PetCare

Overview

Background

PetCare is a pet service app for pet owners to find sitters to take care of their pets.

Problem

Pet owners sometimes need help caring for their pets. The challenge was to create a service to connect pet owners with pet sitters. It was also important to consider how to help pet owners trust that their pets are in safe hands.

Role

I was the sole designer who executed an end-to-end design process:

  • User interviews + Market Research

  • Persona + User Flow

  • Wireframes

  • Visual Design

  • Design System

  • Prototype + Usability Testing

Solution

An all-in-one pet care service mobile app with a simple 4 step onboarding process.

Here are few usability testing metrics from 3 total participants:

  • 8.5/10 average for overall user experience

  • 9.3/10 average for visual and branding

  • 9.0/10 average for trustworthiness and safety

Research

Interviews

I remotely interviewed 3 pet owners with four of the same questions:

  • Do you ever ask friends or use service for pet sitting? Why? How often?

  • What do you like/dislike about the service?

  • Are there any services or features missing?

  • What are the most important things you look for in a pet sitter?

Their answers varied due to experience, but few key insights were:

  • 2 interviewees wanted to see their pets on camera during real time

  • 3 interviewees look for reviews

  • 2 interviewees said price is important, but would pay more if service is great

Competitor Analysis

I analyzed and compared direct and indirect competitors. Key insights include:

  • 4 of the 5 apps offer multiple services to choose from

  • 3 of the 5 apps don't have an option to sort profiles

  • 2 of the 5 apps use GPS to track walks

Define

Persona

User Flow

Ideation

Wireframes

Below is Version 1:

  • User can login or sign up

  • 4 steps to onboard

  • Empty state occurs since there are no appointments yet

Below is Version 2:

  • User must upload multiple photos to verify self and their pet(s)

  • I changed the stepper UI to reflect Material Design more accurately

Design

Moodboard

To explore branding, I created a quick moodboard:

  • There were 2 opposite directions to consider

    • Casual | Simple | Friendly | Affordable

    • Formal | Ornate | Serious | Luxurious

  • The former was more suitable

Color Palette

I used Material Palette plugin in Figma to help create my color palette:

  • Blue is the primary color

  • Pink is the secondary color

  • Different tints and shades help with variation and accessibility

Visual Design

  • UI Theme: Material Design 2

  • Font: Fira Sans and Fira Sans Extra Condense

  • Colors: Blue(primary), Pink(secondary), and neutrals

  • Icons: Material Design and Iconify

  • Illustrations: Icons8

  • Images: Unsplash

Usability Testing

Goals

I remotely tested with 3 participants to gauge the following:

  • Task completion

  • Pain points or obstacles

  • User experience

  • UI/Branding attraction

  • Trust/safety impression

Metrics

Once again, here are few usability testing metrics as a result:

  • 8.5/10 average for overall user experience

  • 9.3/10 average for visual and branding

  • 9.0/10 average for trustworthiness and safety

Findings

Here are a few key insights:

  • Participant A expected to see a welcome/confirmation page after onboarding

  • Participant B was uneasy with adding payment before finding a sitter

  • Participant C thought editing sitter preferences in onboarding isn't necessary

Takeaways

Based on my findings, here are my design iterations for V2:

  • I added a welcome/confirmation page after onboarding was completed

  • I made adding payment optional during onboarding

  • I enabled sitter preferences page to be continued without being edited

Prototype V1

Prototype V2

Conclusion

Challenges

  • Simplifying the user flow in reduced steps for onboarding

  • Showcasing trust and playfulness as a brand together

  • Prototyping the UI to to make it smooth and realistic

Lessons

  • Allowing users to skip or have choices eases their experience and trust

  • Payment info shouldn't be required until a service or product is selected

  • Displaying feedback after a task has been done can be delightful and helpful

Successes

  • Applied Material Design in the UI

  • 100% task completion rate during usability testing

  • Created my own components and variants

Next Steps

  • Add more fields for profile and sitter preferences pages

  • Design a view for live feed of pets on the home page

  • Show screen(s) of scheduling a service w/ a sitter

Follow Up

Contact

Let's connect on LinkedIn

Email: [email protected]

More by Lawrence Tang

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