Concept | UX | UI | Personal project
The Idea
An app that allows dog owners and walkers to find dog parks in their area, and to know the status of their favorite \ closest parks via reports from other users.
In addition, the users can coordinate arrival times for the parks so that the dogs (and their people) can enjoy themselves together.
Basically - kind of a social network for dog owners and walkers :)
The Current Situation
Based on a study conducted with 23 dog owners and walkers
always go to the same park, some claimed it depends on its occupancy
65%
don’t know all parks on their area & discovered theirs by wandering the streets
58%
discovered their park via other people
41%
coordinate arrival with friends or go when they know the majority goes
55%
Pain Points
In general, users find it disappointing to arrive at the park and discover that the conditions there are not ideal for the walk they planned: it's too dirty, too busy, the facilities are lacking and more...
They would be happy to know the vibe of those present there and how the place itself looks in advance.
Dog type
Soil
Dirty
Lack of seating
dog type
Lack of shade
Lack of pickup bags
Ground type
Bugs
Aggressive dogs
Mud
No water fountains
Insects
Muddy
Big dogs
Bully dogs
No fences
Angry
dogs
Puddles
Mud
No bags
Filthy
Sunny
Gila, Dog owner
My dog is very playful. When the park is particularly dirty or full of mud, I have to shower her afterwards, and if there is no bench and shade in the park, I don't get to rest at all. That's not what I'm going out for...
The Users
Amit, Dog owner
I'd be happy to be able to choose hours when there are only small dogs in the garden, similar in their characteristics to mine... sometimes a busy garden will drive us home.
Lior, Dog walker
I walk dogs several times a week. I like to meet acquaintances who also walk their dogs so they can play together, and I also get to pass the time chatting and enjoying. It's boring to go out alone.
Market Research
I searched for an app similar to what I had in mind, but found Wooof: a social network for dogs, which differs in several essential points from the concept I was aiming for.
you can't, for example, upload a textual status... you have to post a picture... like and give a comment, but that's about it. Too bad, the ability to share information that is more than a picture could have been extremely useful.
each dog has a feed to which pictures are uploaded
you can report the walk and see it on the map
there is no sufficient information about the dog parks and their condition.
Kahan, Calcalist Magazine
This is where enters: an app in which the user finds out information about what really interests him, and reports himself about things that are relevant to other users!
The Inspiration
Came mainly from apps like Waze, Google maps and Facebook chats.
So How
Does It Work?
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1. Register &
Set Preferences
Add info about your dog, such as size or friendliness.
Set your park's preferences, such as ground type or facilities, to its needs and to yours. You can revisit and change it whenever you like.
On the home screen you can choose to see all the parks in the area, or only those that suit your choices.
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2. Find & Edit
Park Information
View on the map (or in the favorite parks you saved) info about the park you chose today, such as opening hours, user comments and real-time updates on its condition and facilities.
You can add a report yourself about what's happening in it today, for example if it's missing bags or if it's dirty!
3. Schedule & Meet Friends
Keep in touch with friends from the park, even if they are not the usual friends from home... Arrange to meet at times that suit both of you to go for a walk!
Information Architecture
It was important to me to make sure that all things would be accessible right from the home screen: for e.g., just by taking a look at the favorite parks, you can see what's going on in each one, even without entering through the map.
I also added a weather feature, which is unusual in map apps, but does faithfully serves the user's needs in this case. After all, everyone should know if the sun is beating down when they go to the park without shade, right?
Although the app is a social network, by logging in as a guest I allowed unregistered users access to some info, just as anyone can use Google Maps without logging in.
Towards the end I added the option to re-edit preferences, even without going back to the beginning of registration and getting an outdated design.
Check me out!
