Tailspin is a mobile app that connects dog owners with trustworthy dog walkers.

Project Overview

Faced with the demands of their busy schedules, dog owners are not always able to care for and take their dogs on walks as much as they would like. As a result, dog owners often turn to family and friends, online websites & mobile apps to find dog walkers who will take good care of their pets and keep them safe when they are unable to do so. However, this is not always as easy as it sounds, as many dog owners often find it difficult to find someone they trust to care for their best friend. Dog owners see their dogs as family and as such, they are only willing to use a dog walking app when they fully believe they are leaving their dogs in good hands.

The goal of this project is to first and foremost, understand the needs of users, i.e. dog owners, and secondly, to build a mobile app that incorporates users' needs and enables dog owners to easily connect with reliable and trustworthy dog walkers.

User Research

The first step was to conduct user research, in which five (5) users, i.e. dog owners, were interviewed and asked questions about their current arrangements to have their dogs walked, as well as their experience with existing dog walking apps. The recurring themes of my user interviews were (1) they don't have family and friends who are always available when they need their dogs to be walked and (2) when using dog walking apps, it is difficult to find dog walkers who they completely trust to care for their dogs.

“Why is it so hard to find responsible people to walk my dog?”

“Since my dog can’t tell me how the dog walker treated them, I need to be able to trust the person who is walking my dog.”

"Most of my friends are working during the times I need my dog walked."

User Personas

The users I interviewed were all single, young professionals with busy schedules. Each person was open to the idea of using a dog walking app, but were skeptical that there were many trustworthy and reliable people available on the existing apps to walk their dogs.

Market Research & Competitive Analysis

Market research and competitive analysis was then conducted, during which time some of the most popular mobile apps, such as Wag!, Rover and Walkies, were reviewed in order to look for both commonalities and differences between apps. I then compiled a collection of screenshots of the various apps and made a list of what design patterns and features of the apps I liked and disliked.

User Flow

Based on my findings during the market and competitive analysis I conducted, I created the user flow for my dog walking app. My goal was to keep the flow easy to follow and to meet both the needs of the users and the goals of the business.

Ideating, Wireframes & Prototyping

I began ideating with paper and pencil and later converted these to low-fidelity wireframes in Figma. I then started brief sessions of user testing early on in the process to identify areas in need of improvement. The most significant changes were (1) on the dog walker profile pages, the button that enabled the users to move from one dog walker profile to the next was moved from the top of the screen to the bottom, to make it easier for the users to control with their thumbs and (2) the icons used to message the walker and schedule an appointment were made to be more user friendly.

One of the main challenges I faced during the prototyping phase was the steep learning curve in efficiently developing components and variants. During this process, I made a lot of mistakes, but undoubtedly learned from them and gained invaluable knowledge of best practices, which will make my designing in the future vastly more efficient.

Visual Design

Based on the competitive analysis I conducted, I decided to use two versions of blue as the main colors to try to convey a feeling of trustworthiness. In addition, I used the complementary color orange for Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons.

After finalizing the color scheme, I decided on the typography to be used in the design. The majority of the body text is 18pt Medium Roboto, with 24 pt Medium Roboto used for headlines.

Lastly, I developed several components to maximize efficiency in my designs, as well as variants in order to allow me to build animations more easily and minimize the number of screens in my design.

Usability Testing

After completing multiple iterations of my Tailspin mobile app, I conducted A/B user testing in order to determine which is preferable to my users. In doing so, I received invaluable feedback regarding features that users did not understand and/or features that they would like to see. After completing my usability testing, I incorporated my findings into the final version of my prototype.

Outcomes & Results

While reflecting upon completion of this project, I am confident I was able to develop a dog walking app that accomplished the goals of both the users and of the business. I did my utmost to take all of my findings from my user research and incorporate them into the design in order to make the process of finding a trustworthy dog walker as simple and efficient as possible for users.

I encountered several challenges along the way, but in the end, I learned more than I ever thought I would about the importance of user-centered design and always striving to meet the users' needs. While I believe the app that I built meets many of the needs of the users, I understand there is always room for improvement and learning is a never-ending process. I know that what I learned during this process will make me a better and more empathetic designer in the future.