Furry - Dog Walking App Case Study
Furry: Connecting dog owners with trusted walkers/sitters. Care for different breeds while owners are away. Your dog's happiness is our priority!
Problem Statement
For Dog Owners: Dog owners sometimes need help to care for and walk their dogs. We need to create a service to connect them with dog walkers. They book someone but someone else showed up. The Main focus is how we can help dog owners trust their dogs are safe.
For Dog Sitters: Some foreign students love to pet a dog or cat but can’t afford it, due to a lack of time and money. They find dog owners through Whatsapp groups, discord servers, and Rover.com to take care of their pets and make some out of it but, Sometimes they don’t get paid or paid enough for their services.
Solution
The dog walker’s profile is detailed enough, info is displayed in an organized and easy way to perceive.
Users can easily define and filter low-rated profiles to find trusted dog sitters/walkers.
Furry has a quick audio/video chat feature for the interviewers that create transparency before actually leaving them with their pets.
Quick QR-based payment technology without going through multiple steps of verification making a frictionless experience for both the users.
Furry provides features like live tracking during the walk, verified accounts, different badges for completing specific jobs, testimonials, links to social profiles, video intros, etc.
User Research
For user surveys, I used tools like Maze and also the Publicly available data, Analytics, and also one-to-one user interviews
Most important aspects that influence our user’s decisions:
🔸 Trust
🔸 Professionalism
🔸 Previous experience with walkers
🔸 App’s ease of use
🔸 Communication
🔸 Reliability
Competitive Analysis
Through a thorough analysis of our major competitors, Rover and Wag, I discovered that although they offer extensive information for dog owners, it can be overwhelming and lacks simplicity. Moreover, users desire reviews, training, achievements, prior experience, and other qualifications to assess the trustworthiness and competence of dog walkers.
User Persona
Shailey Persona - She is an immigrant from Spain studying in the USA and a Part-time cook in a restaurant.
Jonny Persona - He is Cinematographer in LA he travels a lot due to his work and he couldn’t find a trustable dog sitter in LA to take care of his dog.
Empathy Mapping
After conducting qualitative research and engaging in discussions with multiple users, I categorized the ideas, problems, and risk factors that users expressed, while also considering their insights. Subsequently, I defined project goals from the perspectives of the business, owners, and walkers. I further documented additional notes to ensure comprehensive coverage of user insights in the respective section.
User Flow
Upon comprehending the problem statement for both personas, I developed a user flow to visualize the interaction between the users and the application, starting from the login process and progressing towards booking the walker.
Wireframes
So we have some strategy and flow which shows the user journey from point A to point B. Now it’s time to visualize the tasks, and features and organize those components in a way that helps the user accomplish their goal.
Design System
To bring consistency to our product design, enable cross-functional collaboration, and increase the speed and scalability of design - I created a Design System, which includes Typography, Colors Styles, Icons, Illustrations, components, etc.
Visual Design
The core idea was to make woof sleek and simple, with no unnecessary buttons or extra flair. Just a streamlined interface that guides the users to their goals. woof bright and fun color palette gives it a casual look to make sure the platform looks modern and enjoyable.
Prototyping & Testing
We know how our product will look and work, now it’s time to receive external feedback. For Usability testing, I approached a Useberry tool.
Usability testing enabled me to identify several weak spots in the application and address them. Through real-time observations and recorded sessions, I gained insights into the areas where our users encountered challenges and experienced confusion. Here are some of the issues that were uncovered and resolved.
To address user confusion and overwhelm resulting from the simultaneous display of "sitter," "walker," and "veterinarian" services, I implemented a fun and interactive solution. This enhancement effectively clears the map from non-selected services, streamlining the user's decision-making process. By empowering users to easily navigate and select the service that best suits their needs, we provide a more seamless and focused experience, ultimately enhancing user satisfaction.
To enhance user experience, I addressed an issue where users were unable to view ratings on the map without accessing their profiles. I implemented a bottom overlay that displays ratings and hourly rates, eliminating the need to navigate away from the current screen. This improvement ensures seamless access to essential information, empowering users with a more efficient and intuitive experience.
The ability to track the sitter/walker's location in real-time instills a sense of trust. This functionality aligns with the standard pattern that users are already familiar with from food delivery apps or ride-sharing services like Uber. By addressing the pain point of users wanting to stay informed and updated, we provide a solution that enhances their overall experience.