With people returning to working in the office and the influx of dog owners during the pandemic, these dog parents need someone they trust to care for their pups. Depending on a dog’s breed, how much exercise they need can vary between 15 - 60 minutes a day, which can be a lot for people trying to balance all life has to offer.

Leaving an opportunity for K9 to give dog parents ease of mind knowing their dog is in good care and getting the exercise they need.

Problem Statement

Trust, cost, and time are problems that came up in initial research, so the goal is to find a solution that fosters trust, is simple to use, and is cost-effective for dog owners.

User Research

I wanted to talk to users, so I created an interview and spoke to users via zoom and in person. To get users to interview, I messaged an online group of pet parents near me. I also asked a few neighbors in my apartment complex. 

I was able to interview six people in a week. 

Questions Asked: 

• How often do you walk your dog? How long are the walks?

• Are there days when you can’t walk your dog? How often do they happen? What gets in the way of the walk?

• Have you or anyone you know used a dog walking app before?

• What did you or they like about the experience? What didn’t they like?

• What are some services or features you wish the app had?

• What do you look for in a dog walker?

• How do you build trust with a dog walker?

Summary: 

After looking at the notes for the interviews, I saw that work, cooking, and kids often get in the way of walking their dogs for about 30 - 60 minutes a day. They mainly ask friends or family to walk the dog if they can’t, but if they aren’t available, then the dog walking apps they’ve used are Rover and Wag. They like knowing that someone is available and will care for their dog, but they want their dog to be a sole focus and the ability to check in, whether it be the walkers’ location or having pictures while on the walk. In addition, they want a walker that can deal with their dog’s personality and behavior and want to build trust by getting to meet the walker and see how they interact with their dog. 

Market Research

After my user interviews, I looked into Rover and Wag. There is a ton of competition regarding animal care apps, but they are some of the biggest. So finding out what makes them unique was integral to making K9 ideal for my target users.

After reviewing what it was like to sign up and book a dog walker, I found two shortcomings that K9 can capitalize on: browsing before signing up and connecting with caretakers.

User Persona

Momma Lisa is the embodiment of being busy. Her dog is just as high-energy as her five-year-old daughter. With both of their energy levels and Lisa’s unconventional work schedule, she doesn’t have much time to juggle both of them and her own life and needs. Plus, being a mom and a nurse, she needs something intuitive to use and won’t break the bank.

User Flow

Since my persona is a busy mom and seeing that you can’t browse walkers on the competitors’ app, I made sure to make that a focal point of my user flow. I wanted Lisa to be able to tailor the results of walkers to what she needs and see options before going through a detailed signup process.

Wireframing

Above are my second set of wireframes, which has a lot of similarities to the final result. My most significant changes were in the finding a dog walker process.

I flipped how the search process goes, and on the search page, I added a space for pricing, star rating, and a place to favorite the walkers while scrolling. I really wanted to change it, so my user has the bases of what they would like to see while looking for walkers, and they can favorite them as they scroll, so they don’t have to open each walker’s profiles. Instead, they can briefly look at a few, favorite them, then look at their favorite, more detailed profiles.

I also changed the profiles to show a more personal side of the walkers, intended to build trust. For example, I moved the star rating down because the user will already have seen that, added the favorite dog breed (to show the walker’s personality), and changed it to training experience because only a few walkers will have certificates. It can offer more range from training their dog to a certified trainer.

For booking a walk, I wanted to make it more like uber, where the walker is on demand, and if they click the now button, it’ll change to where they can reserve the walk for a later time or date.

Lastly, in my Message frame, I made it clear that it was a confirmation with an option to send a personal message to the walker. I also included the price confirmation because that is something important to my user.

Styleguide and Components

Iteration

When I originally created the book a walk screen, I wanted it to be like Uber and have the user request a walk whenever they need it or schedule it. But when I had users test it, they didn’t understand or like it, so I switched it to have more options on the same screen. I also wanted to include different walk length options because not every dog needs an hour-long walk, and I added the Walkers profile card, so users know exactly who they are booking with. Finally, I turned the opacity down on buttons because it felt less harsh to the eye than the previous version.

Prototype

View on Figma

Lessons Learned

• Conducting interviews is hard when you don’t have a lot of time or resources, so next time, I’ll use a survey for user research on a private project.

• Iteration is important!! The more I kept trying different things and asking for input, the better it got.

• Nearly every research participant had trust issues regarding using pet care services through an app.

• Keeping notes on every stage made the presentation phase a lot easier.

• Be flexible. Things and ideas continue to change throughout the process.