Design Brief

Research, strategize and design a full mobile app to help dog owners find dog walkers who are highly referred and could also work on training dogs while on a walk. Our main problem was that dog owners sometimes need extra help walking their dogs, but not all services can offer everything that the user needs.

User Research

For my research, I interviewed 5 different dog owners to gain insight into their experiences with dog walking apps. Each person had dogs who varied in age and temperament, but none of my subjects had used a dog walking app before. I discovered that all of the dog owners were afraid to use a dog walking app because they felt their dog isn’t trained well enough, or they were concerned about liability and safety. Many of my interviewees had rescue dogs with behavioral issues that they were nervous about, and others had puppies that they felt needed basic training before they could be ready to hand off to someone else to walk.

Persona

I created a user persona to serve as a representation of who I am designing for. All of my decisions I ran through this filter of “Are we solving a problem for users like Paige & Ranger?”

Market Research

For my market research, I downloaded 4 other pet related apps for dog walking or pet care and went through an onboarding experience with each of them. I liked how certain apps asked the user questions about their dog’s behavior, and also the customization search options to find a walker. However, I did get the impression that even though these apps had some great features, none of them really solved the main concerns of my research or persona - the training aspect of walks and ensuring that a walker was certified enough to handle any type of dog behavior.

User Flow

After researching, I began mapping out a flow for the app to show how I wanted to guide a user through the experience of booking a dog walker.

Wireframes

I sketched out some basic low fidelity wireframes of how the app could be laid out. Once I settled on the placement of information, I created high fidelity wireframes to show the layout a bit more polished.

Mood Board & UI

I created a mood board to demonstrate the overall look and feel that I wanted Embark to have. I chose my typography and color palette based off of the mood board and how I wanted a user to feel when using Embark.

Visual Designs

I began adding in the chosen UI elements along with photos and text into my high fidelity wireframe layouts to form a more realistic and functional prototype.

Prototype - Test

Once I had the UI of the screens set, I then began building my full prototype. I broke down the app in the videos below to show various user journeys that could be taken.

Onboarding Process

The video above shows the process that a new user would take in order to create a profile and input their preferences and information.

Booking a walk

Once a user has an account, they are able to login with their account information and then proceed to use a custom search filter to find walkers who are best suited for them. Once they hit book a walker, they can choose which days, times, what the length of the walk is, and if they'd like their dog to be trained on the walk as well. The potential walker will receive this information and then can message the dog owner to confirm.

Messaging your walker

The bottom navigation bar has three main sections - the home page, the message screen, and the user profile. A user can chat directly to their walker from the messaging screen and can manage their scheduled walks and account information from their profile screen.

Outcome/Results

In my research, I discovered that many people don't use dog walking apps because they don't trust that a walker could handle their dog with behavioral issues, or their dog is young and still needs training. In my app Embark, each walker is certified with training and there are options for a walker to work on training with a dog during the walk. I believe that Embark solves issues of lack of training and trust in dogs and walkers so that more people can use a dog walking app.

Overall I throughly enjoyed working on this app and moving through the various stages of product design.

Thank you for reading my case study!