PawHub

Your One-Stop Solution for All Dog Care Needs.

OVERVIEW

Our product is a comprehensive, one-stop solution for dog owners, designed to simplify and centralize the management of all dog-related activities. By addressing the current gap where dog owners rely on multiple tools and apps to manage their pet's needs, our solution offers a seamless, user-friendly experience that saves time and ensures every aspect of dog care is efficiently handled in one place.

Product Manager

Product Designer

2 Developers

TEAM

Research, User Stories, User Flow, Wireframe, Mockups, Brand Identity, UI KIT, User Testing, Deliverables

RESPONSIBILITIES

PROJECT

Web Application

TIMELINE

Aug 2 - Sep 27th

THE PROBLEM

Pet owners face significant challenges in efficiently managing their pet's care due to the lack of a centralized solution.

With pet ownership on the rise, managing pet care has become increasingly complex and fragmented. The market is growing, and there is a strong demand for a streamlined digital solution. Addressing this now allows us to capitalize on market trends and improve the lives of pet owners.

THE SOLUTION

PawHub provides a centralized platform that allows dog owners to manage their pet's information, schedule important events, track medical records, and find nearby dog-friendly locations.

With PawHub, users can

  • Create a detailed profile for their dog(s), which will serve as the core reference for scheduling tasks and storing healthcare data.

  • A medical record where user’s can consolidate all their pet’s medical history in one single location.

  • A calendar to help users manage and track events such as vet visits, grooming appointments, and playdates, with email or push notification reminders to keep them informed of upcoming tasks.

  • A Map offer a search function and predefined categories that allows users to discover nearby parks, vet clinics, and other dog-related services.

THE GOAL

The goal is to simplify and centralize the management of dog care, addressing the current gap where dog owners need to use multiple tools and apps to handle these tasks.

RESEARCH

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

There’s significant gaps exist in current dog care applications. In user research of 45 people, 72% of dog owners stated that consolidating all pet care information in one place as their biggest challenge.

We evaluated pet care applications include DogLog, Wag, Whistle, and PetDesk to focus on their features, usability, and overall user experience and identified their strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

  • These applications excels in their focused area.

  • A reliable platform that offers real-time updates for transparency.

  • Ease of use and user-friendly interfaces which makes it easy for user to navigate.

STRENGTH

  • These applications have specialized focus which limited their functionality in other areas.

  • Limited data consolidation leading to fragmented user experience.

  • Lack of engaging visuals or customization options.

WEAKNESS

  • A Holistic Care Management to offer a more comprehensive solution.

  • Simplifying interfaces and adding more engaging visuals to enhance user experience.

  • Increase and expand feature availabilities and professional services to make these applications more appealing to a broader audience.

OPPORTUNITIES

  • Stronger competition, low brand awareness.

  • Regulatory risks, high competition from platforms like Rover.

  • Competition from broader apps, limited vet partnerships.

THREATS

USER INTERVIEW & SURVEY

To deepen our understanding, we conducted further user interviews and surveys to gather insights into user’s personal experience with managing their dog’s care.

Sample interview questions…

  1. How do you currently manage your dog's daily care and health activities?

  2. What are the biggest challenges you face in managing your dog's care and health activities?

Insights revealed the limitations with apps currently available:

Too many Apps

Poor User Experience

Lack of Integration

Limited Support

USER PERSONA

I created two personas to help define and prioritize what problems to solve for. By understanding their pain points and goals, I was able to empathize with their frustrations and needs. This led me to brainstorm potential solutions and form the basis for crafting effective "How Might We" statement.

"I just want something that keeps track of everything for Max in one place and reminds me about appointments so I can stay focused on work and family without constantly worrying."

- Sarah J.

"I want something that just works with everything I already use. I don’t have the time or patience to manually track Luna’s vet visits and medications."

- James R.

DESIGN CHALLENGE

How might we help dog owners easily organize and access their pet’s medical records, appointments, and activities while providing timely reminders and seamless access to essential pet services?

IDEATE

KEY FEATURES

With a clear “How Might We” statement, we proposed and prioritized the core features to address the user pain points and crafted the user stories to ensure the application delivers immediate value to dog owners.

With a clear understanding of our users' frustrations, I prioritized features such as consolidated pet records, service scheduling, and reminder notifications to address these needs.

  • Centralized hub for all pet related information.

  • Store information such as microchip number, weight, age etc for quick reference

Pet Profile

  • Keep all medical records, vaccination dates, and health check-ups in one secure location

  • Upload and store digital copies of medical documents, such as vaccination certificates and test results

Medical Record

  • Simple interface for creating vet visits, and other pet-related activities on the calendar

  • All scheduled activities are displayed in a user-friendly calendar format for easy tracking

Calendar

  • Find Nearby Pet Services like dog parks, clinics, stores etc based on the current location

  • Integrated Google Maps to view services on a map with real-time directions and distance information

Map

USER STORIES

With the key features defined. I collaborated with PM to craft user stories to clearly articulates how users will interact with these features to achieve their goals.

