Dogscool app case study

Problem statement

As a dog owner, I had recently gone through the process of educating my dog, and I got a glimpse of the struggles that people have when a pet joins their family. While there are lots of online information about dog training, a lot of people struggle with finding local proffessionals and communities, and that there is a strong potential for an app that would help organise the educational process. This is where the idea of Dogscool app was born.

Challenge

First solo case study that I created to follow the design process from zero: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test, Refine

Here’s how the process went:

Emphatize

Competitive analysis of two of the most known app dedicated to dog training - Dogo app and Goodpup that helped me find helpful insights that clarified some directions to use for the development of dogscool.

Understanding the user / Research.

Methodologies applied:

Survey - google forms (at least 30 ppl) - you can check it out here
3 interviews
Direct observation ( whatsapp group of 250 people)

After gathering all data, I used online affinity mapping to organize the thoughts and ideas and I got a better picture of the targeted user in order to create twouser personas.

Define

Target audience and User personas

Ideate

With the user personas in mind, I went further and build user flows to visualise the interaction of the user with the app.

I created an initial sitemap.

Card sorting and sitemap improvement

I used Card sorting as a method to make sure that information architecture is consistent and easy to understand for users. I conducted an open card sort via Optimal Workshop. After the participant’s feedback, I rearranged some features (the chat into a new page), I regrouped some of the categories and renamed others for a better understanding of the features.

Prototype the wireframes

The initial prototype for user testing was developed in Figma and can be found here.

Conduct usability test

First I developed a Test Plan - that can be found here.

Goal of the Test

Assess how easy and intuitive first time users find the app features. I observed how the participants interacted with the prototype in order to identify the errors and fix them.

Methodology

5 moderated usability tests that were held in person (4 of them) and remotely via online video call (one of them).
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The participants were recruited from my own personal network. Some of them were familiar with dog training apps and others had no experience with the dog- education services.

Usability Test Report

The participants completed 3 tasks using the prototype and shared their thoughts about the process. I analyzed the results using the rainbow spreadsheet method.
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For a more detailed analysis of the results, you can access the rainbow spreadsheet here.

Refine

I developed a style guide that addresses the most important aspects to be considered throughout the app, so that I can maintain consistency. It contains information about the Typography, colors, UI elements (ex buttons, cards), grids and spacing.

I designed all the screens and components, alongside with the illustrations.In all the design process, I followed the Gestalt laws and visual design principles like similarity, proximity, continuity, balance, hierarchy or repetition to ensure usability.

You can find the final prototype here.