Pawsome - A Mobile App Conceptual UI
Walking the dog without such a tight leash
Creating a delightful mobile app built to install trust, loyalty and peace of mind.
Expertise: UX Research | UI | Product Design
Platform: Mobile
Completed: 8.1.23
Timeline: 4 months
The Pitch
Finding a trustworthy dog walker can be incredibly stressful for any dog owner. It's a time-consuming process to sift through numerous walkers in your area, and the thought of entrusting your beloved pet to a complete stranger can feel like a risky gamble. While friends and family may be the ideal choice, they aren't always available when you need them the most.
That's where Pawsome comes in. Our mission is to revolutionize the dog walker search experience by connecting dog owners with fully certified, verified, and local walkers. We understand the importance of peace of mind when it comes to the care and well-being of your furry friend.
With Pawsome, you no longer have to spend hours searching for the perfect dog walker. Our platform takes the hassle out of the process by carefully curating a network of trusted professionals in your area. Every dog walker on our platform undergoes a thorough certification and verification process, ensuring that they meet our high standards of expertise, reliability, and professionalism.
The Problem: Trust & Consistency
Through user research and analysis, I aimed to identify key trust signals and features that can enhance the search and hiring process for dog owners in a dog walking app. By addressing their concerns and hesitations, we developed a user-centric design that fosters trust and confidence. The insights gained from this research informed the subsequent design and development phases, ensuring that the app provided an optimal user experience and addressed the trust-related challenges faced by dog owners.
Key Questions Explored
What are the main factors that contribute to a dog owner's trust in a dog walking app and walker?
What specific trust signals or features would alleviate hesitations in hiring a stranger as a dog walker?
How do dog owners currently assess and evaluate trustworthiness when browsing through walker profiles?
Are there any notable gaps or limitations in the existing trust signals provided by popular dog walking apps?
What suggestions or improvements do dog owners have to enhance trust and confidence in the search and hiring process?
The Solution
I carefully listened to the feedback provided by dog owners, which revealed that they preferred relying on existing relationships first, such as friends and family, when seeking a dog walker. Trustworthiness and experience with their specific dog were key priorities for them.
Surprisingly, using apps was seen as a last resort, mainly due to the overwhelming or risky nature of the search experience.
My secondary objective focused on improving the search experience to make it easier and less overwhelming for users. By streamlining the process and providing intuitive features, I aimed to enable users to quickly find and book walkers they found familiar, further strengthening the trust factor.
To Review: Gaining Trust
Transparent Information: Provide clear and transparent information about the Pawsome's purpose, functionality, and data handling practices.
Intuitive and Consistent Design: Consistency in design elements such as icons, buttons, and navigation helps users feel familiar and confident in using the app, contributing to a sense of trustworthiness.
User Feedback and Reviews: Displaying genuine user testimonials, ratings, and reviews can provide social proof, giving reassurance to potential users that the app is reliable and has satisfied customers.
User Flow - Onboarding
User Flow - Discovery
Design Explorations
Takeaways
One of the most exciting discoveries I've made during this project was how user research and competitive analysis played a pivotal role in creating a more focused UI. Most apps tried to do many things well and ended up doing maybe one or two really well. In the end, I wanted to just focus on the communication between the dog walker and the client, supporting that relationship.
Possible Next Steps:
Dive Deeper into User Search Analysis: Let's continue digging into user search analysis to uncover more insights into their preferences, behaviors, and pain points.
Explore the Competitive Landscape: Take a closer look at our competitors and conduct a comprehensive analysis. By understanding their strengths and weaknesses, we can find unique opportunities to set our product apart.
Iteratively Test and Refine Design Solutions: By iteratively testing and refining our design solutions, we can ensure that every element serves a purpose and is easy for users to grasp.
Embrace User Feedback: Engage in usability testing, conduct surveys or feedback forms, and even have one-on-one user interviews.
Continuously Enhance the User Experience: Keep a keen eye on user behavior and metrics to identify areas where we can improve and leverage data-driven insights to optimize the user experience, address pain points, and make informed decisions that align with users' expectations and preferences.
Looking forward to future projects where I can expand on these steps and focusing on what works, improving what doesn't and inventing new solutions based on intuition, evidence and building relationships with the user. #fightfortheuser
-- Andrew