Carefolio
A device to help busy pet owners consolidate their pet’s information and needs
Project Type
Human Interaction Design
Dates
August 2022 - December 2022
Role
Worked in a team of four as a researcher and designer. Developed storyboards, conducted interviews and user testing, analyzed results, and designed prototypes. Worked to create deliverables every three weeks.
About the Project
Pet owners’ biggest concern with caring for their pets is training and maintaining their health. Pet care can be quite overwhelming, so creating a way for users to have all pet related care in one place was my team’s main goal. We sought to create an interface that combined owners’ training and health related needs to make access easier for them and their supporters such as family or friends.
Tools Used
The Problem
Research showed that most pet owners found that they struggled with training their pets and maintaining healthcare. Pet care can be quite overwhelming, so creating a way for users to have all pet related care in one place was our main goal. We sought to create an interface that combined owners’ training and health related needs to make access easier for them and their supporters such as family or friends.
Design an interface for busy pet owners that centralizes the information they need to train and care for their pet.
The Solution
User Research
Interview and Survey
We interviewed 10 people and surveyed 8 people. After analysis, we found that their biggest issues with pet care were:
It can be hard to keep up with health- related care for pets
It is hard to keep up with training pets
We took these issues, and created personas and storyboards to better understand our user group.
The team began by doing research to find out what pets were most popular and what age groups had pets the most. We were then able to form a few research questions to aid our interview and survey questions.
Persona
One of the personas created of a tertiary stakeholder
Storyboard
One of the storyboards created of a tertiary stakeholder
Prototyping
After creating our personas and storyboards, we began creating prototypes. We created eleven prototypes and were able to group them into three scenarios that they helped solve:
A user wants to be able to monitor their pet even when they are away
A user wants to train their pet in an easy way
A user wants to plan care for their pet’s needs
Initial Prototype
The Home Carefolio prototype was one that we thought had the most potential to solve a user’s issue of training, planning, and health care needs.
This prototype was created to be a transparent device so that when not in use, it blends into the home environment.
The interface would contain all pet related information including scheduling, medical information, training, note taking, and photos.
Home Screen
Scheduling Screen
Medical Needs Screen
After further analysis, we realized that while this prototype was effective, its main flaw was that it was immobile.
We wanted to create an interface that a user could use anywhere and one that could be accessed by other people in their social circle.
Furthermore, this prototype didn’t solve the first scenario of being able to monitor a pet while away.
Prototype 2
We decided to combine the consolidation of the Carefolio prototype, our QR code-based pet collar prototype, and live GPS and vitals to create a website and collar interface.
This prototype was used in three Heuristic Evaluations based on Nielson Normans 10 Design Heuristics and a Think Aloud User Study.
After analyzing our feedback, we redesigned our prototype to be a mobile app and collar system.
QR Collar
Login Screen
User Home ScreenFinal Prototype
We created a system that includes a collar with a QR code and sensors imbedded into it that leads to our app. The QR code would be used if the pet was found by a stranger; once scanned, the user would be taken to a page holding information about the pet and the owner’s contact. The accompanying app would include a section for the owner and a section for a supporter. As an owner, the user has access to the pet’s GPS, medical information, live vitals, training logs, budget, and lists. The owner can give access to a supporter to allow them to monitor their pet as well. Supporters would have access to GPS, vitals, and training logs.
Stranger View
First Login Screen
Second Login Screen
Owner Views
Owner Tasks Screen
Owner GeoTracker Screen
Owner Budget Screen
One of the main features of this app is the user’s ability to set off-limit zones within their house and then see when their pet enters these areas based on the GPS which would be kept in a Training Log.
Another feature is the owner’s ability to keep track of their pet’s prescriptions, and vet appointments.
Reflection
This project received positive feedback from instructors and was a very informative experience into human interaction design.
Lessons:
The prototype process was the hardest as it was difficult to develop several different interfaces, however the positives that came from meticulously working through the problem were transparent. Consistently go back to the user and their needs also helped keep design goals very specific when they threatened to become too broad.
Future:
If I was to revisit this project in the future, I would like to incorporate more user research with a larger user group. This could have helped us design a more effective application that catered to the variety of users that fit into our user group.