communication tools.
This Figma prototype showcases the core features of the app designed to create a seamless experience for pet owners and adopters. It includes an easy-to-follow registration and verification process, a user-friendly profile setup, an intuitive pet-matching feature, and a built-in chat interface for arranging playdates. The prototype focuses on ensuring a simple, engaging, and reliable journey for users to connect with compatible pets and other pet owners.
Lesson Learned - Balancing Aesthetics and Functionality
Working on this project taught me the importance of designing with empathy and always putting the user's needs at the forefront. I learned to balance aesthetics with functionality, ensuring that every element, from the registration flow to the pet-matching feature, was intuitive and meaningful. This experience deepened my appreciation for the power of simplicity in design—where thoughtful decisions, like clear navigation and minimal visual clutter, create a seamless and enjoyable user experience. It reinforced that great UX is about crafting a journey that feels effortless, inviting, and genuinely helpful for the user.
© 2024 by Divya Chakravarthy. Created on Wix Studio.