Dog owners sometimes need help caring for and walking their dogs. Create a service to connect dog owners with dog walkers. Consider how we can help dog owners trust their dogs are in safe hands...
Many pet owners feel a lack of trust when looking for individuals to care for their pets. Users want an application that they can use to help provide exceptional pet care while ensuring the safety of their furry friends.
Before designing any application, I always perform user research to better understand who I am designing for. For this project, I conducted user interviews to better understand users' thoughts, feelings, wants, and needs in a pet care service application.
Through my research, I discovered that users want a safe, reliable, and flexible way to book care services for their furry friends. The three users I interviewed had zero experience with any pet care service app. However, the reason for this was a lack of trust and safety. These three individuals prefer having friends and family care for their pets rather than using an online service. Users have concerns with the reliability and safety of many of these pet care service applications already on the market today.
After performing user research, I felt it would be a good idea to dive into some market research as well to get an idea of what applications are on the market today and discover their strengths and weaknesses.
I like to take screenshots of these applications and pick apart each screen, stating areas that are executed well or could be improved. This process helps me gain more insight into how I want my app to look and function.
One important thing I feel is missing from “Walkies” is some type of exam or credibility assessment for both the dog walker and dog owner to ensure those who interact and work with one another are safe. Apps like Uber, Lyft, Door Dash, etc. that involve interacting with other people need a credible and tested way to ensure that all users are safe while purchasing such services.
I looked over this app and found no credibility section for the dog owner or walker. Again, this is a huge safety issue with apps involving people interacting with others. There is no such thing as being too safe, and I believe some sort of rating system, exam, or background check should be necessary to begin walking or accepting others to walk your dog. Another point to add is there were no testimonials within the app. There was no section to see other dog owners or walkers and no way of knowing who was doing a good or poor job within the app. There needs to be some sort of system so that people can filter who they want to work with or not.
After looking through this app, I gotta say it's a little underwhelming, the other apps I looked through felt like a better experience. I think this app lacks fun and joyful energy to it. Sometimes it feels too serious or like any other application out there. Maybe more animations or fun interactions so the user can stay on the app longer. Rover is popular, but more interactions, page transitions, or features can be added to the application to create a better user experience and even more conversions.
Creating a user persona is a helpful way for me to create a picture of the user I am designing for. User Personas help me put myself in the user's mind and create an application that fulfills all the user's wants, needs, desires, and more.
Performing an exercise like this is great practice for me to niche down exactly who my user is so that I can tailor an application towards a niche group of individuals while also creating a tool that makes purchasing pet care services faster, safer, and more reliable than ever.
Even before I start designing, I need to get an idea of how I would like my app to flow. The journey I create for the user will greatly dictate the design and positioning of certain actions and items I decide to include within my application.
Creating a user flow like this helps me better understand how my user will enter the application during the onboarding process. A visual representation like this helps me edit, change, and optimize the flow to produce the best journey possible for the user.
To create great visual designs, I need to create a few wireframes. I like to create grayscale wire frames with little to no color to get an idea of how I want my app to look. Not using colors and only various shades of gray helps me focus on just the formatting and initial design of the application itself.
I use wireframes to quickly create ideas and develop as many variations as possible. Creating multiple versions of each page helps me create the most optimized and visually appealing design for each application page.
My goal for this project is to design an application that gives the user a sense of calmness that is straightforward, visually appealing, and easy to use. After many wireframes, I added color, text, and pictures to my design. This part of the design process is where I begin adding feel and identity to the application.
To bring my app to life, I added a few wireframes, animations, and interactions to better understand how the app may function once fully developed.
Entering this application is simple and can be done through two different actions. Users can log into the application using either their email or Google account. Regardless of the method the user chooses, a successful login will transfer the user right to the home page, where they can begin browsing for services nearby.
To create an account, users have two choices: enter their email and other necessary information or sign up with an already existing Google account.
After registering using either method, users are guided to an additional onboarding page where they will provide the application with further information to help create a personalized experience while using the pet care service app.
We are all human and forget things occasionally; that is why I included a "forgot password" feature within my application. If users have difficulty logging in and need to change their password, they can simply tap "forgot password." This action will take them to a new page where they will enter all the necessary information, including their new password. Once completed, users must submit a second form of verification to ensure it is them; this two-step verification process ensures that users' accounts are protected and not be easily accessed by others.
I enjoyed creating this application. Before taking on this challenge, I did not know much about the pet care service industry. However, going through the design process from start to finish helped me gain better insight into who I was designing for and how I could create a product to help others provide exceptional care for their pets.
This project helped me fine-tune my design and research skills. My decision for this project had genuine reasoning backed by user and market research alongside testing. Just creating a visually appealing application is not enough. As a product designer, it is my responsibility to provide a tool that helps make a user's life simple, easy, and straightforward. For most of my projects, my goal is to create a calm and fun experience for my users.
For me to execute these goals, I needed to follow the design process:
I like to be thorough when creating applications such as this one, ensuring I understand the user, market, and problem are key pieces of information that assist me in creating visually appealing and useful applications.
Thank you for reading about my pet care service app!
Jesse Showalter - Dribbble Instructor
“Aaron's designs showcased a thoughtful blend of functionality and aesthetic appeal, incorporating intuitive navigation and visually pleasing elements that enhance user engagement. His attention to detail and dedication to creating a seamless user experience truly set his work apart.”
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