Snoot is a dog walking app that aims to improve and streamline the process for booking dog services including dog walking, pet sitting, and drop-in visits.

This project was executed from beginning to end by myself, from user and market research, to user flows, wireframing, prototyping, facilitating user testing, to final designs.

The Challenge

As any dog owner knows, our dogs are our best friends. Because of this, dog owners, particularly those dealing with dogs with special needs or social challenges, tend to have trouble trusting people with their dog.

User Research

Utilizing resources readily available to me to get a better understanding of the challenges owners who are interested in utilizing a dog walking service are facing, I determined that a couple of key concerns include legitimacy/knowledge of walker, as well as safety of the dog when with the walker.

User Flow

Upon gaining a better understanding of the challenges dog owners have around hiring dog walkers, I built out a user flow that made considerations for creating more security in the mind of the dog owner.

This included providing the option to either book a walker immediately, or facilitate an interview with the walker before determining whether the user would like to work with them.

Wireframing

From here, I was able to come up with wireframes. Working through several variations of different screens, I nailed down the functionality of the application, keeping my user top of mind during the process.

Application Design

This is where the project became really fun—working through the visuals of the app. I went with a green and blue colour palette leaning more on the pastel side to keep it inviting and calming. Initially I had focused on utilizing very simple illustrations, but ended up putting the emphasis on photography to allow the emotion and connection of owners/walkers and dogs to be the key visual.

Prototyping

Once the preliminary design was established, I had several users try to execute a specific task within the prototype.

The task was to sign up, look for a certified dog walker, and message them.

Test #1

Roadblocks included not being able to skip the request to add your dogs (this would have allowed for a better view of the search results), not being able to use the search options to choose “certified dog walker”, and not having immediate access to the chat icon within the profile page.

Test #2

With the addition of a functional search and the ability to easily access the message icon from several places, the user was able to move through the process much more efficiently. I noticed that both users felt the need to just click “get started” rather than try to move through the onboarding, but because there would be value in knowing what the app actually does, I opted to remove the buttons from the first two screens.

Final Design

With the changes to the visuals as well as concerns that were flagged during the prototyping stage, I came to the final version of the application.

Making amendments to the final design was quick and easy due to having built out a comprehensive component system earlier in the process.

Outcome

Overall, i feel the app does a great job of addressing the key concerns I came across during the research phase.

I found it incredibly interesting how one user's prototype test could differ from another's, even while following the same simple steps. This has given me a stronger appreciation for considering how different users intake information, and how they are inclined to behave within an application.