MY ROLE: Digital Product Designer
Spot is a dog walking app built to connect users with trustworthy dog walkers. The mission is to be the #1 reliable dog walking service starting in the Southern region of the US. How can we improve the experience and build the trust between dog walkers and dog owners?
I was the sole designer on the project conducting the user research, personas, user flows, wireframes, brand identity work, the final UI, and the prototyping tests.
Dog owners are looking for someone they can rely on and trust when looking fo a dog walker. This service is mainly aimed at busy professionals, older individuals who might have some mobility issues, and people with high-energy dogs that could use some extra help getting their daily exercise.
User Surveys
In order to comprehend the diverse user base, I conducted a series of user surveys. During the course of my user research, the primary concern that emerged was the challenge of locating a dog walker who instills trust and confidence. The next issues that arose were availability, scheduling, and cost. People treat their dogs like family, so a notable number of users expressed reservations when it came to entrusting their pets to a dog walker. The user research gained pivotal insights into the needs of our user base, the hurdles they encounter, and potential avenues for effectively mitigating these challenges.
Competitive Analysis
To understand how other conducted dog walks within an app or website, I analyzed key competitors in the dog walking space (Rover, Wag and Barkly). The research involved an assessment of their respective strengths and weaknesses, along with a meticulous examination of the distinctive features each brand emphasizes to differentiate itself within the competitive landscape.
The development of two central personas—Julie, the dog owner, and Ryan, the dog walker—was undertaken based off the user research. Each persona has their own persona goals, motivations, and frustrations to keep Spot on track for the user needs and solving the problems.
The main user flow was created with the first user persona, Julie, with a goal to find a trustworthy dog walker with affordable rates. I wanted to incorporate optimized search filters in the profile creation so the dog owner minimizes time searching and can find a dog walker right away or the user can skip to search and view results. Then completing the user flow with the confirmation of the dog walk.
Shown are some variations of low-fidelity wireframes, with the user flow and personas in mind. The wireframes helped solidify key aspects of the app that would bridge the gap of trust between the dog walker and dog owner.
Went for a warmer color palette to convey excitement and energy. Spot's branding has more personality using dog photography and pops of colors to really differentiate from competitor brands. Using Poppins as the main typeface, as the sans-serif matched well with the bit of playfulness of the brand.
After creating the prototype I intentionally did a couple rounds of user testing to validate the direction of the app. The user testing provided some great insights on what was working and what needed some improvement.
The first task was to create an account and the second was to search for a dog walker. I gained some great insights:
1. Overall I updated the onboarding carousel to make it more obvious
2. Icons sizes were made a little bigger after I saw how small the back button was when tapped on by the user
3. Made the CTA buttons a little larger and longer as well
4. I provided some indication that you can scroll on screens in the profile creation since many users didn't realize you can scroll
5. Changed the language on the matched dog walkers screen since many users were getting confused. I made it clearer to the user and it was successful during round 2 of testing
Showcasing the final designed screens from onboarding to finding a dog walker and booking a walk.
Overall Spot bridged the gap between dog owners and dog walkers. I learned how crucial user research is to detect the core issues dog owners are having and how a product designer can solve that problem, always keeping it user-centric. The main user persona was conscious of price and I kept that in mind during all the designs and screens, to make sure rates were obvious and easy to find.
Another round of user tests in prototyping can help solidify the app flow but initial user tests gave great insights. If I had to do this project over again I would start with a specific city to first market in and talk directly to those users vs. having a broad user base to begin with. Then expand the app to other regions of the U.S. to grow and take market share in the dog walking space.