Closed loop system
for your pets!
My Pet
project!

ROLE:
Lead UI / UX Designer

TEAM:
Abhishek Bakshi

TYPE:
Concept
UI design
UX design
product design

Faced with the loss of my pets documents due to his appetite to chew, I thought about creating a platform that helps maintain pet information as well as manage our vet visits

A puppy nearly a few months old, It seemed frightened and lonely. It was hurt and did not want to come out of the drain pipe. After failing to lure him out with delicacies like milk and biscuits, He responded to a name! and he walked over without a sound! No, I’m kidding, I had to stuff hand in and get him out! I’m pleased to report that he was all bark and no bite! After a quick cleanup and a few days of a cuddle, he was part of the family! He woke up when I woke up and slept when I slept. He wanted to come to work with me but since I commuted by train it was difficult for me to take him along. Sadly, all these things often come to an end. That’s right.

He grew up

cuddles were replaced by chewing and teething. Cute adorable looks were replaced by loud unnecessary midnight talks with friends across the building. It was manageable until his chewing escalated from shoes and furniture to books and files! 

99% of the owners say that their dogs have chewed something of theirs that they weren’t supposed to and the rest 1% have forgotten about the incident.

WARNING:
Not an actual
statistic.

And there are many more. These benefits only apply to you if your pet is healthy and happy. A healthy pet requires frequent visits to the vet and also constant care.

Being a pet owner I’ve also realised that a pet in my case socks (my puppy) constantly needs something to chew on, He moves from place to place in search of things he can play with and tug on. It is his curious nature, Cats also tend to scratch surfaces around the house. This behaviour can be linked to various reasons, Separation anxiety, teething to name a few.

The reason I mention this is because after a short visit to the vet I found out that socks had managed to get his paws on his medial history file and ripped it to shreds! There were traces of his vaccination tags all over the house and some pages were missing, later found during his routinely walk to relieve himself.

This got me thinking, After such an incident I have no records left of my dog’s medical history and I’m unaware of his dates for booster shots, regular/ checkups etc.

Next up, a few conversations to
understand if I’m the only one
with the missing pet file.

The rough idea
and the process

New pet owner.

Visit to any doctor 

Update the data yourself by just clocking a picture.

GOALS that a user should be able
to achive using the service.

1. Securely keep Pet data online.
2. Hassle free vet visits.
3. Easy to use and all age friendly.
4. Track pet
5. Can assist with travel
6. Identification

Iterating the user flow
accordingly.

Incorporating the
flow into a Wireframe

UI and other
visual details.

I wanted the colours to be slightly earthy as I feel this app should evoke a sense of home as it helps you take care of someone special in your life. I prefer colours that were happy and comfortable. I also realised that white and black accents can bring out the design of the app, so I kept that in mind while working on mockups.

After a few rounds of scribbling and trying to figure out what works for different sizes I landed on the whiskers with the heart, It shows love and care and also depicts the animal’s nose.

Prototype

My learing

1. Everyone has their way of using technology so I know that this product needs to be excessively user-tested to get more insights and see how else can we improve on the design.
2. Few tools I learned about during the process including card sorting and tree testing which I feel would work great here to organise the information better and understand how the information architecture currently performs.
3. As I feel I primarily focussed on the user during the developing stages of the product what I’d like to do more of is meet veterinary doctors to make sure that the application meets all of their requirements.