Free Dog Walks for Aging Owners
MY PACK
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Designing The UX, UI and Product Strategy for Aging Dog Owners
This is a project for Dribbble's Product Design Certificate
Problems
Dog Walkers are expensive for Seniors on a fixed income.
Seniors may be hesitant to give financial info, or look for help online from a stranger. Websites and apps are not designed for aging adults.
Often Seniors need walking assistance themselves, like canes or walkers and it makes walking dogs and bending over to pick up after their dog very difficult.
Too many pets are taken to shelters because owners can't take care of them alone.
Goals
Design a useful and engaging UX and UI experience for Aging Adults!
Build a safe, free and mutually beneficial Community Dog Walking Program
Include Seniors into the community, by bringing them into The Pack
Aging Care for Pets
from www.agingcare.com
Dr. Duffy Jones, says pets provide much-needed comfort and companionship to people of all ages, especially seniors. “The value that animals bring to people is amazing,” he says. “I’ve seen older pet owners who are struggling financially choose not feed themselves so they can feed their animals. Their pet is the reason they get up in the morning.”
Primary User Research
Seniors and Students who could be potential volunteers
Poll on my Nextdoor app
Emails to schools and a church near the Senior I interviewed
Personas
OWNER - Henry, 82
"The most important thing is that Sadie likes her walker."
Henry just had knee replacement surgery and needs someone to help walk his dog until he recovers.
He is on a fixed income.
2 walks a day @ $20=$1200 a month!
Tools Used to Find a Walker:
Word of Mouth
Vet
Did not think to use an app, or go online
Goals:
Build a relationship with his dog walker
Find someone who could also help him with mowing, shoveling snow.
Concerns and pain points:
Cost
Finding a reliable dog sitter (other Walkers have quit for higher pay and better location)
Can I trust the walker and will my dog like them?
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Pack LEADER - Jenny, 29 Softball Coach
" My Team is looking for a community service project, they love helping animals but are too young to volunteer at the Humane Society. This is an even better way to help Seniors in our community and keep dogs from being taken to shelters."
Concerns:
Wants to volunteer but worried it will be a lot of extra work
Wonders if parents can help her
Motivations:
Has a grandma who calls her for help using new technology - so she can empathize!
She thinks the Program is a positive activity for her team and hopes more volunteers will join them
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Pack WALKER - Loyanna, 15 Student
"It's fun to get together with my teammates and walk dogs, after we log 50 walks we get a surprise reward from our Coach"
Concerns:
Is the dog friendly and easy to walk?
Will the owners be nice?
Motivations:
Being able to interact with all the dogs
Making flyers
Favorhood - No volunteers in area. Need to know a person's email to invite.
Rover - Walkers available, but too expensive. Rover is the main app people use for dog walking. Other apps have very few listings - especially in smaller towns.
Nextdoor - Majority of neighbors did not want to participate in a volunteer walking group
Features and Players in My Pack
I have an entrepreneurial spirit, so how could this go beyond a concept...?
Dog Owners:
Dog walks are free, no credit card information needed
Create a Simple Profile for their dog to join the Neighborhood Dog Pack
Owners can dictate messages or ask for help scheduling
Simple online scheduling experience
Walkers are local and have an adult leading them (Pack Leader)
Owners not dependent on one walker, anyone in The Pack could help
Pack Leaders:
Manage calendar, dog requirements and students. This allows for a simple scheduling experience for Seniors.
Must have a simple calendar and tool kit
Memory is sometimes an issue for Aging Adults- Leaders can set up a recurring walks and help with scheduling
Students:
Earn valuable job and college recommendations from Owners and Pack Leader
Walk with friends as a Pack to stay safe and have fun!
Set walking goals and optional awards from Pack Leader
Design posters and flyers for grocery stores and local vet offices to promote The Pack- Get Creative!
Set up a Dog Pack Photo Gallery on My Pack of all of the dogs students walk (This also helps build trust within the Owners)
User Flow
On-Boarding Flow for Seniors, including: About, Sign In and Sign Up........More iterations to follow!
Wireframes
I started with a simple on-boarding process for the Owner. But it was far too complicated. I was thinking about how walk requests could work. Then changed my mind. Below are a few of the iterations.
I realized it is better for the Senior if the Pack Leader is responsible for setting up the Calendar and Dog Requirements (Size, Leash Trained, Temperament).
The Owner only needs to read the requirements and select a date to schedule.
If they have questions there is a voice-to-text feature that is default.
Owners do not need to choose a walker from the Pack, just select a time, and a walker or group of walkers will be assigned.
I think visually, so it was easier for me to move into visual design to test and prototype. Since I am a team of one (on a deadline) I didn't need a complete set of wireframes first.
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Larger Fields & Text. Easier Calendar. Shorter Tasks.
Designing for vision loss, hand tremors, memory loss and a hesitation or fear for mistakes.
Dictation/Voice to Text
Default for messaging Pack Leader, forms and setting up profile page.
Testing and UX Iterations
.1
Too many steps and actions on one screen. Owner should just need to enter a name and email to confirm. Moved the bottom links to top menu.
.2
Aqua button looked like a secondary button, changed it to orange. During testing Users were clicking on the "message" button because it was so large and placed before the "schedule" button.
.3
Prototyped version below. Still thinking through how The Pack could upload Dog Pics to build trust and add more personalization without photos of minors.
.3 Prototype
More Features
Building the Pack!
Calendar and Communication Tool for Pack Leader
The Dog Pack - Who doesn't love Dog Pictures?!
Owner Profile and Schedule Reminder
Simple recommendation generator for the Walkers
Partnerships
Vets, Shelters, Grocery Stores, Schools and Churches
Assisted Living Communities
Adding extras (like mowing lawn, shoveling snow...)