In recent years, due to an aging population and declining birth rates, the number of pet owners has been steadily increasing. According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, 28.05% of households in Taiwan own pets, with an annual growth rate of 8.89%. The percentage of households with dogs is as high as 51%. Research further identifies five key trends for the future: pet humanization, organic pet food, tele-veterinary services, pet technology, and pet e-commerce. These findings underscore the growing importance of the pet economy.
Therefore, I aim to provide a convenient solution that meets the increasing demands of pet owners by developing a successful pet care product that enhances the quality of life for both pet owners and their pet.
Create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that includes the complete design process.
As a one-person team, I need to conceptualize and design everything from scratch, which can lead to mental blocks. To overcome this, I utilize the internet, books, and advice from design mentors to seek inspiration.
As social and economic levels improve and people’s quality of life changes, pets have become an important part of many households. Consequently, the demand for pet care services has surged (Figure 1). Additionally, advancements in technology have led to an increasing reliance on smartphones, resulting in a higher acceptance and demand for highly convenient smart healthcare services (Figures 2).
In addition to assessing the market conditions, it is essential to understand other pet consultation platforms. First, evaluate similar competitive products in the market to gain an initial understanding of areas for improvement and reference among online offerings. From this analysis, identify opportunities for the PETPAL product.
Overall, I am sure that the pet care market is significant and worth exploring.
User Research and Affinity MappingAfter understanding the market, I designed a questionnaire to define user profiles and gather insights into the challenges and expectations of pet owners. After surveying over 25 potential users, I organized the research data using an affinity map. This method helped me visualize user pain points and prioritize features.
Here are the results:
Based on the user survey, I generated a typical persona to define the target user and better understand their needs and pain points in advance to prioritize the features.
How might we enhance the quality of life for both pet owners and their pets?
Establish daily routines to encourage and remind pet owners. To address the issue of busy lifestyles causing pet owners to temporarily forget to spend time with their pets.
Create personalized profiles for pets and maintain individual healthy lifestyle record. To address the issue of complex daily care routines, which can lead to occasional oversight.
Provide pet owners with real-time advice from professional vets to address the issue of not understanding animal behavior, which often leads to delays in response and uncertainty about whether a vet visit is necessary.
Based on the goals above, the following necessary features have been outlined.
During the design process, I tried to find a straightforward way for interaction that aligns with the mental model. Based on the previous problem definition, I designed three user flows, as shown in the following image:
At this step, in addition to confirming whether users can achieve their goals, each page is reviewed to ensure the icons and text are easily understood. First, I set up three tasks based on the three user flows using the Maze tool for testing.
After collecting over 80 testers for each flow test, I got the following results:
A 75.3% success rate in “setting up an accompanying goal.”
A 94.3% success rate in “adding a healthy lifestyle record.”
A 86.2% success rate in “starting a chat with a vet.”
After user testing, the following design changes were made based on the results and feedback: I improved UI readability, added more notifications to keep users informed about the status, and streamlined the user flow to be more straightforward.
Flowers remind people of growth and vitality, and establishing a good daily routine is like caring for a flower—it requires continuous attention and commitment. I hope to use this method to help pet owners establish a daily routine of companionship for their pets. Just like brushing your teeth every day, spending a few minutes each day can greatly improve the quality of life for your pets.
Utilize personalized pet profiles for classification and create life records for different pets. Provide a detailed yet simple-to-use life record feature.
Due to the high cost of pet medical care, pet owners often seek information online first. This feature is designed to provide a quick way for owners to assess their pets’ conditions when they are unsure whether to seek veterinary care.
In the future, if I can expand this project, I will ...
Hello there, I am currently available for both full-time positions and freelance projects. If you are interested in my work, please feel free to reach out, whether the opportunity is remote or on-site in Taiwan.
