I am a User Experience Designer
UX Design
UI Design
Usability Testing
Petify
Mar'21-May'21
A complete digital pet care kit for dog parents
which motivates users to take care of their pets & keeps check of both the pets' & pet parents' needs.
Addressing the issue of Pet Abandonment in India
This was following the initial COVID outbreak in India. People began to believe it was over as cases decreased and restrictions loosened. During that period, I personally observed a significant rise in the abandonment of pets, as did the entire nation, for a variety of causes. Some people adopted pets during lockdown impulsively to lessen the loneliness, but they were unable to take care of them, among many other reasons that aren't directly related to lockdown. Others didn't have enough money to take care of a pet. Don't be misled; I am no animal lover. I'm the reverse; I flee even when I can see a dog from miles away, but this situation upset me and I got to know that this problem didn’t only exist during COVID but has existed all along. “If 34% said they had abandoned a dog on the streets, 32% admitted to having abandoned a cat. Among the nine countries surveyed, India also recorded the highest pet homelessness with a score of 2.4 on a scale of 10(lower the score, worse the scenario). “ said an article in Times of India on Dec 6, 2021. Once abandoned, these pets either die or get killed because they are not used to living out in the world since a very small age.
Photo by freepik
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
Observation turned into a project
All big problems are solved starting with the smallest entity. I reasoned that this problem is solvable on a very emotional level but with a very practical solution. I believed in myself that I could try to solve this one on a very ground level and this turned into one of my ambitious projects. Here I'll show you how I came up with the solution which is Petify & how I implemented it.
ROLE
User Research
User Experience
Visual Design
Prototyping
User Testing
Marketing
PROJECT TYPE
Individual
TIMELINE
Mar'21-May'21
TOOLS USED
My Design Process for Petify
Investigate
Collection & Analysis of insights
01
Identify
Identify the real problems & scope of opportunities
02
Ideate
Brainstorm & sketch possible solutions
03
Implement
Execute the most viable solution
04
Iterate
Test on users & improvise
05
Illustrations by IconScout
01
Collecting insights to grasp the problem
Primary & Secondary Research
Joining the pieces
I browsed through a number of articles, watched a few videos, and began researching online about the numbers and causes of pet abandonment. As the image became more clear, I was able to identify the main causes for pet abandonment. By putting myself in the user's position, I went a step further and connected these reasons to the psychological causes at the heart of my users' behaviour. I began with dogs and reasoned that the simplest method for me to put myself in a dog owner’s shoes or even wearing their entire attire is to simply approach them. I developed a questionnaire that I revised and updated after I started my investigation in order to chat to dog papas and mamas and feel the petting experience (from a distance though, as I am frightened of dogs). By the time it was through, I had discovered a few things that were crucial to moving my project forward..
Want to have a look at the research plan?
Understanding the reasons behind pet abandonment
Behavioural Issues
Not enough time to take care of the pet
Animal health & age
Financial factors
Boredom or disinterest
Unwanted litters
Lack of experience
Changed life situation
Survey findings
61%
of the users aren't able to take their dog for a walk everyday
of the users forget their dog's vaccination dates
78%
67%
of the users have trouble in training their dogs
22%
of the users have trouble dealing with
46%
of the users have difficulty in taking care of their pets
Thinking out loud..
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PET'S PARENT'S POV
PET'S POV
I am unique & I have my specific needs
I have my own time related & financial constraints
My needs change at every step throughout my life
I sometimes feel I don't have enough knowledge & expertise about the needs of my pet
Ughh my pet creates so much chaos
The need is to help the pet parent understand the unique needs of each pet while petting fits in their schedule & honours their financial constraints
02
Moving towards the solution
I do competitor analysis to look for inspiration & scope of improvement
Competitor Analysis
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PET CARE
Strengths
Convenient UI
Pet info at a glance
Invite other users
Weaknesses
Time consuming process
Effortful process
Confusing infographics
Dedicated sections for every type of service
Less functional UI
Strengths
Weaknesses
Can add pictures
Manual addition of logs
Complicated process
Weaknesses
Strengths
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User friendly UI
Animal news
All info at a glance
Vet Section non comprehensive
More visual elements
Good pet profile
DogCat Pet Care
Confusing UI
Too many unnecessary options
Weaknesses
Strengths
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03
Analysing all aspects
User Personas
User personas help me to empathise well with my target
users and prevent me from assuming myself as the user
(admit it! we all do it sometimes) and it also helps me to
consider different situations and improvise accordingly
I start with throwing random ideas on paper until it all starts making sense
Analysing all aspects
04
Getting started with my solution..
