Hey everyone! My name is Brian Alvarado, and I'm a recent graduate from the Dribbble's 16 week Product Design Course!

I'm sharing my graduation work that's focused on creating an app for dog owners who wants to find accessible and trustworthy dog walkers in short time!

Simplifying Dog Walking with a Wag and a Tap!

🚧 Project Overview 🚧

🐾The Challenge:

Fetching a Trustworthy Dog Walker in Short Time

Dog owners often struggled to find a reliable dog walker who could cater to their pet's specific needs. Trust was a crucial factor, as pet parents needed to ensure their furry friends were in safe hands. Traditional methods like word-of-mouth recommendations or leaflets on community boards were limited and time-consuming. This called for a solution that combined convenience, trust, and efficiency!

🚨Pain Points:

• Not enough trust measurements

• Insufficient Time

• Quality control of Dog Walkers

✅ The Solution:

Making new Friends through your furry friends!

BARKLY! was designed to revolutionize the dog walking experience for both dog owners and walkers. The app streamlined the process of finding, booking, and managing dog walks, creating a seamless and secure platform for furry adventures.

With a few taps, dog owners could access a network of vetted and highly trained dog walkers in short time. Barkly's rigorous screening process ensured that every walker was certified, background checked, and passionate about their four-legged clientele. Trust badges and reviews from other dog owners added an extra layer of confidence, allowing dog parents to make informed decisions and adding a new network of favorited dog walkers.

🏙️ Our User Persona, based on a busy city! 🌃

While being in a "party" city, the market here is different, and so I conducted my research in a near by dog park! Where I met Gabriel and Kat, who gave me enough insights of the market of dog walkers & the usage of dog walking apps!

With enough information, we created our User Person, say hello to Sam! 👋

📌 Barkly's App Objectives:

Fostering Trust, Efficiency, and User Satisfaction

In my quest to create the Barkly dog walking app, I embarked on user research within my local dog park. Through conversations with dog owners, I uncovered a common challenge they faced—insufficient time to adequately walk their furry companions. This resonated particularly in a bustling "party" city where leisure time is limited.

To address this problem, my objective for Barkly was to create a fun, intuitive, and time-efficient app that simplified the process of finding a reliable dog walker. I recognized that trust was a critical factor in this space. Hence, I set out to establish Barkly as a brand characterized by friendliness, unity, and a commitment to user safety.

To instill trust in Barkly's users, I implemented several measures within the app. First and foremost, all dog walkers on the platform must go through background checks, ensuring their credibility and reliability. Additionally, I implemented a review system, allowing users to provide feedback on their experiences with Barkly's dog walkers. This feedback is served as a quality control mechanism, ensuring that only exceptional walkers remained on the platform.

🚀 Market Research:

User Needs and Preferences: Through user surveys, interviews, and focus groups at a near dog park, I discovered that dog owners face challenges in finding reliable walkers, have concerns about pet safety, and desire convenient booking and communication features in a dog walking app. Understanding these pain points helps us prioritize features that address these needs and create a user-friendly experience.


Competitor Analysis: Analyzing existing dog walking apps revealed their strengths, weaknesses, and unique features. By studying their user experience, pricing models, and service offerings, I gained insights on opportunities for differentiation. This analysis enables us to craft a competitive advantage by providing superior features, a delightful user experience, and a unique value proposition within the market.

After all the information gathered, it was time to put it into a User-Flow!

🕸️The Wireframe:

Wireframes played a pivotal role in bringing Barkly to life. These visual representations showcased the app's interface and functionality, capturing the essence of a delightful and intuitive user experience. By including my wireframes in the case study, I provided a tangible glimpse into my design process and how I transformed my ideas into concrete visuals.

🦮 Barkly's Visual Design:

Barkly's objective and presence remained the same when starting, but I often found the first iteration a little complicated as I checked on the AA levels of contrast of my design and it wasn't a good grade, so the final iteration tackled that issue! Giving an AA grade in contrast and readability!

⚗️ The Prototype 🧪

🌯 Wrapping it up:

Throughout the making of Barkly, I gained a deep understanding of user-centric design, conducting thorough research and analysis to identify the pain points and needs of dog owners and professional dog walkers. By empathizing with our target audience, we were able to craft a solution that not only addressed their concerns but also enhanced their overall experience!

But the journey does not end here; rather, it marks the beginning of a continuous improvement cycle, as I continue to learn more about the product design world of apps and the creation of Barkly's website with Framer!

📱View the FIGMA Prototype here!

My Roles:

🤸 User and Market Research

🌐 Wireframe and User Flows

📲 UI Designs and Prototyping

🖥️ Design Systems and Branding

Thank you for reading!