CASE STUDY
alltails
A dog training app
What is alltails?
alltails is a dog training app aimed to create enjoyable training habits for dog owners.
With alltails, users can take part in customised training programmes, set up training reminders and track progress over time.
Role
UX Researcher, UX Designer, UI designer
Project length
10 weeks
Sep-Nov 2022
Tools
Figma, InVision
The brief
For this project, I explored problem spaces that were in need of digital intervention. I identified that there’s a lack of young people training their dogs which has a negative effect on the well-being of both owners and dogs. As a dog lover, I was determined that there must be a way to help owners train their dogs using technology.
Taking a human design-centred approach, I started to analyse the problem space as well as the needs, motivations and pain points of the users.
My design process
I followed the Double Diamond Design Thinking process to ensure my design decisions were based on user research.
Discover
Problem Space
Research
Assumptions
User Interviews
Affinity Mapping
Define
Persona
Experience Mapping
User Stories & Epics
Task Flows
Develop
Paper Sketches
Digital Wireframes
User Testing
Lo-Fi Prototype
Brand Development
UI Library
Deliver
Hi-Fi Prototype
Product Marketing Site
Marketing Website
Multi-Platform Challenge
Discover
Let’s look at the problem space
The pandemic saw a surge of new dog owners in the UK. 3 million UK households bought a ‘pandemic puppy’ and 27% of UK adults now own a dog. Many of the new dog owners have never owned a dog before.
Millennials bought more dogs than other demographics. They’re also the group most likely to say that dog ownership didn’t match their expectations as they aren’t aware of the patience required to train their dogs.
Dog training is important to keep both dogs and owners happy. Despite that, most people don’t properly train their dogs due to a lack the time, motivation and knowledge of training. Sadly, there are consequences of lack of training. Charities report that behavioural problems are one of the top reasons people give their dogs to rescues.
My goal is to find a rewarding and simple way to help owners train their dogs.
A bit more on the data
Dog ownership doesn’t match the expectations of millennials.
Most owners don’t properly train their dogs.
Behavioural problems are one of the top reasons for people to give their dogs to rescues.
What do the competitors do?
I conducted a Competitor Features Inventory Analysis to spot gaps and opportunities in the current offerings from direct competitors.
Key insights from competitor analysis
Only one player offer progress tracking
A couple of players offer reward badges
There is a lack of personalisation for classes
What do people say about the existing products?
I conducted further market research by reviewing app reviews from popular dog training apps. The goal was to understand what the users value and miss in the current product offerings.
Key Insights from Sentiment Analysis
Users value customisation
Users want to be able to schedule and track their activities
Users want to visualise their achievements
Users prefer a simple and uncluttered interface
Assumptions
I put together a list of assumptions I was having. The purpose was to make me aware of these assumptions so I could challenge these.
Young dog owners are unlikely to have the motivation, budget, time and patience to train their dogs.
#1
The motivation for training tends to go down over time as the dogs grow older.
#2
Dog owners struggle to form a long-lasting training routine.
#3
Hypothesis statement
I put together the following statement to challenge my assumptions:
I believe that young dog owners are less likely to have the motivation, budget, time and patience to train their dogs. The main reason is that it might be hard to keep the motivation and habits over time. The result might be that they don’t train their dogs.
I will validate my hypothesis when I see the following feedback from the user research: At least a majority of my user interview respondents mentioned that they are motivated to train their dogs, but haven’t been able to find a method that works for their lifestyle and/or budget.
Understanding the Users
I conducted user research with the primary user group to learn more about their needs, hopes, and fears.
Who did I speak to?
I interviewed 3 UK-based dog owners aged 18-34 as they reflect the target user of the product.
What did I want to understand?
The common barriers and pain points dog owners experience that prevent dog owners from training their dogs
What would motivate dog owners to train and look after the wellbeing of their dogs
How dog owners currently solve the issue of training their dogs
Research findings
Affinity mapping
I categorised the findings from the user interviews using the affinity mapping method.
Behaviour
“I tend to seek information specific to my breed to get personalised information.”
“I try to set up a regular training schedule that my dog can get used to.”
“I tend to forget about the training.”
“I struggle to keep the motivation up over time.”
Motivations
“It’s motivating when you feel like you’re getting somewhere.”
“I would like to have more control over when and how much I train.”
“I train my dog to help him reduce his anxiety. I also feel like we bond more when we train together.”
“I want to find ideas on how I can help him with his breed-related behaviour.”
Pain Points
“It’s hard to keep the interest and motivation over time.”
“It’s hard to set up the structure to get into a routine.”
“It’s hard to find training tips for my dog's breed and age.”
“The advice out there is very general and often tailored to puppies.”
The common themes
People think it’s hard to find information specifically for their types of dogs.
Users want personalised training.
Personalisation
People struggle to keep their motivation overtime.
Once the progress drops, so does the motivation.
Motivation & progress
Time and patience are common barriers to training.
Shorter and more regular bursts of training tend to be more appealing.
