My Role
UX/UI Designer
Tools Used
Figma, Adobe XD, Photoshop, Illustrator
Scope
2 weeks
Team
Individual
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Overview
PetPal is an app for all the pet lovers out there who can't have a pet for whatever reason but still don't want to give up on the joy of spending time with pets. PetPal offers you the opportunity to spend time with pets without the stress of owning one.
The Problem
How might we connect pet lovers with pets so they can spend time with them without actually owning one.
Design Thinking Process
Stage 1: Empathize
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Primary Research -
User Interviews
Stage 1: Empathize
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Primary Research -
User Interviews
Stage 2: Define
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Affinity Mapping
User Personas
Stage 3: Ideate​
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User Experience Map
Task & User Flows
Site Map
Stage 4: Design
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Low Fidelity Wireframes
High Fidelity Prototypes
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Stage 1: Empathize
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Primary Research -
User Interviews
Stage 5: Testing
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Usability Testing
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Since I am completely new with the pet industry, I started with secondary research to gain a better understanding of the general workflow and its flaws.
50% of pet owners had abandoned a pet since the pandemic began
6 in 10 people admitted they do not have time to take care of a pet full time
Having these pointers, i ran user interviews to validate my secondary research findings
1. EMPATHIZE
User Interviews
I conducted individual video & telephonic interviews with 5 users. The interviews were focused on gaining information about the users thoughts on owning/adopting a pet
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Do you like pets?
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If you like pets, have you ever considered getting a pet home?
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If you are not sure of adopting a pet, what are the possible reasons for the hesitation?
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What are your thoughts on owning/adopting a pet?
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Do you like spending time with pets?
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Does spending time with pets help you reduce your anxiety or stress?
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Have you considered not to own a pet because of monetary reasons?
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Does the commitment of taking care of a pet stop you from getting a pet home?
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Do you like to play with other people's pets?
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Do you find it difficult to take care of a pet full time?
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Does spending time with pets make you happy?
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"I like spending time with pets but can't take the responsibility of adopting a pet since i have a full time job"
Participant #1
"I love playing with pets but parents don't allow me to get a pet because they think it's a huge responsibility and i am not ready for it"
Participant #3
"I have kids who are 4 and 6, I hardly find time for myself throughout the day, i don't think i will be able to cater time to a pet"
Participant #2
The statements above are some of the participants' responses to the questions asked during the interview. Now that I had collected everyone's responses, it was time to make sense of the data.
2. DEFINE
Affinity Mapping
There was a lot of information gathered from the interviews and it was getting hard to decipher so i decided to sort into groups based on their natural relationships. I divided the information into 3 categories; what the users feel, their painpoints, general demographics.
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Research Insights
Some of the major insights I gained from my research is as follow,
There are lot of students, who live in hostels and want to adopt pets, but their hostels don't allow them to do so
People who work full time jobs do not have the time to take of a pet as they are outside home the whole day
In most of the families, there is always one member who don't like pets and hence they don't get a pet home.
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People are not ready to take up the responsibility of adopting a pet, as it involves full commitment to taking care of the pet.
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More than 50% people i interviewed had financial issues due to which they could not get a pet. Feeding, grooming, vet visits is a huge expenditure
User Personas
I discovered common goals and painpoints for the majority of the target audience based on the insights gathered and created user personas
User 1
Goals
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Loves spending time with pets and wants to adopt a pet
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Wants to feel happy and is ready to spend money for it if required
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Wants to relieve her anxiety and lower her stress levels
Name: Payal
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Age: 21
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Place: Tier 1 City
(Hyderabad)
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About: Payal is a student and lives in a hostel
Painpoints
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Hostel restricts from getting pets inside the premises
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Does not have the financial stability to provide for a pet
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Can't volunteer at a pet shelter because she is a full time student
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"I love spending time with dogs specially puppies but my hostel does not allow pets on the premises, being around puppies makes me very happy and helps me with my anxiety as well. I wish there was a some way i can spend time with them."
User 2
Goals
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Loves spending time with pets and wants to adopt a pet
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Wants to get a puppy as a companion for her 2 yr old kid
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Name: Riya
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Age: 32
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Place: Tier 1 City
(Hyderabad)
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About: Riya is a working professional and has a full time job. Leaves for work at 9 and comes back at 9
Painpoints
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Can't give enough time to take care of a pet full time
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Does not want to take up the responsibility of adopting a pet
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Has a 2 yr old kid hence can't devote time to the kid and pet as well​
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"I live alone in a big city away from home. I have a 8 hr work shift and come back home around 8 in the evening hence I can't adopt a puppy."
3. IDEATE
User Flows
I created a user flow to understand the user journey and to identify and fix user issues if there.
Scheduling an appointment to meet puppy
I created a user flow to understand the user journey and to identify and fix user issues if there.
User Flows
Site Map
I was able to identify the main entry points screens by observing the created user flows. I developed a sitemap for the app using the screens as a base and the user flows as a reference, which helped me understand the overall flow and structure of the application.
Home Screen
Select the breed of your choice
Check available pupplies
Profile
Your
Bookings
Profile
Help Centre
4. DESIGN
Low Fidelity Wireframes
In the forth phase of the design thinking process, i started creating low fidelity wireframes. After several iterations, i was able to finalise on one and also converted them to high fidelity wireframes. Also created a prototype which can be tested out by users in the testing phase.
Final Designs
Developed 7 main screens for the user to understand the main function of the app
1. Home Screen
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The Home screen is straightforward and the user is given an option to select the breed he wants to schedule a puppy date with. There is also an option to check the available puppies available in a location near him.
2. Breed About Screen
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The page shows all important details about the breed like its energy levels or whether it is kids approved or not to make it easy for the user to make a decision whether to select it or not. The CTA is to schedule a visit with the puppy.
3. Select Store Screen
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The screen shows all the store near to the location selected by the user within the distance of 5 kms, he can also change the location if required.
4. Boooking Screen
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The page allows the user to select a date and time slot for the play date. It also shows reviews of the store to make it easier for the user to make a a selection.
Additional Screens
Developed 7 main screens for the user to understand the main function of the app
5. TESTING
User Testing
Conducted a 10 min long usability test with 6 participants who match my target audience. 5/6 participants were able to successfully schedule a visit.
Learning & Takeaway
While working on this project, I realised how important it is to empathize with the user before and understand their pains points before designing a solution. Discovering that most of the people wanted to spend time with puppies but did not have enough time to take care of it full time, I struck upon a great business idea and hence decided to take this up as a challenge and develop an app.
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I learned how to conduct detailed user interviews and then analyze them to generate problem statements and formulate solutions to those problems. Experiencing the entire product design process provided a thorough understanding of each step as well as a deeper understanding of the design thinking process.