UX case study
Wag
In the time of being able to order everything at the tip of your fingers, it only makes sense that we are able to take care of our pets even when life gets busy. Wag fulfills that need by allowing you to book walkers & sitters right from your phone.
In this case study I will be reviewing my approach to the re-design of the popular dog walking app
Overview
UX goals
Improve the over all UX of the app by making the navigation consistent and fluid. Create a walker profile flow that allows pet parents to become more familiar and comfortable with walkers. Making trust the top priority. Currently you can only view profiles of a walker you where there is an active or past reservation.
UX challenges
There is no rationale or design standard across the apps navigation and hierarchy. The home page and hamburger menu are crowded and lack clear customer goals
Stakeholder feedback were all based on assumptions due to the nature of the project.
My role
As Designer for my project, I was involved in the entire process, including the overall strategy, user research, website hierarchy and visual designs.
User research
Affinity mapping
To begin I started by understanding my target audience and their pain points. This came in the form of user interviews. Using affinity mapping I was able to identify the following common issues users were facing:
Motivation
Consistency
Space
Difficulty Levels
Workout Techniques
Highlighted quotes from user research
“Im not sure if I’m doing it right””
“Finding the right level of difficulty takes a lot of trial and error”
“I need a way to stay motivated”
“I give up if I feel like I don’t have a clear path to my goals”
Apple app store reviews
The app reviews in the Apple App store told a different story besides an outdated application. Dog owners had lost trust in the company. The app was constantly crashing, walkers were canceling walks last minute, and customer service was unreliable. In the worst cases, a dog was lost and walkers were staying in people’s homes longer than they should. I believe design that is purposeful with people in mind can improve the overall trust in Wag and it’s walkers. Based on user research this re-design will prioritize product trust.
App audit
Ideate
Although the focus of this re-design was centered around re-gaining trust of the user, I wanted to ensure that I did not neglect the main booking flow. Below is a sketch of the book a walk ASAP with confirmation screen & notification pop up within the app.
Without the input of Wag business stakeholders I made the assumption that their business priorities would be focused around the continual booking of services across their product offerings.
Define
Persona
Based on the user research and data provided by the app store I created the below primary persona that represents a user who is very busy and highly likely to book dog walks for their dog.
Click to enlarge
User journey
The user journey below was key in helping me better understand the touch points with Wag from the moment they download the app. The main take aways from the user journey flow are 1. Ensure a simple booking process 2. Continue to provide updates to pet parents throughout the walk to reenforce trust.
