User Research: To inform the development process, user research was conducted in the form of in-person interviews and a series of phone/online surveys. Analyzing this data spearheaded the creation of 3 personas which provided an invaluable foundational resource to build strategy and design from.

Competitive Analysis: Next, a competitive analysis was created assessing the current market offerings. This process brought clarity to problem statements mentioned during user research and highlighted current product feature gaps such as: lacking social tie-ins, being only for dogs, and overflowing with ad-based filler content. Examining competitor flaws identified untapped design opportunities (i.e.: indirect competition had location-based pet friendly venues) to add to the idea pool.

Ideation / Concept Map / User Flows: Data from the previous 2 stages was used to jumpstart an ideation session to generate a feature wishlist. Auditing the session wishlist allowed for the creation of a concept map to group key features into logical groupings/progressions. From this map, several user goals were highlighted (“Track a Pet’s Activity”, “Add a Reminder or Additional Pet”) and these were refined into a flow map focusing on navigation for common tasks within the app.

Wireframes & Interactive Prototypes: Assembled research on popular user navigation patterns to sketch quick explorations of multiple UI design approaches. These initial paper sketches were used when informally polling users to isolate solutions with the easiest learning curve. Once the navigation elements were established, a digital wireframe was created to spotlight the “Pet Profile” and “Track Activity” tasks and more in-depth user testing was conducted. Resultant customer feedback proved positive, so a clickable prototype was developed including several additional features.

UI / Visual Design: With the functionalities solidified, the project focus turned to incorporation of visual aesthetics to support the app and make interacting with it a comfortable and friendly experience. Using the personas as a foundation for my design target demographics, I created a corporate identity and branding to skin the product with.

Finalizing the Case & Presentation : At the conclusion of the project, I examined my research and assets to structure them into a compelling story detailing the PetFit app evolution and resulting solutions. A presentation detailing the development process and a live demo was then delivered to instructors, classmates, and several industry specialists.