Pet M.E. is a pet management and engagement app designed to connect pet owners to local and trusted pet professionals.

Project Brief

The goal of this project was to provide dog owners with an simple solution to finding trustworthy dog walkers in their area. App users would have the ability to schedule a walk by comparing a list of walkers who could be reviewed and vetted individually.

A few of the challenges were ways to establish trust between the dog owner and walker. The walkers needed ways to display on their profile a compelling background that promoted their credibility and assured owners that they would complete their walks as expected. Another challenge was to get owners to view local walkers as fast as possible with fewer steps.

As the sole Product Designer, I conducted user and market research, formulated user flows, provided mood boards with color palettes and font selections, produced sketches, designed low and high resolution wireframes, built prototypes, and conducted user testing.

User Research

Interviews with pet owners were conducted over the phone and notes were taken during the call. I conducted three separate interviews. Based on these interviews, I compiled the following findings:

There are serious trust issues with hiring strangers to look after pets who are considered family. Even though it may be inconvenient, owners would favor family and friends preferably. Walkers have had a bad reputation with horror studies passed along through peers. The flexibility of the walkers is highly important.

Owners preferred other services to be bundled with the app, such as sitting, boarding, delivery, training, etc. Option for dogs to be apart of a group walk for a lower rate. Ways to reliably allow someone access to their home.

Ability to filter and search through walkers. A method to contact a walker beforehand to perform a quick interview.

Market Research

User Onboarding Flow Exploration

The goal of the below flow was to get users in front of walkers as quickly as possible. This was intended to minimize steps needed to sign up/in, however, users were also given the opportunity to bypass having an account to browse providers near them. By doing this, users wouldn't be burdened with setting up a full account before seeing if the app had what they were looking for.

Design exploration, wireframing, prototyping.

Mood board samples, color palette, fonts, user flow diagram, sketches, and low resolution wireframes.

Based on the research, I wanted to give users access to more services than just dog walking. The name 'Pet M.E.' or 'Pet Management and Engagement' covers a variety of user needs specific to pet owners. I choose colors that were both light and fun that did not particularly lean towards a palette used to stylistically target a certain type of pet (dogs, cats, birds, etc.).

Visual Design

Pet Profile Creation

Dog Walker Selection and Profile

Usability Testing

Users were given the task to complete the onboarding flow and to schedule a dog walker from a list of nearby options. They liked how the process was pretty straightforward and the visual elements in all the screens. Some legibility concerns were brough up, as well as some design choices with UI contrast, and these were later addressed in the final design.

Takeaways

Overall the project was challenging and fun at the same time. This allowed me to design a product that put the trust concerns of the user first and minimize the steps needed to get them reviewing providers as fast as possible.