How might technology improve the way we take care of our pets?
User research // app concept testing
Role
Freelance User Researcher
Tools & Methods
Research plan, user surveys & interviews, storyboards, feature identification, landing page test
Overview
This project grew out of a desire to explore the challenges that dog owners face while managing the tasks and responsibilities of owning a dog, both individually and with others (such as roommates, significant others, etc.). My role was to conduct user research and identify opportunities, potential solutions, and validate the viability of any solutions.
Identifying Opportunities
To map this space and identify opportunities I conducted a survey about the challenges of owning a dog, followed by interviews with 4 participants who opted to follow up with me. The survey received 205 responses.
Followup interviews showed people often experience frustrations and inconvenience when sharing the responsibility of taking care of dogs with a roommate or significant other.
Exploring solutions
Simple storyboards showed how a mobile app may address some of the frustrations shared in our user interviews.
Viability testing
To test the viability of this concept, we launched a landing page that outlined some of the basic features this app would offer. Our plan was to gauge interest based on the conversion rate of individuals signing up to hear more about the app. Although we were pleased with our conversion rate of 34%, the project ended up not getting funding to be fully built out.
