Design Case Study
Pampered Pets
PROJECT
Design an app for a pet sitting company
DURATION
3 weeks
ROLE
Lead UX Designer, UX Researcher, UI Designer
RESPONSIBILITIES
User Research, Competitor Analysis, Design Research, Wireframes, Page Designs, Prototyping & Testing
Story
Pampered Pets is a pet care app that connects pet owners with trusted and reliable pet sitters local to their area. Services offered are dog walking, pet sitting, This app enables pet owners to easily find, book, and communicate with pet sitters to ensure the well-being and care of their pet while they are away from home.
Problem
Pet owners often encounter difficulties when seeking reliable and convenient pet sitting services for their beloved animals. These difficulties include:
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Limited Trustworthy Options
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Scheduling and Availability
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Lack of Transparency
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Payment and Communication
Challenge
To address these difficulties, we aim to develop a user-friendly pet sitting app that connects pet owners with a network of trusted and vetted pet sitters. This app will streamline the process of finding and booking a sitter, enhance transparency and communication, and facilitate secure payments.
Goal
The goal of the Pampered Pets app is to provide pet owners with a convenient and trustworthy platform for securing the well-being and happiness of their beloved animals in their absence.
The Pampered Pets app aims to:
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Connect Pet Owners with Reliable Sitters
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Simplify Booking and Communication
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Enhance Transparency and Trust
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Facilitate Secure Payments
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Build a Thriving Community
.01
Understanding the User
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User research
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Personas
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Problem statements
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User Needs
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Empathy maps
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User journey maps
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Competitor Analysis
UX Research
My user research entailed interviewing users who have used pet sitting services, creating personas, empathy maps, user journeys and a competitor analysis.
USER PERSONAS
USER NEEDS
Reliable Pet Care
Users need a trustworthy and dependable platform to find reliable and experienced pet sitters who can take care of their pets when they are unable to do so themselves.
Convenient Booking
A user-friendly interface that allows them to easily browse and book pet sitters, review profiles, and schedule services, including overnight stays, dog walking, or in-home visits.
Transparency & Information
Access to comprehensive information about pet sitters, including qualifications, reviews, and availability, to make informed decisions about the care of their pets.
Effective Communication
A way to communicate with pet sitters to discuss specific pet care instructions, provide updates, and address any concerns during the service.
USER JOURNEYS
COMPETITORS
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
Pampered Pets is an app that connects pet owners with pet care services including home visits, dog walking, and overnight pet sitting.
Analysis Goal
Identify key competitors to review the competitors’ features, visual design, user flow, and accessibility when booking a pet care service. I am also examining what the competition does well and what they could do better; searching for their strengths and weaknesses, gaps and opportunities.
GAPS IDENTIFIED
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Most sites were missing a dashboard for users to see current and past bookings
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Most sites did not have a way for the user to save a favorite provider
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Most sites did not have a way to get back to the main home page selections
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Many sites had navigation inconsistencies in the dropdown menu which made it confusing for the user
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All sites did not have an accessibility option nor were consistent with adhering to accessibility standards
OPPORTUNITIES
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Include a dashboard for the user to easily find their bookings and services
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Include a way to add a favorites section for booking a provider in the future
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Visually indicate when a user has gone back to the home page
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Keep the design consistent in the menu by utilizing a list format instead of adding buttons to the menu
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Consistently follow Gestalt principles and accessibility criteria
.02
Starting the Design
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Site map
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User Flow
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Storyboards
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Paper wireframes
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Digital wireframes
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Low-fidelity prototype
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Usability study
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Affinity map
UX Design
My design process entailed creating a site map, a user flow, storyboards, paper wireframes, digital wireframes, a low-fidelity prototype, a usability study and an affinity map.
SITE MAP
In order to visualize how individual webpages or site sections are related to each other, I designed a site map.
USER FLOW
I created a user flow to visualize how a user would navigate making a purchase. I did this to make sure my site map was correct. In a real life scenario, I would create several user flows to flush out the full user experience.
STORY BOARDS
I created story boards to empathize with users, visualize the user journey, and communicate my vision effectively.
PAPER WIREFRAMES
Drawing the paper wireframes helped me to flush out the layouts and got me to think more about the elements I wanted to include. I placed icons for the user’s account and favorites in the header which was an important need from my user research.
DIGITAL WIREFRAMES
I created digital wireframes to determine the logical flow between pages and screens and made adjustments from initial feedback. When I designed the digital wireframes, I thought deeply about the hierarchy of information and included the most important elements from my user research.
When designing, I also thought about the user experience and made adjustments to my wireframes before building the low-fidelity prototype. I also utilized Gestalt Principles. Gestalt Principles are principles / laws of human perception that describe how humans group similar elements, recognize patterns and simplify complex images when we perceive objects. We use the principles to organize content on websites and other interfaces so it is aesthetically pleasing and easy to understand. The 3 laws of Gestalt Principles are:
1. Similarity
This is when elements that look alike (in shape, size, or color, for instance) are perceived to have the same function.
2. Proximity
This is when elements that are close together appear to be more related than things that are spaced farther apart.
3. Common Region
This is when elements located within the same closed area are perceived to be grouped together.
