FLOOF
The mobile app that allows pet owner to take care off their pets needs in an easy and efficient way.
THE PROBLEM
The objective of this project was to gain insight into the major challenges faced by pet owners in caring for their pets and to determine ways to assist them in overcoming these challenges.
As a Registered Veterinary Nurse, I have had the opportunity to work in a variety of settings and veterinary practices throughout my career. However, it was only when I started working in the charity sector that I became acutely aware of the financial struggles faced by many pet owners. Many of these individuals were unable to afford proper veterinary care for their pets, despite their best efforts.
Many of the pet owners who sought out subsidised veterinary care were often unaware of alternative options to the high-priced services offered by traditional pet shops, services, and veterinary clinics. This further exacerbated the financial difficulties they faced in providing the best possible care for their beloved pets.
TIMELINE
10 weeks
TOOLS
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Figma
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FIgJam
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InVision
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Adobe Illustrator
KEY GOAL
Research and design a mobile app
SECONDARY RESEARCH
What issues are pet owners currently facing?
The research process was straightforward, as the impact of the pandemic on pet ownership had received significant media attention. Numerous articles, both in print and online, were available that discussed the subject.
The secondary research verified that many pet owners were facing financial difficulties in taking care of their furry companions. The research findings included a number of statistics that highlighted the challenges faced by pet owners during the pandemic.
3,644
Number of calls the RSPCA received in December 2021 from owners asking for help and advice on how to pay veterinary bills
54%
Out of 2000 owners regrets getting a dog, and of those 27% have strong misgivings about dog ownership
£27,000
Approximate lifelong cost of owning a dog, including food, veterinary bills and extras such as toys and grooming services
INTERVIEW & AFFINITY MAPPING
To get a better understanding af what my possible future users truly think, and ensure I was working towards the correct solution, I interviewed some pet owners.
In this process I was able to gather qualitative data about the participants attitudes, behaviours, motivations and frustrations related to taking care of their pets.
In order to ensure the interviews would provide me with useful insights, I set defined methodology, criteria and identified the constraints.
During the interviews I found that many pet owners are strongly affected by the cost of taking care of their pets, even if an insurance is purchased, and that they don't always have plans in place in case of an emergency. However, all of them would do all is needed in order to ensure their pet is taken care of.
More than one owner highlighted the difficulties related to finding reliable and trustworthy veterinary clinic, dog sitters or services when they first moved to the city. they also noticed how almost no shop was displaying clear prices online or at the entrance of the shop.
I was able to identify some patterns across these findings, and I grouped them into themes:
PERSONA
Based on the insights gathered from the research, I created a persona to help me guide my work: meet Chloe and her cat Oreo.
Chloe has adopted Oreo almost ten years ago: he was only a kitten hiding behind a bush at the park.
Since then they have been inseparable, and Chloe has been taking great care of little Oreo, without thinking about money.
However, in the last few years due to a change in her financial situation, Chloe is looking to reduce the expenses related to the veterinary bills, and possibly find a more efficient way of taking care of her beloved furry friend.
Behaviours
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Loves her pet and will do anything for them
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Wants to ensure her pet gets the best care available
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Be reassured she can get emergency support might she need it
Goals
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Provide the best care to her pets
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Find a cost effective veterinary clinic
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Find a cost effective out of hours emergency service
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Being able to use her insurance without having to pay in advance
Frustrations
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Prices of food and veterinary services are high
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Unable to compare services and find convenient ones
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Feels pressured into choosing one option without being informed about all of them
EXPERIENCE MAP
Based on Chloe's needs, I created an experience map of what she would do if she was looking for a new veterinary clinic for her cat Oreo.
Thanks to this process I was able to recognise the opportunities I could work on:
- Stressful search experience
- Lack of ready-available information online
- Frustrating waiting times to get information
- Having to contact each clinic in order to get the info Chloe is looking for
PROJECT IDEATION
What would my persona do when looking for a veterinary service? Why is she looking for it?
What is the thought process behind her actions?
