Overview
Paws is a conceptual mobile application that aims to connect both pet owners and pet sitters so that owners can leave their pet at home comfortably and without worries. Paws utilizes communication features to help alleviate the anxiety and stress of pet owners, especially those who have pets with separation anxiety.
ROLE
UX Researcher
UI Designer
Usability Tester
TEAM
Myself
TIMELINE
6 months
Goal
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EMPATHIZE
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Understanding the wants, needs and expectations.
What were the audience’s frustrations and pain points?
What did pet owners really want?
Ultimate goal is to reduce the stress of pet owners so that they can enjoy their time away from home without having to worry about their pets.
>50%
number of dog owners (out of 986) missed out on special events and family gatherings because of pet responsibilities.
37%
number of dog owners (out of 500) chose to stay at home with their dog instead of traveling.
Research
Detailed insights from potential users about their motivations, desires, and fears were gathered through screener surveys and semi-structured user interviews. Out of the 6 users who participated in the interviews:
6
felt terrible being away from their pet for an extended period of time.
5
had either a family member or friend watch their pet while they were gone.
4
say they would not leave their pets in any kind of boarding facility.
Making sense of the data that was collected from research.
Further understand user’s wants & needs.
Classify insights gathered by grouping them into themes using the quick method.
By creating codes, I am able to further explore more similarities and differences between each theme.
Map out user’s thoughts and picking up any important quotes.
Affinity Mapping
By gathering all the data I received from conducting user interviews, I went on to create an Affinity Map. By using this method, I am able to make sense of the large amount of information that I gathered. I grouped similar data into themes based on their relationships with one another.
Insight
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Insight
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Insight
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Most participants said that they still worry when leaving their pet in the care of somebody they trust.
Empathy Mapping
A visual representation like an empathy map helps me organize a user’s thoughts and feelings into a fictional persona that will help me better understand the goals, pain points, and behaviors. I wanted to promote empathy and help others gain a deeper understanding of my target audience.
Pain
• Hears her dog whine or howl whenever she is away from home.
• Difficult to go out since her dog has separation anxiety.
• Wishes she can communicate with her dog so she knows how she really feels.
Gain
• Trusts family to look after her pet when she is away.
• Gets updates about her dog while she is gone to give her peace of mind.
• Has cameras at home to help put her mind at ease.
• Really attached to her dog so they have a very strong emotional bond.
Says
• “She got used to me being at home during the pandemic.”
• “I am grateful and happy to have her.”
• “Pet sitting is based off of trust.”
Thinks
• Putting her pet in a kennel is similar to putting them behind bars such as a jail cell.
• About what pet is doing when she is travelling.
• Her dog isn’t getting the same amount of love and attention from her caregiver.
Does
• Looks at pictures of her dog on her phone when she is on a trip away from her dog.
• Uses pet sitting services for dog sitting.
• Considers boarding places for future reference and as a last resort if she can’t find anyone to look after her dog.
Feels
• Worried that she's away from her dog for long periods of time.
• Worried about any medical incidents or emergencies while away.
• Frustrated that she can’t leave the house sometimes because it will make her dog unhappy or more stress, which in turn causes herself more stress.
How might we reduce separation anxiety in pets so that owners can feel less worried about their pets feeling alone?
How might we help pet owners trust others to look after their pets while the owners are away from home?
How might we help pet owners put their minds at ease whenever they’re away from their pets?
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IDEATION
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Ideas are generated to visualize potential solutions.
Visualize a solution from the How Might We questions.
Medium fidelity wireframes created a foundation for user flows and UI element placement.
Built a design system to stay efficient and consistent.
Wireframing
The schematic representation of wireframing gives me a blueprint of the app’s content in the form of a rough draft. Wireframing sets the stage for high-fidelity screens.
Prototyping
To observe the application’s real-time functioning, I constructed an interactive model to replicate the actual product. Incorporating microinteractions and screen transitions contributed to the enrichment of the user experience.
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VALIDATE
Usability Testing helped to understand what kind of problems users ran into.
Tested remotely with 5 participants.
Documented results in the form of screen and audio recordings.
Provided insights into real-world usage.
Usability Testing
User-orientated tasks were created with relevant contexts to maintain authenticity for the users. The testing's aim was to assure users could efficiently reach the ultimate goal.
You 're curious about how Paws works and decide to download the app for the first time. Set up a user profile.
You decide to also create a profile for your pet while you're on the app. Create a profile for your pet.
You decide that you're going on a trip soon and need someone to look after your pet. Look for the closest pet sitter and book a service with him/her.
Travel plans don’t always go according to plan. Cancel the booking service that you just made with the pet sitter.
In a different scenario, you forgot to mention dog walking to the pet sitter before you left on your trip. Set up a reminder for the pet sitter to walk your dog.
Final Thoughts
The usability testing and revised iterations afterwards achieved in solving the problem statement outlined in the beginning of the design process. Including the user needs at every stage ensured that the final product was well-aligned with user expectations. By doing so, I was able to pay attention to my users and use the insights to build a product that would mitigate both the user’s and pet’s stress.