SOLUTION
Dog demographics need to be easily accessible through an online dog-focused community.
Owners are able to browse dog profiles that showcase their demographics
Dog demographics (behavioral information and health history) are key for owners to determine compatibility
Eliminates the need for extensive questioning
Reduces time wasted on searching for incompatible matches
Easier to connect and meet up with others in the same community
Owners prefer reaching out to others on a platform with shared goals and challenges
Quickly browse through dog profiles and reach out to potential matches
Create meetup events and set reminders to their schedules
INITIAL RESEARCH
I discovered that dog owners currently use a variety of mobile applications to connect and set up playdates with other dogs.
Before crafting solutions, I wanted to learn and understand other dog owners’ experiences with setting up playdates. Upon talking to dog owners and reading online forums regarding setting up playdates, it became apparent that many dogs owners use a variety of mobile applications to connect and set up playdates with other dogs. I researched what these apps were doing well on and what they could improve on.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
The competitors had limited to no readily accessible dog demographics.
l analyzed five of the most commonly used apps for connecting and arranging playdates with other dogs. These apps all fostered a great environment for finding and connecting with other dogs, but the process of determining if the dog was a right match, was still time consuming and required questioning owners on important information that wasn’t displayed.
The app DogPack had the most demographics shown on each profile, but it still didn’t cover all the important demographics owners wanted to know. This discovery became my opportunity to build a solution on.
USER INTERVIEWS + INSIGHTS
I interviewed five dog owners to further understand their frustrations in order to build a solution that meets their needs.
I wanted to learn and understand from an owner’s perspective...
How they were using existing resources and methods to connect and set up playdates with other dogs
Frustrations experienced by owners in organizing playdates
Key information owners seek when looking for another dog to play with
To dive deeper, I asked dog owners these research questions...
Tell me about your last experience of your dog meeting up with other dogs for a playdate?
What apps did you use to meet other dogs? What did you like and dislike?
What was difficult when it came to setting up dog playdates?
What do you think would make it easier for you to set up dog playdates?
What would you like to know about another dog before meeting up with them?
MAIN INSIGHTS WITH AFFINITY MAPPING
Knowing other dogs’ behavior and health history is crucial, but asking people for this information can feel burdensome.
USER PERSONA
Further empathizing with the users and their daily struggles.
QUESTION FOR DESIGN
How might we facilitate the process of finding and setting up playdates with compatible dogs?
TASK FLOW ORGANIZATION + FEATURE PRIORITIZATION
Setting up the vision for the solution.
After talking to my interviewees and learning all of them use their phones daily and have used some sort of mobile app to find playdates, I considered a mobile app to be the optimal solution. I created a task flow and MoSCoW analysis based on the results of my research to keep in mind features that best meet the users’ needs.
DESIGN
I brainstormed design solutions that reduce the effort it takes owners to search for and set up a compatible playdate.
I checked in often with my interviewees for feedback on certain features during the sketching phase and made iterations in the design early on. Throughout this process, I prioritized time on exploring possible designs for the vital features of the app.
1. Increase the convenience of viewing dog demographics
Owners think it’s a hassle when it takes additional questioning to find out the demographics of another dog. To address this, showcasing necessary demographics takes away the hassle and saves time by reducing the need for additional searching.
2. Ability to set up and adjust playdates easily
Owners often have busy schedules and may have availability changes. They can simply schedule playdates by messaging and setting up event reminders all within the app. This offers a convenient way for users to organize their playdates in one place.
3. Filtering preferences reduces the time it takes to find a compatible playdate
Owners can curate a personalized search list to enhance their browsing experience and save time when looking for a right playdate.
USABILITY TESTING (FIRST ROUND) + MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS
3 main improvements were made based on user feedback.
1. Removed navigation bar for a cleaner UI and improved browsing experience with intuitive swipe features
2. Implemented a dedicated feature for setting up event reminders to improve its usability
3. Streamlined the account registration process to decrease cognitive load
USABILITY TESTING (SECOND ROUND) + MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS
A final round of usability testing with the high-fidelity design was performed to validate the changes.
These were my findings:
(3 of 3) had a positive experience filling out their profile and did not report feeling overwhelmed
(3 of 3) created an event reminder using the newly implemented button with no confusion
(3 of 3) felt the swipe feature was intuitive for browsing, and deemed the profile information well-organized and easy to read
Users expressed it was difficult to find where to view their upcoming events.
2 more revisions were made to improve the navigation flow of the design.
1. Reduced the number of clicks required to view upcoming events
2. Grouping similar pages and reprioritizing the navigation bar buttons to best meet user preferences
FINAL PRODUCT + PROTOTYPE
REFLECTION
What did I learn?
This was one of my first UX projects! I’d be lying if I didn’t say I struggled. However, I learned so much and had so much fun throughout the entire UX process. Here are some of my main takeaways:
Ask for feedback as much as you can - Constantly asking for feedback from my users throughout the entire design process allowed me to narrow down my design decisions to what works and what doesn’t. It saved me a lot of time from creating unnecessary or confusing features that I may have otherwise if I didn’t constantly ask for design feedback.
Don’t be afraid to make big changes, trust your research - I had to make revisions to major features, and I wasn’t sure about what seemed like such huge changes, but knowing the decisions were based on research, I trusted the process and learned that sticking to what the users need will always lead you in the right direction.
Learning is sometimes trial and error - knowing this was my first project, I knew I was going to fail at many things before getting them correct, whether it was asking too many unnecessary questions in interviews, or spending hours creating something on Figma that should only have took a quarter of the time, this has taught me that you have to fail in order to succeed. In fact, failing makes your success that much better because next time you already know what to look out for.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Continue expanding my knowledge of UX and UI best-practices through learning from those experienced in the field, and improving my design skills by practicing what I’ve learned in future projects.
PROBLEM
Dog owners have a difficult time finding and setting up playdates with compatible dogs.
After getting my first puppy, I noticed how often us owners express difficulty in finding compatible playdates. We often feel we’re bothering other owners with extensive questioning to ensure a safe playdate. This made me question, there’s so many dogs out there ready to play… but why is it such a rigorous process to find a compatible dog for a playdate?
Paw Pals
Mobile application design | solo UX project | 16 weeks