To answer these questions I needed to understand what tasks Chloe will do, and analyse her needs, behaviours and desires by creating user stories.
From that, it was easy to group them into epics to classify them and get a better understanding of the areas I needed to focus on.
Cross matching Chloe's user stories, persona description, experience map and epics I was then able to to pick the flow that better matched her needs to develop it.
Epic: Search and compare
Task: Compare services and prices
Sub-task: Book service
DESIGN & ITERATIONS
I initially created some hand sketches of how the app should look like, and I then used Figma to bring the design to life.
User testing was used to iterate the design until I was satisfied by the result.
Once I identified the main task flow of the app, I used the "Crazy 8s" technique to sketch a variety of screens and get some inspiration.
Once I drafted some ideas with pen and paper, it was easier for me to visualise the project and develop the ones that I thought could work best with the product I wanted to create.
When I had the basic sketches, it was easy to turn my ideas into to practical low and mid-fidelity wireframes via Figma.
To ensure the app matches the users’ needs, the prototype was tested with two different groups. By asking users to test the prototype, I aimed to individuate the areas of the product that might need to be changed, replaced or improved so to provide more valuable features to future users.
User testing methodology
I run two sets of user testing, five different people were individually interviewed via video call each time.
They were asked to complete 5 tasks within the app, and provide feedback about their individual experience.
BRAND NAME
AND LOGO DESIGN
The chosen brand name was eventually “Floof”, as it is is a common and known slang that is used to indicate a fluffy and cute pet.
The thought was that people will easily remember and recognise it, and connect it to nice and happy memories which will then reflect on the product itself.
The process of finding a brand name was not easy as I wanted to find a name that would be unique and standout from the large amount of pet apps already available on the market. I wanted a name that would be easy recognisable, inspire trust but also be friendly and easy-going.
To create the final logo, I optimised the chosen font by making it italic and connecting the letters so that it would look smoother and somehow "fluffier".
I then added a distinctive mark, the paws, so that anyone would be able to understand the relationship between the product and the pet world.
COLOUR PALETTE
Floof brand colour were to be blue and yellow, as this colours are usually associate to trust, loyalty, positivity and happiness.
Colours affect the way we interact with products, so I decided to not only rely on my mood board and keywords when deciding on a colour palette for the app, but also look into the psychology and cultural meanings of different colours.
I eventually realised that the colours that best matched the mood I wanted for my app were blue, yellow and orange for the following reasons:
Blue is most often associated with loyalty, good communication and trust, a very important characteristic for a search app
Yellow is a happy, optimistic, and cheerful colour, which very closely matches the feeling I want users to connect to my product
ACCESSIBILITY
One of the challenges I had to deal with was about making my product accessible despite the use of light and not always accessibility friendly shades and colours such as my secondary and accent colours.
I worked on the colour palette and shades used on the product until I ensured the contrast ration was at least of 4.5:1 to ensure an appropriate amount of contrast and accessibility a wider group of users.
TITLE OF THE CALLOUT BLOCK
FINAL PRODUCT & VALUE PROPOSITION
The final product is an easy to use and efficient app, that allows pet owners to find pet services in their area, and sort the findings by either price, distance or rating.
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One product, one solution
By using Floof pet owners can complete a variety of tasks such as searching for a service and booking it, without having to log in into different accounts or access different platforms. -
Accessible and reliable
Users are able to use Floof without creating an account, making it easy to access. They will always know the service is reliable by being able to read the reviews from previous customers. -
Compare services
When using Floof, pet owners are able to compare different service in an easy and intuitive way that will help them save time and money.
TITLE OF THE CALLOUT BLOCK
LESSONS LEARNED
I truly enjoyed working on this project as I had the chance of getting feedback from both users and fellow UX designers.
Thanks to the research and interviews I was able to personalise and tailor this product to the user's needs, while still ensuring it was functional and efficient for possible stakeholders.
During this project I also had to work balancing constraints such as timeframe, overlapping of other projects and readjusting the design according to feedback and interviews.
All in all, this project allowed me to learn a lot, and start building some "working around project constraints" muscles!