Overview

Design Brief

Düg is a mobile app that provides pet owners with pet care as a service. It operates as a peer to peer marketplace for pet owners to connect with service providers. 

Goals & Scope

The goals of this case study were to research, design and develop a product that is convenient and practical and that also instills confidence and trust in its user base. 

The scope of work for this case study consisted of iterations of the design cycle, including: user research, competitor analysis, wire-framing, prototyping and usability testing.

Problem Statement

Finding reliable, safe and convenient pet care services online is difficult. How do we create a product for pet owners to confidently connect with trusted service providers?

Solution

The solution to this problem was to create a product that allows pet owners to:

• Allow pet owners to connect with service providers based on proximity, social connections, reviews and credentials.

• Provide users with the ability to browse the app and view services without having to create an account or onboarding.

• Create an app that is usable without having to rely on user training.

Success will be measured by an increase rate in user onboarding, decrease in negative reviews and a SUS (system usability scale) score of 75% or more.

User Research

User Interviews

In order to gain insight into the needs of a pet owner seeking pet care services, five individuals with various backgrounds and from different demographics were interviewed. The intent was to understand the general pain points from a wider user base.

The collective findings revealed these observations:

User Persona + Empathy Map

User personas and empathy maps were used to illustrate and better understand the expectations and motivations of our target user.

Competitor Analysis

Based on the results of User Interviews we first needed to analyze our competitors to determine whether or not they were successfully addressing these pain points.

A few takeaways from the analysis revealed that users:

• Felt the app was hard to navigate or restricting 

• Had resentment towards the app due to bad experiences 

• Questioned the accountability of service providers

User Flow Diagram

The user flow diagram below was designed to improve on the competitors’ onboarding experience by making the navigation less restricting. 

A “guest view” flow was implemented to allow the user to browse the app prior to signup. The intent was to foster the idea that Dug had the user’s best interest in mind rather than collecting user data.

Visual Design

Wireframes

After the initial sketches were drawn, several iterations of the design were drafted as low-fidelity wireframes.

Visual Design System

With the goal of trust and reliability in mind, the main color palette used for Düg were pastel shades of blue and purple. The use of these colors represents peace, trustworthiness, loyalty and stability. 

For the brand type both Montserrat and DM Sans were used to signify the clean, minimal, friendly, and modern nature of the app.

Prototype

You can find the Figma prototype here.

Testing Methodology

Usability tests were conducted on participants to better gauge how user’s might engage with the app as well as discover any potential bugs or issues.  Additionally, participants took part in a SUS (System Usability Scale) survey to measure efficiency.

Based on the feedback received from the tests, the design was iterated on and improved as shown below.

Takeaways & Next Steps

As I reflect on this case study, my greatest takeaway is to trust the process. The importance of both user research and testing to design a product that is meaningful is paramount; a solution that is both visually appealing and also functional requires patience.  

Each step of the design process must be purposeful and intentional. It is important to take the necessary time to fulfill each section of the design process and iterate as many times as needed.

As I continue to work on Dug, I plan to implement more user flows to the app. I also plan to further develop the design system to include written documentation and specs.