Paw Pals

Paw Pals is a mobile app that allows pet owners to search for dogs in their area who are looking to make new friends. Paw Pals uses location tracking, and a database of dog owners to connect the right dogs with the right people.

My Role

Solo Designer — User Research, User Experience, Wireframing, Prototype

Tools Used

Adobe XD, Illustrator, Photoshop

Duration

September - December

Prototype Link

PAW PALS

Purpose

New and current dog owners learn the importance of socializing their pets early, as it teaches the dogs how to positively and healthily react to the world around them. The critical period of socialization in puppies lasts from 12-14 weeks. This is a crucial time for puppies because it establishes the behaviours they will exhibit as adults.

Paw Pals gives dog owners the ability to streamline the process of trial and error when going to a dog park and instead identify other dogs that would suit theirs for play and socializing. The goal is to eliminate any worries and anxieties a new dog owner may have when trying to socialize their puppy.

Research Tactics

01. Literature Review - Competitor Profiling

Reviewing the apps Meet My Dog and Pupstanding, both created to connect dog owners with potential dog walkers, is similar to the goal of this research.

02. Ethnographic Research: Observation

To observe how my dog interacted with other park-goers and how other owners reacted to him, I visited three dog parks varying in size and familiarity.

04. Market Research: Surveys

To learn more about current dog owners in the Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, and Scarborough areas, a survey was sent to 11 people.

05. User Experience - Personas

Two user personas. One has owned a dog before, and one is just adopting a pet. Both personas will be using the application to socialize with their new pet.

Key Findings

✹ owners of small dogs are less likely to feel comfortable in a dog park setting than owners of larger breeds.

✹ a dog's size and age are of key importance when one looks for a companion.

✹ messaging service, location sharing, and customizable profiles are three of the app's primary features to implement within the app.

Discovery Process

I began the initial phases of the design process by creating a user flow and low-fidelity wireframes to gain an understanding of the user experience and determine all the constraints before digitally wireframing.

High Fidelity Wireframes

After mapping out the functionality of each page, I created a high-fidelity wireframe of the app. This allowed me to create the app more efficiently since I did not have to go back and forth between design and development.

Once the interaction process was finalized and user testing completed, the Paw Pals prototype was created.

Final Thoughts

This app evolved out of my frustrations and experiences as a new dog owner. While working on this artifact, I found the longest and most challenging part to be conducting research in order to design the UX/UI. But I've learnt that conducting conclusive research is especially crucial when creating something from scratch, as it gives you a clearer idea of how best to build a design.

On the plus side, I was super pumped to be going to dog parks for "research purposes" 😜 (so was my dog)

let's make cool things!

kimpatrocinio@gmail.com