Overview

Guau is a mobile app concept that helps dog owners find reliable dog walkers.

The challenge

Create a service to connect dog owners with dog walkers.

The problem

Busy dog owners find it hard to find someone to take their dog for a walk while they are working or when they are away. They want someone who is reliable and caring, and they want to find them quickly.

The Design Process

Research

User interviews

I interviewed dog walkers and dog owners to give me more understanding about what a dog owner is expecting to find on a platform and what dog walkers would like to see before accepting a booking request.

The following are the findings gained from dog owners' interviews:

• Their first point of contact is family or friends  

• They will prefer a dog walker who will take care of their dog as if it is their own.  

• Dog owners want to find reliable dog walkers who don’t cancel last minute, are responsible, and are on time.

Market research

Features and services comparison between the leading dog walking/sitting online booking platforms in Australia.

The product

Wireframes and usability testing

Having a solid and clearly structured flow was my main objective. At this point, the wireframes were only focused on the main tasks, with basic information. Here is where I focused more on functionality rather than how a final product will look in the end, and I wanted to make sure the fundamentals were working.

Conducting usability testing during the wireframing stage was key for validating the onboarding and search flow created in earlier stages.

The purpose of this was to get as much information as possible from the user to understand what they expected to find while searching for a dog walker.

The task

To find a suitable dog walker and book a time with them.

Feedback

Changes made after insights were collected and analysed in the user testing:

• The user wasn’t sure/didn't feel confident about doing a booking because it wasn't sure if the dog walker was available - Changes: Add a range of time available before the search results and in the filters menu.

• The user didn’t think about the need to message the dog walker, only if it was necessary. Changes: Request a booking CTA was added, followed by an automated message in the chat between the dog owner and the dog walker.

• The user would prefer to have a recurrent dog walker and build trust than changing for a new one every time. Changes: Add a reviews section within the dog walker profile.

Visual design

Design system - Consistency matters

A mini-design system with Components, Colour and Typography Styles.

App demo

Try the live prototype here

Key learnings

• Validating flows with the users during the wireframes stage is a highly efficient way to focus on finding solutions and designing functional products.

• Doing multiple rounds of user testing during the design process is fundamental to keeping a balance between the user needs and the business goals.

• Doing a competitive analysis and market research are key parts of the ideation process as it allows having a broad vision of how other businesses approach similar problems. It helped me put all the pieces together to find my own solutions.

• Documenting the process, interviews, insights, and data, facilitates the decision-making for the next product design iterations