Spot is an all-inclusive pet services app that connects busy pet owners to trusted and experienced pet caretakers in their area. What started as a simple dog-walking app idea blossomed into a one-stop spot for all pet-related care after revealing an additional pain point- and opportunity- while empathizing with users.

Problem Statement

Busy dog owners don’t always have enough time to walk their dogs or search for someone who can. Additionally, they might have trouble trusting a stranger to take care of their beloved furry friends.

Goals

1. Create an intuitive app to connect dog owners to reliable dog walkers

2. Give dog owners ease of mind by signaling that they can trust dog walkers

Bonus goal: Create a scalable app with enough functions to compete with existing competitors

Research

User Research

I interviewed 2 dog owners and 1 dog walker to discover the main pain points in finding dog walkers. One dog owner used a local dog-walking app called Let's Walk Austin, another used a local pet boarding facility, and the other didn't use any pet services.

During interviews, I determined that lack of trust was the biggest pain point when considering online dog walking services. I also discovered that dog owners had other pets they would like taken care of if the trust issue was solved and if they knew that the person caring for their pet could accommodate their pet's special needs.

Market Research

I took a deep dive into four of the top dog-walking apps: Rover, Petbacker, Wag!, and Pawshake. To my assurance, their main features complimented my findings in my user research.

Live photos, pet tracking, and pet caretaker reviews gave users more trust in the app and pet caretaker. Additionally, all of the apps offered a variety of services, such as dog training, pet sitting, and pet boarding, with options for other animals as well.

User Persona

My user persona was derived from my interviewees' needs and wants. I reflected their desire for more services than just dog-walking, their concern over finding someone who can deal with behavioral issues or other specific needs, and their demand for efficient communication and booking.

User Flow

With ease of use in mind, I created a user flow that would allow users to schedule services, chat, find new pet caretakers, and see currently scheduled services as quickly and intuitively as possible.

Wireframing

First Iteration

To address the desire to have more than just dog services, I put various animal species in the pet profile creation during the signup process. I also included the option to select "behavioral issues", "special diet", or "disabled" so they could find pet caretakers that knew about these conditions and were equipped to deal with them.

Users could navigate to the schedule page to find walkers near them. An algorithm would filter based on proximity and people that could care for their pet's species and needs, and users could additionally filter based on services or price.

During my user research, I found that dog owners loved receiving photos of their dogs from walkers, so I included a social media page in which users could choose to post the pictures they received from their pet caretaker.

Final Iteration

To make scheduling easier and more intuitive, I included a schedule button on the home page and moved the user's pet photos to their profile page.

To save space and reduce redundancy, I removed the app name from the top of each screen.

Design

First Iteration

The main focus of the design phases was to make the app appear trustworthy, easy to use, and intuitive.

The typography and colors were chosen to portray a kind and friendly feel that still looked professional and reliable.

Final Iteration

After some user testing, I found some areas of improvement and iterated accordingly. I prioritized the information that users found to be most important when finding a pet caretaker, and I made sure to maintain a sleek finish.

Prototyping

The prototype was tested by three people who were tasked to create an account, search for a pet caretaker, and schedule an appointment.

The users liked the design and feel of the app, especially the idea of the social media page and the filtering options.

Outcome and Results

This experience was incredibly fun and rewarding.

During the process, I empathized with users, uncovered hidden pain points that turned into big opportunities, and iterated and iterated and iterated! I enjoyed every step of the process, even the most tedious of refinement.

This project sparked a fire in me for UX/UI design. I can't wait to see what else I create.