Overview: Design a mobile application to meet a growing pain point of users with a focus on usability and heuristics.
Problem Description: More pet owners are looking to provide safe and nutritious food for their pets. However, information on the internet is unreliable at best. gourPet is a mobile application that provides articles, products, and recipes that can be tailored for specific pet diets. All provided information is verified by veterinarians for credibility.
My Role: User Research and Analysis, UX Writing, Wireframes, Prototyping, and User Testing.
Collaborators: Kennedy Brophy, Nikki Hanacek
Time Span: 3 Weeks
Research and Analysis
Methodology:
Five user interviews were conducted over two days, and an open survey was sent out by social media for one week.
Significant Findings:
58.2% of users interviewed and surveyed have conducted additional research beyond veterinarian recommendations for information on pet diets.
54.5% of users interviewed and surveyed consider information found internet untrustworthy.
Significant Quotes:
“So I found myself doing a lot of research on this and finding a lot of frankly, just crap information, a lot of noise, very little signal, a lot of marketing that was kind of fake news, a lot of marketing that didn't have any scientific backing to the claims of what you should feed your pets.”
"We were like really low on food and then we were trying to refill my vet was like, oh yeah, we don't carry it anymore. And the manufacturer was like thinking about not making it anymore. So we had to have the vet help us find an alternative brand. But it was really stressful because like, we're rationing food."
Affinity Diagram Results:
The user’s pain points were primarily focused on cost, the accuracy of the information, and the availability of the product.
Feature Prioritization:
Based on the findings, the decisions were made to focus on access to product information, the ability to customize information based on pet type, and alternative diet options such as homemade recipes. Users did not express enough interest in research articles to make the feature a priority, but one worth including in the wireframed design.
Wireframes and Prototyping
Initially, several sketches were made to provide a framework for how the app would be designed.
Early on, it was decided to go with a bottom navbar in order to provide a simple interface where users could use one finger to interact with the application.
It was important to make this as easy to use as possible, which led to significant changes to the design of the app as user testing and iterations occurred.
User Flow (Profile):
Users would be able to set up profiles not only for themselves but also for their pets to make searching for diet information and products easier.
User Flow (Searching):
Searching for a product or recipe had to be simple but comprehensive. Additionally, the ability to create a favorite list of products and recipes would allow the user to create a database of their own information.
Iteration (Navigation):
User testing indicated a need to simplify the navigation. Initially, recipe and produce searches were separate. The decision was made to combine all searches under the search icon, and to give the user the ability to choose what they search for.
Iteration (Product Comparison):
Testing also indicated a desire to be able to compare products for safety. An overlay was created where users could select products for comparison and then navigate to a fill comparison screen.
Next Steps
Continuing the Iterate:
Overall, the prototype was well-received by users and a genuine desire to see the app developed was stated. In the future, hi-fidelity mockup and prototypes would be designed, user testing and iterations would continue, and a business model would be drawn up.