Zo’s Doggy Trail

Project Type

Proof of concept

Team

UX Designer

UX Researcher

Myself as:

Tools

Figma

Duration

8 weeks (2023)

OVERVIEW

Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice

Background: Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice

Sugar is the first pet I’ve ever had besides a few fishes. Although I work from home, it is hard finding the time to walk her because I have such a busy schedule; which is why I wanted to create a dog walking app.

Problem: What have I gotten myself into?

COVID 19 has had its ups and downs, but one of the best things that came out of it was me rescuing my sweet dog Sugar. Since. this was my first dog, realizing her needs started to become quite overwhelming.

Solution: The Trail

Create a responsive dog walking app for users to conveniently book walking appointments for their dogs and monitor them while they are away with the walker.

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

Who Leads the Pack? A Competitive Analysis of Wag, Rover and Walkies

When designing a seamless dog-walking booking experience, it’s essential to understand how existing platforms handle the process. I conducted a competitive analysis of Wag, Rover, and Walkies focusing on their booking flows, usability and overall user experience.

Competitive Anaylsis

USER INTERVIEWS

I Interviewed Four Dog Parents to Understand Their Dog Walking Needs


The goal of the user interviews was to:

  • Understand the pain points of booking a dog walk

  • Identify challenges users face when scheduling walks.

  • Learn what factors influence their choice of a dog walker.

  • Identify what information or features make them feel comfortable booking.

  • Identify any frustrations with the UI or app flow in existing services.

  •  Gather feedback on preferred communication methods (e.g., live updates, GPS tracking).

User Interviews

FINDING ANALYSIS

From Budgeting Struggles to Smarter Solutions: What Users Need in a Budgeting Tool

Analysis After User Interview

After conducting user interviews with four dog owners, several key insights emerged about their expectations, concerns, and pain points when booking dog walks through an app. These findings highlight areas for improvement and opportunities to enhance the user experience.

Participate #1 -B.G

I always read reviews before booking. If someone doesn’t have reviews, I won’t risk it. - B.G

The app should remember my preferences, like which route my dog likes. - B.G

Participate #2 -D.P

I love when walkers send a quick summary after the walk, like if my dog went to the bathroom or seemed anxious.- D.P

I need a dog walking app that lets me book instantly—sometimes I don’t know my schedule in advance, and I need a walker last-minute. - D.P

Participate #3 -A.D

It’s annoying to have to re-enter my dog’s details every time—I wish the app remembered my preferences.- A.D

The app I currently use provides a clear background check and verified walkers would make me feel a lot safer. - A.D

Participate #4 -I.W

Scheduling recurring walks should be easy—I don’t want to have to book manually every single week.- I.W

The app should let me set detailed instructions for my dog’s walk, like preferred routes and care needs.- I.W

User Persona

Dog Defining Moments: Diving Deeper into the architecture of Zo’s Doggy Trail

IDEATION & DESIGN

Based on user feedback and research, users wanted to track their dogs at all times. They also wanted to ensure that they could find what they were looking for easily.

Sitemap

User Flow

London Rae is a 30 year old woman who just moved to a new city to start her dream job. It’s currently just her and her dog Sugar, and although she works from home she has struggled to find time to walk Sugar during the week because of her new work hours. She wants to find a reliable dog walker to cant walk Sugar often.

Task Flow

London has spent the last few days conducting research on Zo’s Doggy Trail, and is ready to book an appointment for Sugar to go dog walking with her new dog walker, Joy.

Midfi Wireframes

Designing a dog walking app where users can feel secure required a lot of brainstorming on how I can incorporate that into the design while also making it accessible.

Pet Info

Users can tell us all about their pup(s) but entering their pets info.

Pet habits

Any habits we need to be aware of? Let us know!

Home Page

Find a walker and book your dog a walk near you!

Walker Profile

Get to know the person walking your dog by reading their profile

Schedule Walk

Once you find a profile you like, schedule a walk with them

HIGH FIDELITY PROTOTYPE

Immersive High Fidelity Screens: Bringing My Visuals to Life

From the mid fi wireframes, I was able to get a feel for how I wanted the Hi Fi mockups to look. Below are a few Hi Fi Mockup screens from users would see when they first log in and UI Kit created from mockups.

Create account, and tell us about your dog

Home screen, walker profile, and schedule walk

Pay, review summary, and confirmation

PROTOTYPE TESTING

I Tested Four Participants Ability to Complete the Task Flow in the Prototype

The main objectives were to assess the discoverability of the new budget feature, evaluate the efficiency and memorability of key interactions, and understand user behavior during account setup. These insights were critical in optimizing the user experience and ensuring seamless engagement with the app.

Testing Objective

Participants

Success rate on task flow

of follow up questions/comments

I love how clean this looks. The pictures you used have a nice aesthetic.

I.W., Participant

I noticed in the flow I wasn’t able to chat with a walker. Is that a feature that I can interact with? Is it also possible to see photos the walker takes of my dog?

K.V., Participant

Will there ever be a feature to board my dog? I think the walking option is great, but I go out of town often so it would be nice to have someone watch my dog while i’m away.

C.T., Participant

I like that the dog walkers have to go through a verification process. It makes me feel like a trusted person is walking my dog.

J.D., Participant

Priority Revisions

Doggy Habits

Key Finding: Aesthetic and Minimalist design. Users are trying to do one simple thing, and thats to sign up their dog for a walk. They don’t want to feel like they are feel out a long winded form.

Solution: Updated habits screen to include buttons that users can tap to describe their dogs habits.

Before

After

Upload file

Key Finding: Users found that it would better optimize the flow by adding their dog vaccination files to the about their dog screen.

Solution: Moved upload file button to tell us about your dog screen.

Before

After

Chat with Dog Walker

Key Finding: Many participants wanted to see the chat functions.

Solution: I added chat function into flow. Adding this screen will make user more comfortable with dog walker

New

NEXT STEPS AND REFLECTION

Next Steps and Reflection: Doggy Days

Next steps

Due to time constraints, I wasn’t able to create many of the screens I wanted to add including the dog boarding screens. If given more time, I would create the remaining screens, test the prototype again to make sure everything flows a few times, and make any priority revisions. Once I feel like the prototype is complete, I would send it for hand off.

Reflection

I was extremely excited to do this project because I love being around dogs, especially my Sugar. For this project, I really wanted to challenge myself in both UI and UX. I really wanted to create a product that I feel like I would use; and I did just that. Although I didn’t have long to complete, I am very happy with how it turned out and maybe one day I will turn this into a real product!

Rest in Peace Sugar 2011-2023 💖🕊️

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