A Web Application that keeps track of Dog Profiles for House Sitting Gigs
Role: UX / UI Design
Last year I started working at a dog grooming shop part-time where they offer daycare and boarding. Many clients want their furry friends to have more attention than the facility can offer. I took this as an opportunity to create a business card and started dog-sitting on the side.
My client list grew so large that I could not remember the specific details for each dog. a web application that helps dog sitters keep track of their clients' and furry friends' data.
This application allows the user to fill out a form with all the information necessary to take care of the dogs. It will then add the form to a collection of all the dogs the user has acquired. Listing all the clients you have on a separate page. You can then delete the dog's data afterward.
*This is a concept study
Often pet owners go on vacation, and instead of boarding their pets they search for a house sitter to keep their animal in a familiar, comfortable environment. Many dog sitters can have several clients and need a way to log this information, as well as contact clients, and maintain their dog sitting schedule.
For this project, I designed an app to allow pet sitters to log and maintain data of all of their canines and clients. This application will also allow the pet sitter to create and maintain a schedule of all the dogs they are watching, and have in-app messaging to allow the user to contact the client if necessary.
How might we help dog sitters:
*This project is intended for iPhone OS
Furry Friends allows independent dog sitters to log canine and client data. It also provides a scheduling feature for the user to maintain their gigs, and an in-app messaging feature for users to contact clients.
The process can be broken down into the following stages, which we will go in-depth throughout the rest of this study.
How do pet sitters currently keep track of the dogs they are sitting for?
A dog sitter can log or keep notes of clients in their phone, in a notebook, or computer.
What features and design aspects have competitors excelled in, and what can they improve on?
All applications are used for scheduling dogs or house sitters. Most applications provide similar features, but the main difference is in services provided by the applications. Each application is missing features for an independent dog sitter. Below are features that could benefit the application.
Competitive analysis that compares direct and indirect competitors
How do pet sitters decide what they need in a canine/client profile hub?
Three interviews were conducted with users who have watched dogs before. Users were asked about house-sitting tasks, dog demographics, interactions with the owner, how they handle scheduling, familiarity with technology, and other applications they use to manage data.
Once during a thunderstorm, I couldn't locate a dog I was sitting. Eventually, I found her in a bedroom closet. It would be worth noting a dog's favorite hiding spot in this application
- E.S., Furry Friends tester
After combining all the data and insights from the research, here are some considerations for the feature roadmap:
Katie wants an application where she can maintain and store her dog-sitting data. She wants to be able to control her own schedule, track her clients, and be given reminders of when her next gig is. She desires an application that does not cut into her commission.
Based on the research, a user persona, Katie Jackson, was created to represent the target user. This will be the direction for designing the solution.
What are the requirements for this application? How do we make these a priority?
Based on user research and the How might we statements, I focused on what would benefit sitters with their future house-sitting gigs by focusing on:
How might we construct and organize the information so users can log client and canine information, contact clients, and maintain their dog-sitting schedule?
By mapping out the main categories, I was able to separate the application into sections that allow users easy access to key content.
What potential features can be constructed for the user to have a simplistic and useful experience?
After sketching out solutions the best features were chosen to create wireframes for the data and scheduling process.
Features include:
How do users feel about this concept? is this an app they would use?
The prototype was tested by three users. They then completed a short feedback survey. Users stated how they would feel about the current features and design of the application.
Takeaways:
There is a lot of data here and it would be easier to digest if there were images before the dog's information
-Anonymous Survey Feedback
What features can help users navigate through the application more efficiently?
From the usability testing, it was clear that the users were overwhelmed with information on some of the application pages. They also wanted a more visually appealing application to easily distinguish some features from others. To solve this problem, I decided to add:
This is one of my biggest passion projects. It is not only a useful application for myself but for other dog sitters wishing to expand their business. One of the challenges I faced was ensuring that I was considering user needs and not just designing an application for myself. I consulted several of my friends, their siblings, and co-workers who also dog sit and I had to prioritize their needs and wants, to develop features that would work well for all users.
A new skill I have acquired while working on this project is how to make an application interactive. I have prototyped before in Figma, but I have never utilized their tools to create an interactive prototype. Working on this application allowed me to evolve my skill set and improve my knowledge of Figma interactions. Having the ability to simulate the gestures of an application helps bring the application to life and makes it feel closer to a finished product.
If I were to continue to expand this project I would like to build out the details on the settings page. Providing legitimate options for account information, notifications, and changing the password. I would also like to expand my knowledge on interaction and built-in dropdown options for filtering content and profile expansion.
A selection of my range of work