My Solution
A pet care application which helps the user in the following:
Getting personalized schedules & pet care guides easily
Help the user fitting petting into their schedule effortlessly
Connecting the user to suitable vets for low cost remote consultation
Motivating the user to take care of their pets through rewards
Petify, a complete pet care kit
Building a brand identity
05
I wanted my app to be very playful & fun. I also wanted the user to feel safe & warm while experiencing it, just like his/her dog makes them feel. So I used a warm color palette with informal fonts.
TYPOGRAPHY
AA123
Bebas Neue
Aa123
Avenir
Avenir Light
Aa123
COLORS
#F3F3E8
#FEA6A2
#625175
#FFFFFF
Finally presenting the 'Feature list'
The first version
05
#1
Automated Schedules & Reminders
Once the user enters their routine, the app itself fits easy petting tasks into their schedule which the user can edit manually too. Option for setting reminders is also available
Personalized Pet Care Guides by Experts
Personalized pet care guides directly from expert vets carefully created for the user to understand their dog's unique needs & behaviours
#2
App asks user to set reminders
Add a new task
#3
Interactive notifications
Useful pet care tips, quotes & reminders randomly throughout the day which helps the pet parent handle their pet better & also increase user engagement
Unlimited low cost vet consultations
Affordable vet consultations anytime so that the user doesn't have to visit a vet & pay big fees every time when even the smallest thing happens
#4
#5
Very affordable membership plans
User gets all benefits through very low cost membership plans
A healthy pet community
A community where the user can connect with other pets, see what's going on & upload updates with their own pet. The more you stay active, the more rewards you earn.
#6
#7
Pet Care meter & Rewards
The 'Pet Care Meter' keeps a measure of the user's current pet care level through various factors like activity on the Healthy Pet Community, completing set reminders, schedules etc. & Rewards are granted based on that
Home Screen
Pet Care meter
Rewards Screen
Pet music for all moods
A range of pet music to stop dogs from littering or bad behaviour & sometimes simply for entertainment. Dogs love music too!
#8
Making my product economical
Business Model
06
My main target users are Beginner pet parents, working pet parents, pet parents living alone & students with pets
01
Choosing the right target audience
In India, people are always looking for alternate ways to save money. Petify provides low cost remote vet visits which saves a lot of money & time spent in actual vet visits & travelling to get there
Solving a real problem
02
This provides part time income source to vets by easy tasks such as remote consultations, pet care guides, verifying certain schedules etc. And also it provides many benefits to pet parents at low cost.
Multiple stakeholders benefitted
03
Why would pet parents choose Petify?
Low cost subscription
​
Unlimited access to vet support
​
Useful & trustable services
​
Easy to use interface
​
Cares for both pet & pet parent
​
Exciting Rewards
Why would vets choose Petify?
Minimal effort
​
Part time or full time option
​
Remote working
​
Increased popularity
​
Good option to earn money
Usability Testing
Round 1
07
User Testing is performed to remove all the biases & assumptions that come along the way. Constant zoom outs & improvements are vital for a successful User Experience.
User Testing is performed to remove all the biases & assumptions that come along the way. Constant zoom outs & improvements are vital for a successful User Experience.
I performed Usability Testing on 20 users from different cities, backgrounds & age groups
Want to have a look at the Usability Testing plan?
Main Insights Obtained
1
Icons needed to be made more comprehensive & easily identifiable
Original Version
77% of the users were unable to comprehend the meaning of this icon
I replaced it with an icon that looks like an album which was more easily comprehensible by 87% of the users
Iterated Version
3
Starting process of the app should be made smoother
Initial Task Flow
40% of the first time users got frustrated by so many questions in the beginning & left the task
So I removed all these questions at the beginning & added them once user logs in & uses the app for some time
Iterated Task Flow
2
All the features of the app should be added in the menu
Original Version
82% of the users directly went to the menu drawer in the first attempt to find every option.
Iterated Version
Therefore, I put every option in the menu drawer & made it easier to use
​
4
The option of 'Pet Friendly Places' needed to be placed upfront
Iterated Version
30% of the users got confused when asked to find pet friendly places while some found it right away so I put it in the menu too for new users