Lack of time
Define
Meet Katie, the persona
The secondary and primary research helped me understand who the target user is, and what their goals, values and needs look like.
Insights from my research helped form the persona that represents the primary user. This persona was used as a guide for my design decisions.
Mapping the current experience
This is the experience mapping of my persona’s current journey. It shows the persona's thoughts, actions and mood when accomplishing their goal.
The experience map revealed a number of opportunities for design intervention that was considered during the design phase.
How Might We question
Most of my initial assumptions were validated in the user research: users struggle to keep motivation over time when there’s a lack of structure.
However, surprisingly the budget didn’t seem to be a reason for the lack of training. Instead, the users pointed out other reasons such as difficulty finding personalised training programmes.
How might we help young dog owners find the motivation to train their dogs in a more accessible, time efficient and rewarding way?
User stories & epics
The research informed a number of user stories that helped me focus my design from the perspective of the user. These user stories were grouped into epics based on the similarities they shared.
The epics helped me define the functionalities and features that would add value to the users.
The epics
Personalisation & individual advice
Creation of habits
Track progress
Task flows
I created 3 task flows based on the epics I identified from the user stories. They show what actions and decisions the user have to do to complete the task.
Task 1: Add information to get a customised experience.
Context | Katie has downloaded and signed up for the app. She’s going through an onboarding flow and answers questions to enable a personalised in-app experience. Once the flow has been completed, she will be met by a personalised home screen.
User stories addressed in this task flow
As a new dog owner, I want to add name, age and breed of my dog so I can get a customised in-app experience.
As a new dog owner, I want to select my goals so that I get presented with relevant training programmes.
I want to add my dog’s details so I can get a personalised experience.
Task 2: Complete a training programme flow and set up daily reminders
Context | Katie is logged in and presented with personalised recommendations. She decides to take part in a training programme, set up reminders and complete a class.
User stories addressed in this task flow
As a new dog owner, I want to set up training reminders so that I get reminded
As a new dog owner, I want to see a clear learning path so that I feel in control
As a new dog owner, I want to get nudged to keep going so that I feel encouraged to keep training
Task 3: Track progress from previous achievements
Context | Katie has taken part in a training programme and wants to track her progress to keep her motivation up.
User stories addressed in this task flow
As a new dog owner, I want to track my activities, so that I can refer back to my completed tasks
As a new dog owner, I want to visualise my achievements so that I can track my progress
As a new dog owner, I want to track my progress, so that I can view my development
Develop
Paper sketches
Once I had the task flows built out, I started to sketch my initial designs on paper.
This allowed me to try a number of different layout variations.
Digital wireframes
Once I had settled on my solution sketches, I started developing my digital wireframes in Figma.
User testing
I conducted usability tests with 10 people in 2 rounds of my Lo-Fi Prototype. The goal was to get feedback that could improve the design and the overall user experience.
In addition, I wanted to understand what challenges users were facing when going through the task flows and how I could iterate the design to avoid those challenges.
Iterations 1 & 2
Added input field for mixed breeds
Added more context to the progress bar
Iteration 3
Added tags to programmes to provide context
Final Lo-Fi prototype
This is the final version of the Lo-Fi prototype.
Brand development
Before starting to develop the visual identity of the brand, I looked back at the purpose of the product to ensure the brand encapsulates the core value proposition.
Brand name
I decided to settle on the name ‘alltails’ because it encapsulates the app themes of personalisation, motivation and patience.
Moodboard
I created a moodboard that represents the tone and ambience I wanted to create with the brand.
UI library
Delivery
Hi-Fi prototype
I developed the mobile app design using the visual identity and UI components that I created.
In addition to the visual guidelines, I also went back to the user testing phase to ensure the design is in line with the user feedback.
Product marketing site
I created a responsive marketing website with the aim to explain what the app is about, lift the core value points of the product and appeal to the relevant target audience.
The marketing website follows the same visual identity as the product to ensure brand consistency.
Simple, clear copy in line with the brand TOV.
Clear and centrally featured CTA.
Navigation bar with links to other pages.
Use of brand assets within the design.
Showcasing the app's features and functionality.
Visuals and copy provide users with a clear idea of what the app is about.
Screenshots focusing on the in-app experience.
Testimonials for building trust.
Testimonials that show images of real users and their dogs for higher relatability.
The testimonials focus on the value that the app has brought to the users and will lift different points to avoid repetition.
Mobile product marketing site
Multi platform design
Aside from the use case of a mobile app, I think there’s value to offer some functionalities on other platforms.
Looking back at Katie, my persona, she could get reminder notifications to complete certain tasks on a smartwatch so she can get into good habits.
Wrap up
Future thinking
I loved working on this project. Not only am I passionate about improving the well-being of dogs and their owners, but I also loved how I could incorporate methods for habit creation, motivation and rewards into the app.
Moving forward, I will keep iterating and improving on the current flow. I will also add a social sharing and community feature as I believe it would bring a lot of value to the users and at the same time work as a method to reach new users.
In addition, I truly believe that the concept of this product could be tweaked to fit other problem spaces that require people to find motivation for creating habits.