PetPal

Overview

Objective: Design the user experience for an iPhone app that connects pet owners with certified experts.

‍Role: Sole UX Designer

Pet owners need a way to get expert help on many different topics quickly, since doing an online search for help can be time consuming and the information is not always reliable. Pet owners are not always able to visit their veterinarians for issues, and sometimes an in-person visit isn’t necessary. This case study explores the process involved in researching and implementing the UX design for an easy-to-use app that provides pet owners with access to pet experts that are certified in their fields.

Surveys and Interviews

Surveys and interviews were conducted to get a more in-depth understanding of pet owner’s needs, wants, and goals. In total, three interviews were performed, and 17 participants were surveyed. Below are the insights gained.

Behaviours, Attitudes, and Goals

Affinity Mapping

Survey Results

Insights

• Pet owners care not only about their pet’s health, but also seek answers for behaviour and training issues.
• Pet owners would consider paying for reliable help from certified experts, instead of the conflicting and sometimes incomplete information they find online.
• Sometimes traveling to a veterinarian is difficult and not necessary in non-emergency situations.
• Pet owners want convenient ways to communicate with certified experts such as video chatting, texting.
• Pet owners want a “one-stop” shop for all pet related needs where they can not only find expert help but also other relevant information about their pets and store it in one place.

Personas

Taking these insights from the surveys and interviews, two personas were created to to stay focused on who the users are throughout the design process. Various needs, behaviours, and frustrations were selected from each of the interviewees, whose ages were between 35-48 years old.

Journey Maps

Opportunities

Based on the research up to this point, as well as the personas and user journey created, the following opportunities were identified for the app.

• Free articles/tips written by certified experts
• Search feature to find general pet information relating to behaviour issues
• Users can create pet profiles where they can save articles they found in the app
• Create a user’s reviews/ratings section
• Make video chatting an optional communication method
• Provide proof of expert certification

Card Sorting

A closed digital card sort analysis was conducted that consisted of 3 categories and 19 cards to sort; this gave a better idea of where users expected to find information within the app.

IA and Site Map

Using the results from the card sort helped create the information architecture to organise the app’s content.  From there, the sitemap was created, keeping the navigation simple.

Information Architecture

Site Map

Low-Fidelity Wireframes

Mid-Fidelity Wireframe

Usability and Peer Testing

The prototype was tested with six individuals; four peers reviewed it as well. Some of the insights gleaned from the results included:

• The "Narrow Search" button title may not be the right phrasing
• Similar buttons makes it harder for users to know what the CTA is
• Text is floating there [in the article list] without any grounding elements

Iterations

Both suggestions from peers and the results of user testing were used to iterate on the the original prototype. Below, a glimpse of some changes between the original design (on the left) and the updated version (on the right).

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Final Prototype

View the final prototype on InVision.

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Image Credits

Persona Photos

Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash
Photo by Ayo Ogunseinde on Unsplash

Article Photos

Black kitten by The Lucky Neko on Unsplash
Cat skull by Mathieu Stern on Unsplash
Russian Blue by Max Baskakov on Unsplash
Cat in bathtub by Iz & Phil on Unsplash
Curious cat by Kazuky Akayashi on Unsplash
Welcome screen by Alec Favale on Unsplash

Expert Profile Photos

From randomuser.me

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