Dogiz
PRODUCT DESIGN FOR DOGS’ ADOPTION APP
The project was created during my UX studies at “Create” school
SUMMARY
Dogiz is a native Android app designed to help an adopter find a pet which matches their lifestyle, while considering factors such as breed, gender, age and health status. It also allows adopters to get help and guidance after they adopted their pet.
In this story, I will provide insights into my thought process, the methods and tools I used, and explain my reasoning and thoughts behind the decisions I made.
MY ROLE IN THIS PROJECT
UX Design
Research
Interaction Design
Visual Design
RESEARCH
I started out with some brainstorming to explore the topic of the design and gather my initial thoughts. I did some competitor research to see how other products were tackling this issue and taking notes of the things I did and didn’t like.
INTERVIEWS
The first thing I did was to look for a professional dog trainer, who also accompanies and advises throughout the adoption process. Since she is very familiar with potential adopters and know their pain points - she might be the right person to ask questions.
At the discovery phase of my project, I conducted user interviews and a survey in order to get a better understanding of the problem.
Using my research questions I’ve tried to understand what were the main pain points when adopting a dog: starting with finding where to adopt, what are the main concerns and what’s important to know during the process.
The interviews also helped me create the basic structure for what later will be my app’s questionnaire.
PERSONAS
Based on the interviews I set up two personas.
I referred to them throughout the entire product development process.
USER FLOW
In order figure out how viable my solution would be, and based on the user research and survey, I created a rough story-line. As part of this user flow, I started to map out the screens they would see:
FINDING THE PROBLEM
While doing research, I realised there are not many apps that help adopters find a pet that matches their lifestyle. I want to make it easier for people to adopt animals from shelters or foster homes.
MY GOAL
My goal was to reduce the number of dogs being return to the shelters due to a mismatch between the dog and adopter.
WIREFRAMES - SKETCHES & PLANING
I usually start the design process with low fidelity sketches. This is the way I iterate through many options quickly. The needed features, actions and pieces of information were already pretty clear after the phases above, so I could jump straight into a quick sketch to map out the user flow.
WIREFRAME FLOWS
After a couple of paper iterations I had the general idea ready, so I switched to Axure, where it’s easier to move things around.
This was the final result of the user flow after a couple of iterations in Axure.
I laid out all of the pages so I could visualize how each piece related to one another and how a user would access each section of the app.
FEATURES
ONBOARDING
Upon installing the app users are first greeted by a screen that explains how they can use this app to find their new pet. The opening screens also show the value proposition which explains the user why it’s worth it to complete the questionnaire..
QUESTIONNAIRE
The questionnaire itself is pretty simple, each page features a single question at the top and multiple choices for answers below. The user can go back to change their response, or go forward to skip a question using the arrows at the bottom.
EXPLORING SEARCH RESULTS
The explore view features dogs that are a good match with the user, and these will be shown at the top of the list. Each card also shows a summary of the animal’s characteristics, highlighting the main reasons why this would or wouldn’t be a good choice for the user.
DOG PROFILE PAGE
The top of the page has all the necessary information: A picture of the dog, its breed and age, and whether or not it’s a good match.
SET UP A MEETING
I added the option to arrange to go walking with the dog without leaving the app.
Tapping the button opens a dialog with an inline time picker. In just a few taps the user can arrange to meet his potential future pet.
AFTER THE ADOPTION
This part of the app was built specifically for those who adopted a dog, but need to be guided in the first period. At the adoption day the adopter will get a code, which he could use in opening a new section in the app.
Here, adopters can read articles that can help them in the days after the adoption, consult and ask questions, meet people who have recently adopted a dog and more…
Design Solutions
During the visual design state I really wanted to go further and explore how the app would look. My aim was to create a highly aesthetic/intuitive bridge to maximize the user experience and the product’s overall appeal.
