Introducing Pet Go!
Pet Go! Pet Food Inventory Tracker is a user-friendly mobile application designed to revolutionise the way pet owners manage their pet's food needs. The app combines a convenient pet food marketplace with advanced inventory tracking functionalities to ensure efficient pet care and cost-effective management.
Role
UI & UX Designer
Timeframe
March-April 2023
UX Research, Prototyping
Interface Design
The Problem
Pet owners are facing the impossible choice of surrendering their pets amid the pinch felt by rising food costs post-pandemic.
Particularly, health-conscious pet owners aged 18-25 are struggling to meet their pet’s nutritional needs because of affordability, availability and lack of convenience.
Approach:
Double Diamond
How did I empathise with the users?
UX Research at a glance
Research Goal 1:
Empathise with pet owners struggling to find the best options
Research Goal 2:
What factors are driving increased prices
Research Goal 3:
How are young pet owners currently coping with shortages
Online Ethnography
Desktop
Research
Semi-structured
Interviews
Thematic
Analysis
Affinity
Diagram
Insights
To better understand the attitudes and needs of pet owners between 18-25, I conducted user research on tertiary education students and working young professionals within the age bracket because they will likely have or share the financial and caregiving responsibility of a pet. A combined triangulation approach including 5x semi structured interviews, an online ethnography and online desktop research provided the following.
I noticed that addressing the decision-making process is crucial. A better ability to decide on which food to get and how much to purchase can greatly assist pet owners in planning and budgeting. This approach can be facilitated by a specific application that provides options and helps users plan and make informed decisions.
Young Pet owners are constantly seeking alternative pet food options adds stress and uncertainty to the pet care routine of young owners.
Young pet owners are dealing with shortages of pet food due to supply chain issues, leading them to choose cheaper substitutes that may compromise their pets' health
The need to make informed choices amid fluctuating prices and supply shortages requires increased awareness and access to relevant information.
User Persona
This research informed the development of a user persona that reflects the attitudes and behaviours of university students seeking healthier, available and simple decision making approaches.
The Goal
HMW better enable young pet owners to track and locate a variety of healthy pet foods, ensuring informed purchasing decisions amid supply shortages and rising costs?
Ideating a concept
Chosen Solution
I've chosen to go with a user-friendly pet food marketplace and inventory tracking application for mobile devices. Its primary function will be helping users in efficiently sorting through the available and best pet food options in a nearby distance specifically suited around their pet's profile which will include inputted data of age, weight, breed and other needs.
The second, and as important purpose of the application will be a pet food inventory tracking which will help reduce over-feeding, reducing waste and prolonging the food.
These two features will help users face the lack of accessibility and increasing cost of pet food. The goal of this app is to design an interface which reduces cognitive decision
Low Fidelity
Usability Testing
How did I prototype and develop the outcome?
Paper
Prototypes
Think-Aloud
Protocol
Scenario
Testing
Storyboarding
The Outcome
Style guide & components?
Storytime by Shav (1 year from this project)
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So as I began my academic journey in design, the only software which I had been designing beforehand with was the Adobe suite. Believe it or not, this 'high' fidelity was made on Illustrator & Photoshop. Yup! Here's a very amateur look at what brain was like in essentially one of my first design projects!
Learnings and Takeaways
What did I learn?
I learned the importance of adopting a user-centred design approach. Initially envisioning a simple pet food marketplace, I shifted my focus based on insights about pet owners' habits of stretching food supplies. This pivot allowed me to combine features effectively, aligning the app's functionality with user needs and behaviours.
Engaging in iterative design processes and continuously enhancing features based on user feedback was a key learning.
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