DESIGN

We created lo-fi wireframes based on user flows to map user navigation to ensure each interaction supports user’s goals. We then developed high-fidelity mockups to visualize the final design, incorporating a consistent design system across all UI components. This approach allowed for quick iterations and validations, enabling us to prioritize functionality and enhance the overall user experience.

USER FLOW

With the user stories developed, I continued collaborating with the PM to map out the user flows to ensure the design effectively supported the paths users took to complete a tasks.

Sign Up flow for new user

Edit pet profile flow

Create new event flow

Add new medical record flow

LO-FI WIREFRAMES

The low-fidelity wireframes provided a simplified visual guide for the application’s Interface, allowing us to focus on essential elements like navigation, content hierarchy, interactions, and user flow without getting into detailed visual design. Each screen prioritizes functionality, ensuring that the design aligns with user needs and supports intuitive navigation throughout the application.

Sign Up : A simple structure for user to input minimal information to sign up.

Medical Records: Table data layout for quick overview.

Dashboard : A comprehensive view to display important information

Pet Profile : A simple layout for pet basic information and vet basic information

Calendar : Provides different view types based on user preference and quick view of activities/events/appointments.

Map : A simple layout where the user can either search or select the predefined categories to quickly search for nearby dog services.

HI-FI MOCKUPS

The high-fidelity mockups built upon the structural foundation laid by the wireframes, incorporating polished visual design elements to enhance the overall user experience. The mockups allowed for more accurate user testing and further refine the designs based on feedback while maintaining alignment with the brand’s aesthetic and business goals.

Sign Up : A quick and easy onboarding process

Medical Record : Keep all records, vaccinations, and health check-ups in one secure location. Upload and store digital copies of medical documents, receipts, vaccination certificates and test results.

Dashboard : Displays important information in one place for quick overview.

Pet's Profile: Store information such as microchip number, weight, age etc for quick reference.

Calendar: Simple interface for creating vet visits, and other pet-related activities on the calendar. All scheduled activities are displayed in a user-friendly calendar format for easy tracking.

Map : Find Nearby dog services with integrated Google Maps to view services on a map with real-time directions and distance information

DESIGN SYSTEM

The design system comprised a set of reusable UI components, guidelines, and standards that defined the application's aesthetic and functional elements. By standardizing components such as buttons, form fields, and navigation menus, we created a cohesive look and feel throughout the application.

TESTING

The feedback highlighted several strengths, including the comprehensive design and the intuitive, easy navigations. However, users also pointed out areas for improvement, allowing us to refine the application further to better meet user needs and expectations.

USER TESTING

Following the development of high-fidelity mockups, we conducted user testing sessions with a diverse group of dog owners to gather feedback on the application’s usability and overall experience. Participants expressed satisfaction with the navigation and usability. They were able to complete the key tasks while voicing their thoughts and suggestions.

  • Overall, I love the simplicity of the app and the easy onboarding process. However, the initial onboarding background is a bit plain. 

  • “Simple is good, but not too plain”

Feedback #1

  • The medical record looks great! I suggest adding a section where multiple services can be recorded. This is important because a vet visit may involve several services being performed on the same day.

Feedback #2

  • The dashboard is excellent and very intuitive. However, I believe that the medication section should be positioned at the very top, as timely medication administration is crucial. Overdue services can be addressed once their deadlines have passed.

Feedback #3

ITERATIONS

Based on the feedback from user testing, I revised the high fidelity wireframes of the MVP for our app.

Implemented background to the Sign Up for better visual.

Rearranged the information hierarchy and added more icons to the Dashboard.

Rearranged the information hierarchy in the data table and added an “Add Service” button, allowing users to include multiple services in one record from one vet visit.

Current Metrics

+ 27%

Overall User Satisfaction

We conducted 2nd round of user testing and found that there was a 27% increase in overall user satisfaction.

What I learned

The importance of clear communication to stay aligned with the team. I learned to articulate my design decisions effectively and explain the rationale behind my choices based on research and user testing. Having clear communication on little details early on during the discovering and ideation space helps avoid setbacks and misalignments later in the process. Additionally, I realized that feedback loops are crucial for refining design elements, ensuring that the end product meets user needs and expectations. Collaborating closely with stakeholders and developers throughout the design phase helped me gain valuable insights and fostered a more cohesive team dynamic.

Next Step

The next step in this process is to prepare all the necessary documents and hand off to the developers. This involves having the detailed design specifications and assets to ensure a smooth transition from design to development. I developed comprehensive documentation that includes style guides, component libraries, and interaction guidelines to support the development team in accurately implementing the design. Additionally, I plan to schedule a walkthrough session with the developers to address any questions and clarify design intents. After the handoff, I will remain available for any follow-up questions or adjustments that may arise during the development phase to ensure the final product aligns with our vision. Finally, I aim to gather feedback from both the developers and users post-launch to iterate and further improve the application.