Dog walking app - Case Study
Design Brief
Nowadays, the busy dog/pet owners face a variety of issues to care for their little friends, by all means, according to their high level of expectations, when is about comfort, health and hapiness.
In the same time, the recent crisis and ongoing recesion force manny people to reconsider their work life, to find solutions, in most of the cases as freelancers.
As a student of the Dribble Product Design course, I was in the position to find and develop a solution for both sides needs & wants.
Problem
As a dog owner, I was aware about the complexity and sensitivity of this problem/pain, which is primary perceived as being the time saving, in a reliable way.
Pets - in general - and specifically dogs are big time and attention consumers, but their needs cover a wider area of services, most of them connected somehow to the walking service, as a main pillar for my project.
The independent available work force (young, especially) existing on the market, looking for reliable collaborations, looks like a problem becoming an opportunity to create develop a Product dedicate to the pet owners, pet lovers and - at last but not at least - for the pets themselves.
User Research
I have chosen 5 of the most involved and passionate pet owners I know (2 of them having multiple pets, 1 of them being a nursing service provider).
2 visits and 3 zoom meetings.
During the interviews, I noticed that:
kids oppinion influence a lot the pet care
the idea of combining connected services looks appealing and reliable
their social media account are full of their pets pictures
I also got in contact with several providers (most of them being students) working as freelancers, potential users for my platform.
The common needs and concerns of both - owners and providers:
reliability
availability
quick access & control.
Here are some leading and inspirational highlights from interviews:
Market Research
The competitional environment on this specific market looks being weak now, in Romania, hopefully in a developing trend.
Many freelancing initiatives and only two platforms: DOGO (mobile) and CareToPets (mobile & desktop) looks simplistic, with a weak enrolling potential from both sides - pet owners and providers.
Solution
Being all about Mobility, Time Saving and Easy Access & Control - alltogether in a trustful community-kind environment - a mobile app raised as a solution for the problem, an interactive and reliable meeting space for dog/pet owners with potential providers of walking and other potential connected services.
User Persona
User flows
The User & Market Researches revealed 3 conditions and competitional advantages, my platform should perform:
an open and friendly atmosphere
professional suport, on demand (kind of pet psyhologist/advisor)
community feeling (a trendy trust and comfort indicator)
With these differentiators, I defined 4 main User Flows:
new visitor incognito flow, for an overall impresion about the app potentialFrom the business point of view, an incognito visitor would not have acces to contact and booking details. All these could be obtained only after registering.
consultancy booking flow - an onboarding flow, the Sign up being a condition to access this service, an advisable scenario for every new member.
The Live Assistant could be a future relative service, an option for a "continuous wow" strategy.
community enrolling flow - with a start from a campaign ad or article with a CTA leading to the Community visitor version page (available also on the incognito visit), with an invitation to Join, for a full experience on platform.
member flow - a complete journey
Wireframing
Following the previous presented user-flows, I have started drawing the wireframes, for a better understanding of the functionalities each stage/screen should present and the options a visitor does have each step he/she make.
Somehow, I designed this project looking several steps forward.
Based on a medium term development strategy, this platform should grow from a walking service delivering platform to a multi-service one, inside or surrounded by a strong pet lovers community.
Visual Design
TRUST, FRIENDLINESS, JOY, PLAY and EASY-TO-REACH are the key-words
I had in mind when I started to build the Design System and the Visual Design for the platform, its VISUAL IDENTITY.
I have started with the naming and the logo.I started with 3 option for naming:
PETIFY
PETTIE WALKER
WALKY DOGGY
I have choosen the last one, based on the memorability potential and joyful sound.
WALKY DOGGY also capitalize on the wellknown meaning of the walkie-talkie communication system, suggesting an easy and handy way to keep contact, an important issue when is about building a trustful relation.
The symbol combines a heart and a paw shape, simply communicating
Love for Pets.
Design System
With a strong experience in branding, I know in the importance of the consistency and coherency of the visual message for the Product, for its memorable impact.
To build the app Design System have been one of the most interesting steps,
I made during this process, sometimes frustrating, but challenging.
An important test for my attention and systemic thinking.
Color palette The first iteration was based on a fresh color palette, inspired by outdoor colors (sky, grass, earth) combining a turqoise dominance with a fresh green to Call for Action.
A dark turqoise for text elements instead a deep black, to cool down the contrast, for a more relaxed reading.
During the tests I made along this process, most of the first reactions were suggesting a different chromatic approach, which conduct me to a second iteration.
Besides some components reconsideration - is dressed in a younger, friendly and kind tone of a creamy pink, accented with a redish dark brouwn for info elements and a violet for CTAs.
A controversial subject was the Tone-of-Voice of the texts - if is to be more joyful and friendly or to keep a relaxed professional on.
I would go more to the first approach.
Typography URW Geometric font family have been the chosen one fo the platform identity typeface.
I appreciate the richness of the styles and the elegant grotesque minimalist appearance.
Components In order to create a coherent and consistent Visual Design with a scallable structure, I created a serie of components with different styles - according to the specific states.
Prototype & Testing
After a serie of screens structure adjustments, I decided to create the Prototype, based on the first iteration, with no strong arguments for the second one, from the test I made.
The Live Assistant and the Community were 2 of the most appreciated options, together with the Consultancy booking one.
They create the feeling of a deeper approach, a pleasant and trustful space, safe and lively.
For a complete journey on WALKY DOGGY platform, please, follow the link below
Outcomes & Personal Insights
From the very beginning, the development process of this project touched a sensitive side of my personal life, being a pet owner.
At the same, have been a nice challenge to dig into a not so developed market in Romania - the Pet Care, by all means - and to face solution to solve pains and to reach multiple goals.
I am also very glad to improve my Figma skill and the UI and UX design knowledge, being aware about the improvements for this particular Project and for all my future steps, in general (Design System, as an example).
To avoid getting in love about an idea is a lesson this project reminded me, the importance of developing potential customer based iterations being almost crucial, for every Designer.
Another important lesson: I will “fight” for a wireframing prototype stage, for my future projects.
At last but not at least, the most important achievement of this course for me, is the appetite for this area of Design and I am grateful for that, to my mentor and all Dribble team.