Tail Trails Pet Health Tracking App | UX Research | UI & UX Design
Pet owners want to ensure their pets are healthy and active but may lack the knowledge or resources to do so. This platform helps pet owners do things such as monitor pet activity, provide pet maintenance tips, and create a community for pet owners to share advice and experiences.
Research & Design team: Ethan Stoltz, Bradford Mohr, Jared Hardin, Christopher Herrera, Jonathan Varghese, Aaron Mathews
Brief:
Assist pet owners in doing things such as monitoring pet activity, contacting vets, and sharing advice and experiences with their community of fellow pet owners.
User Research:
Our team designed a survey and distributed it to pet owners to understand and define who the target user is for our product.
The survey was broken into categories of Demographic, Diet, Exercise/Activity, and Vet/Healthcare seeking to answer the following questions:
- What knowledge or resources do the users have or need to ensure their pet is active and healthy?
- How can we help these users to monitor their pet’s activity?
- In what ways could we facilitate pet owners sharing advice or experiences with their community?
User Needs:
- A majority of the users need to exercise their pet 6+ times per week.
- A community or place to share and receive advice regarding pet healthcare and vets.
- Solutions for concerns regarding pet isolation/boredom, lack of day to day exercise, or aging related issues.
User Preferences:
- Most pet owners are exercising their pet by simply letting them out, playing with toys inside, or going for walks. - Many pet owners prefer to get their health info straight from a veterinarian.
- Many said their pet gets to socialize via playing with friends/family or other pets at parks/doggy daycare.
Pain Points:
- Concerns surrounding their dogs health as the dog ages (joint and heart problems).
- 93.3% of participants do not currently log or keep track of their pet’s exercise in any way.
- Many pet owners are concerned about the cost and quality of pet healthcare.
Product Features Based On Research Insights:
- Providing a simple and accessible system for logging/tracking pet exercise allowing for pet owners to be active participants in ensuring their pets are getting sufficient exercise.
- Creating a space/forum for pet owners to connect with other pet owners and share their experiences at certain public parks, dog parks, or pet daycares.
- Simplifying connecting with vets for quick/accessible info. Users could read/create reviews of their experiences at certain clinics as well as receive accessible costing info.
Key Features of the MVP (Minimum Viable Product):
1. Exercise and activity tracking
This will provide users an accessible way to monitor and log their pet’s physical activity. Many pet owners are not currently tracking their pet’s exercise/activity in any way are simply lacking an accessible solution. Our app will allow users to discovers trails/parks on maps and mark as visited.
2. A space/forum for pet owners to connect and share their experiences at dog parks, pet cafes, or pet daycares
This feature will cultivate a social network of fellow pet owners in the user’s area. This can provide a form of digital word-of-mouth for users to write their reviews and decide what pet friendly social enrichment activities/establishments to visit based on other pet owners’ reviews.
3. Hub for users to connect with veterinarians for quick and accessible info about pet health as well as costing info
Many pet owners noted that their main point of contact for information about their pet’s health was their vet. This hub will stand as a connection point between pet owners and medical providers. Having a reference point on your smartphone for FAQs as well as vet clinic costing estimates would be incredibly helpful for pet owners.
4. Health record management and reminders
Tracking of health information such as: vaccination records, medications will benefit users when discussing vet care. Also, reminders of upcoming appointments will help with pet health maintenance
5. Location based suggestions for users to discover highly rated pet friendly establishments and clinics in their area
This will expand the user’s knowledge of options for socializing and exercising their pet in their area as well as help them find the right veterinary clinic without having to rely solely on word-of-mouth.
Information Architecture:
User Flows and Wireframes:
The team first mapped out six user flows covering all key features of our MVP.
We then designed low-fidelity wireframes illustrating each flow in mobile format.
Once each wireframe was tested in low-fidelity, I re-designed each user flow in high-fidelity representing the Tail Trails brand language.
Finally I designed a simple sign-up/log-in flow to help new and returning users easily sign into their profiles.
User flow 1: Create a user pet profile with email authentication and add profile details (species, breed, age, medical history, photos)
User flow 2: Log a 10-minute evening walk via pet smart-device to activity history on profile
User flow 3: Find a trail on a map, mark it as completed, and then find the trail in your history
User flow 4: Write a public review for a local neighborhood dog park you visit weekly
User flow 5: Find and contact a new Veterinarian to schedule an annual physical and check pet’s vaccination record
User flow 6: Locate a local cat-friendly brewery to visit with your pet
Sign-up/log-in:
Final Design:
The high-fidelity prototype allows users to easily monitor pet activity, contact pet healthcare providers, and connect with an online community of pet owners.
