Introduction
The Humane Society of the United States estimates that only 23% of the approx. 10 million pets that go missing each year are reunited with their owners. As a means of preventing this heartbreaking experience, owners can opt to equip their pets with smart-collars, maximizing safety and increasing chances of a safe return if pets do stray. Demand for smart-collars in recent years has skyrocketed according to Transparency Market Research. It is estimated that the “pet tech wearable market” could be worth up to 2.5 billion dollars in the next 10 years.
The goal of this project was to create a native mobile application to be used with a bluetooth paired smart dog-collar undergoing conceptual development.
Talking with dog owners
"She is very fast, extremely smart, and she can easily jump a four foot fence - so, the fear of her escaping is real."
My team and I created a survey with 15 questions given to 75 dog owners. Goals of research included identifying the demographic/lifestyle for demand, gauging potential customer interest and prior knowledge of the product, and determining any deterrents for purchasing and using a product of this nature.
Use slider arrow below to view survey findings
Key Insights & Findings
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50% of respondents who expressed openness to purchasing the product stated they had no prior knowledge of the product's existence.
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36% of respondents opposed to purchasing a product of this nature listed uncertainty of necessity, an additional 22% stated concerns about cost.
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40% of respondents that did not see value in the product provided the reasoning that their dog is always on a leash.
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70% of respondents whom listed alternatives said microchips and ID tags.
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Only 6% of respondents were currently using a smart-collar for their pet.
Most notably, among survey respondents concern about losing a pet was minimal. By addressing concerns about health and activity levels we can drastically improve the value of the product.
Understanding the user
In order to gain deeper insight into who our users would be we made personas. To gain an empathetic perspective into what pet owners would be experiencing when losing their dogs we created an empathy map.
Key empathy map finding: when leaving home in a panic, pet owners may forget to bring their leash with them, a reminder to bring the leash could be added.
Time to define the problem
To offer a strong value proposition to potential customers the product should offer more than gps-tracking alone. A majority of pet owners cited issues concerning behavior and health, by incorporating features that address these concerns we can improve overall perceived value. How might we...
Let's map out the user flows
Next I thought through each screen, choice, and action the user would need to take for specific tasks within the application. I created flows for the most crucial user tasks as well as the onboarding process which involved creating a dog profile and linking the collar as part of the setup (this way users would be able to easily add another collar in the future if they need to).
The essential user tasks were accessing lost dog mode, setting up activity goals, and creating and managing custom pet care reminders.
Getting started on the design
Sketching & prototyping
Next I started to sketch layouts for each screen of the flows I mapped. By focusing on the elements of each screen rather than fine details I was able to create a paper prototype quickly and run some quick guerrilla-style testing by using Marvel Pop to test the essential task flows. The feedback from testing was very helpful as it showed me very quickly that there were a few screens missing. Then I moved on to building the wireframes into a clickable prototype for usability testing.
Creating a visual identity
The client listed brand identities of companies like Lemonade and Talkspace as visual styles they liked and were interested in us drawing inspiration from.
We wanted to evoke a feeling of trust in users, without coming off as too stuffy and serious. We avoided unsettling bright colors & chose a well-balanced, rounded sans-serif for typography.
Testing and adjusting the design
We ran two rounds of usability tests with 5 participants each. These tests helped us discover early on that there were a number of changes we needed to make before raising the fidelity of the design. Major iterations revolved around the dashboard, lost dog mode, and functionality.
Some of the most insightful findings came from testing the 'lost dog mode' feature where tested participants asked a number of questions about the functionality of the feature, such as:
"Where am I on the map?"
"How would I zoom in and out to see more detail about the dog's location?"
"How do I know if the collar is charged?"
Lost dog mode design iterations
1st tested iteration
2nd tested iteration
Final iteration
App dashboard modifications
1st tested iteration
2nd tested iteration
Final iteration
Final thoughts
This growing industry has so much potential for future companies like Bark, in fact only 6% of pet-owners we spoke to were currently using a smart-collar. However there are a few hurdles as well:
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First and foremost, advertising is going to be key for success in this industry. A very large portion of participants had no clue this product existed, and many were interested once they found out. Also, in marketing it is crucial to make it clear to consumers that microchips and ID tags are not an adequate substitute for this product.
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Cost is a huge concern for consumers! Finding ways to increase the perceived value for consumers will be essential:
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Hone in on activity and vitals tracking! Many people didn't feel the need to know their dog's location because their dog was always on a leash. This is especially true for one of the largest demographics of interested consumers: people living in cities.
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Find ways to address pet health & behavior issues! These were both top concerns for pet-owners and would be an excellent value add.
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Thanks for reading!
This project was so much fun to work on, and we truly had such a great time designing this application. Research on this project was a breeze, and when my team and I reflected on it we came to the conclusion that it was because people love to talk about their pets!
Use the arrows below in the right and left hand corners to see more of my work!