Doggo is a concept for a dog walking app that helps busy professionals connect with verified dog walkers to take their pets for walks, provide sitting services, and even give them baths. The aim of this project was to design a user-friendly and convenient service that would address the needs of dog owners who often struggle to care for their pets while managing their work schedules.

Role and Tools:

As the sole designer of the project, my role was to create an intuitive and visually appealing design for the app using various design tools such as Figma, Illustrator, and Photoshop.

Challenge : Defining the problem

The primary challenge in this project was to address the concerns of dog owners who struggle to care for their pets due to their busy work schedules. The aim was to create a service that would connect dog owners with verified dog walkers, while also ensuring that they could trust their dogs were in safe hands.

User and Market Research

Upon commencing this project, conducting user and market research was paramount to understand the user's needs, goals, challenges, and pain points. Through conducting several interviews, I was able to gather extensive information. The interviews revealed two major insights:

• A service where the dog walker could send images or videos of the walk while it was happening

• Price point

In addition to user interviews, I conducted a competitor analysis to determine what other companies were doing and how they addressed the challenges that emerged from my interviews.

"I would love to be sent images or videos of my dog playing outside while he was being walked and taken to a doggy park."

Persona creation

With a clearer understanding from the data collected from both user and market research, I developed a persona that would define pain points and possible solutions - an easy way to see if the walker sends live updates and the rate for their service.

Overall, this thorough process of conducting user and market research and persona creation ensured that the resulting solution was user-centric and addressed the actual needs of the users. By understanding the users' pain points, the resulting design was tailored to provide a solution that catered to their specific needs.

User flow & wireframes

Based on the persona and research, I created a user flow that would offer a simple and seamless onboarding experience. Additionally, it allowed users to find a dog walker easily without creating an account until they were ready to do so. With the persona's pain points in mind, I developed wireframes that focused on addressing these concerns.

UI/Visual Design

The visual design of the app was intended to be clean, simple, and trustworthy. Using a light blue primary color, the design aimed to promote a sense of calmness and serenity. After several iterations and feedback, I established a color palette and designed the interface that aligned with the app's overall aesthetic.

Prototyping : Testing and Iteration

The prototype phase was useful for testing and iteration, allowing everyone involved to see how the app's features worked. During this phase, I focused on addressing trust concerns and ensuring the app aided users in finding and booking their ideal dog walker.

Conclusion - Outcome & Results

As this app was not developed for commercial use, there are no real-world results to report. However, the project received positive feedback from the class instructor and peers. The final design was praised for its user-friendly interface, attention to detail, and the inclusion of important features such as GPS tracking and a review system.

In conclusion, the design of a dog walking app was successfully completed as part of a class project in product design. The individual project provided an opportunity to develop skills in research, analysis, wireframing, and prototyping using a range of industry-standard tools such as Figma, Adobe Illustrator CC, Photoshop, and Figma Jam, and to create a user interface that met the needs of both pet owners and dog walkers. The app's features were designed to address common pain points of pet owners, such as finding a trustworthy dog walker and tracking their pet's walk in real-time. The project highlighted the importance of user research and usability testing in creating effective and user-friendly designs.