Leash & Collar (L&C) is a one-stop shop for dog owners on the go. L&C provides a streamlined experience for all walking, sitting, & training service needs entrusted by our top-of-the-line certified caretakers. With so many apps to choose from, it’s important to have a differentiated offering. The focus of L&C is simplicity and trust. Simple for users (and walkers) and dog owners to feel that its so trustworthy, they can't wait to tell their friends.

Click here to see the prototype in action

As lead designer, I was tasked with taking a customer-driven approach to designing L&C.

My Role: User Research, Market Research, LoFi Wireframing, Hi-Fi Wireframing, Visual Designing, Prototyping, & User Testing

Framing the Problem

Dog owners are reluctant to use dog walking applications because they feel as if they are untrustworthy, difficult to use, & expensive. Owners feel like their dog’s special needs are disregarded and are uncomfortable with leaving their beloved best friend with just anybody.

After developing an extensive google poll with 18 thorough responses as well as conducting face-to-face interviews with dog owners residing in both the west & east coast, I was able to pull quantitative & qualitative insights to accurately define the problem & begin the solution ideation process.

Challenge & Opportunities

Challenges:

1. Trust

2. Functionality

3. Cost

The following section breaks down each challenge into subcategories elaborating on the problem and opportunities at hand.

Solution Fit

Validation

Testing played a significant role in every step of the design process. Testing early allowed me to gain feedback & valuable insights to implement & refine my design before it even reached the prototyping phase. Because of this, I was able to manage my time effectively versus going down a rabbit hole for a feature that didn't add value to the customer in the end.

My Design Process

Research

As I began thinking about how to create a customer-driven dog walking app, I needed to put myself in a position to understand the user's pain points, needs, & challenges. To do so, I created a Google Poll and then posted a story on Instagram to reach all dog owners in my network.

From there, I selected a few individuals and conducted face-to-face interviews to better understand their responses & determine the core issue at hand.

After my qualitative research, I began to dive into what the market currently has to offer. I took the following two competitors, Rover and Wag! to analyze their competitive advantages over one another. Rover was the clear winner but lacked a lot of features that users are looking for.

Once I gained a better understanding of user pain points, user requirements, and the current market of existing products, it was time to bring it all together by creating a user persona that embodies the wide array of dog owner needs.

User Flow

When creating my user flow, I wanted to focus on giving my first-time user the opportunity to get a feel for how the app functions and operates. This flow allows them to go through the entire booking and walker selection process before having to commit to creating an account. This adds value to the user because they can depict whether or not Leash & Collar meets their needs as well as see the plethora of high-quality walkers, versatile filter criteria, and easy to use interface.

Wireframes

Once the user flow was created, it was time to mock up some low & high fidelity wireframes. What started as Crazy 8's on paper was eventually designed in Figma for a clean, crisp look. This was an opportunity for me to test and gain feedback from my mentor and peers early on in the process. Through their suggestions, these wireframes were refined and many carried over into my visual design phase.

Visual Design

Although Leash & Collar's first visual design iteration followed my user flow accurately, the design lacked contrast, text hierarchy, spacing, and overall consistency.

This was the perfect opportunity to seek feedback and have my network test how the application looks, feels, and flows. Through an abundance of insightful feedback from colleagues, user tests, and design iterations later; I was able to create a design that primarily meets my user's needs but also visually looks, feels, and functions seamlessly.

Prototyping

Click here to see the prototype in action!

Retrospective

This project was a super fun opportunity for me to get my hands on product design from the beginning of the design process to the very end. I loved watching my skills grow, humbling myself before my colleagues as I constantly sought feedback, and looked for ways to improve my technical skill set.

As I close out this case study, I'm eager to begin my next project! Design is never done and who knows, maybe one day Leash & Collar will be in full motion and we'll all be seeing happy tails on happy trails :)