PetPal Care
A mobile application designed for both novice and seasoned pet owners, providing guidance throughout their pet ownership journey, offering solutions to common pet-related issues, and facilitating communication among pet owners.
Role: Research, UI/UX
Background + Problem
Whether pet owners are new to the experience or have years of experience, at some point they encounter common problems with their pets, including health concerns, behaviour issues, training, and costs. Unfortunately, not all pet owners, regardless of their level of experience, know the right course of action to take other than to take their pet to the vet.
Research Goals/Objectives
To identify and understand the features necessary for design, it is important to identify and understand the needs and problems of new and experienced pet owners.
Scope + Focus
My primary focus is to develop a user-friendly app that assists pet owners in identifying the appropriate course of action during emergency situations, while also providing them with comprehensive guidance on pet care and additional facts.
Competitive Analysis
Throughout my research, I searched for common features shared by various apps, specifically focusing on those resembling the concept of my AI chat and scan feature. Furthermore, I aimed to identify potential features that the other apps lacked or ones that existed but could benefit from improvement.
User Interviews
Challenges commonly encountered by participants:
Destructive/strange behaviours, house training, and bonding.
Participants’ years of experiences as pet owners:
1-11 years
I conducted user interviews with 7 participants via video conference and in person.
Identify user frustrations and challenges
Identify user needs and expectations
Identify ways participants currently acquire information
Each participant was asked a total of 18 questions based on their experiences and challenges as pet owners. These questions led me to extract relevant data required to understand their goals, motivations, challenges, solutions, needs, and expectations.
Approaches by which participants acquired information on pet care:
Friends/family, veterinarians, web browsing, and other pet owners.
Interview Details:
Through analysis, it was identified that participants faced challenges in managing their pets' destructive and unusual behaviors. They also encountered difficulties with finding sustainable solutions and obtaining accurate information to their questions.
Affinity Map
Following the interviews, I was able to come up with 9 categories based on patterns and commonalities we identified between 7 participants.
We identified 3 pain points that our pet owners all had in common.
Destructive/strange behaviours
House training
Lack of pet care knowledge
Sitemap
Following the affinity map, I utilized the data we gathered to identify possible features. With the help of our participants, I were able to clarify the architecture and expectations of our potential users.
User Flows
From the sitemap I developed 2 user flows to map out the different potential navigation steps users may take to achieve their goals.
Task Flows
Following the user flows, I developed 2 task flows to identify and understand the steps users need to take to complete each task. From here, I was able to find areas that may be improved to improve the usability and overall experience.
Style Tile
Homepage
Low Fidelity Wireframes
I started with sketching and exploring different structures for the key screens. To make things easier, I designed specific screens for 1 flow that would best present the main feature.
Community
AI PetAsk
Meal Prep
Community
AI PetAsk
Mid Fidelity Wireframes
With the same screens, I converted them to mid-fidelity wireframes to see for myself how it will look and find issues and details I need to further work on.
Homepage
Homepage
High Fidelity Wireframes
After identifying the brand and style, I took the wireframes another step further and converted them to high-fidelity wireframes. However, I encountered a divergence in the process and scrapped a significant portion of the screens. Instead, I pursued an alternate route in the design of screens for the main flow.
Community
AI PetAsk (Inactive State)
AI PetAsk (Active State)
Usability Testing
I conducted a usability testing with 5 participants via video conference and in person.
I wanted to identify areas in need of improvement
Assess the helpfulness of the AI features
Understand how users would use the AI features
Each participant was asked to complete a short flow of logging in to indulging with the AI features.
Final Thoughts
Similar to my previous Disney+ case study, introducing an AI feature posed another set of challenges. In this instance, I wasn't able to successfully showcase the potential impact of the feature. Generating specific scenarios that pet owners might encounter and presenting how the AI Scan feature could effectively detect specific illnesses or injuries in pets turned out to be more difficult than anticipated. While I conceptualized the idea, I struggled to bring it to fruition.