Interactive Prototype

The process : User research report, Final prototype outlining process, the challenges and reflection.

The User Research report

According to the survey conducted on different individuals views about owing or adopting a pet, a healthy lifestyle and proper training and good
behavior was identified as the user goals most important features in a
pet app. Following the survey, it found that most people get their information on the internet which might be unreliable and confusing.

• Training
  A well trained pet is, important so that as it, provides mental stimulation which helps to keep your pet happy. It also builds confidence, and strengthens the human-animal bond. It’d get easier to communicate
  with your pet. Almost every respondent answered yes on how important it
  was to train a pet in the survey. Pet training has also been the most vote
  feature to be in the pet app(73.3%).
• Health
  Keeping your pet healthy helps to keep you healthy. It might have a direct impact on you. Furthermore, many pets need routine, vaccinations, deworming, and flea and tick control to protect them, and their
  owners, from certain diseases. In the issues section
  of the survey, respondents stated that they do not know reliable sources and do not fully understand their pets needs.
• Grooming
  Grooming helps rid the coat of shed hair and dead skin while spreading
  natural oils. Clipping ensures the maintenance of a comfortable coat length to match the seasons and ensure your pet’s comfort.
  We recommend that you make grooming a regular part of your pet’s healthcare. 40% of the respondents do not know how or where to bring their pets.
• Task reminder
  Working person or students may have dozens of tasks and things to do
  and it is normal that even people with much trained memory cannot remember everything. A task reminder feature might be helpful in order remind the owner about the pet’s programmed schedules and this might help both the pet to live a healthy life and the owner to be more organized towards the commitment he or she has towards his or her pet.
• A sharing platform
  A sharing platform feature in the app might help the pet owners or would to be
  pet owners to understand their pet better. Also it might create a community of pet owners or people who wants to adopt a pet
  that has been rescued thus serving the real purpose to the client RSPCA
  Australia.
• Day care
  Day care facility provide plenty of opportunity for a pet to be stimulated, whether through individual attention or through group activities with the other pets. This increased stimulation makes a happier and healthy pet and also it prepares the pet to spend time in the company of others. In the issue section, the respondents mentioned that they are not
  aware of day care facilities in their surroundings. And 33.3% of them voted
  for a day care feature in the app.
  According to the survey conducted and the analysis for the user goal made,
  these are following features that should be implemented in the pet app:
  • Pet training
  •Your pet’s behaviour
  •Pet’s food
  • Sharing moments
  •Grooming you pet
  •Task reminder
  •Location for pet’s facilities

Summary of the 7 step frame canvas and The 3 Variations

The first step is to answer the questions and fill in the information after reading the client’s brief :

• Why? — To understand your goal
• Who? — Define your audience
• When and where? — To understand the customer’s context and needs
• What — List of ideas (A, B, C…)
• Prioritize and choose an idea — Use a graph to place the importance
• Solve — write down the flow of the app/User task
• How? — Measure success

Context Variation

The ideations, The wireframes, and 4 final screens

The concept must factor this context into all areas of the app design, ensuring all content, features and UI components are relevant for this specific audience, and the specific questions and needs they may have.

Aesthetic Variation

The ideations, The wireframes, and 4 final screens

In the second design concept we use the Photon design language (also called a design system) developed by Firefox. This design language focuses heavily on illustration, iconography and vibrant colours. For this concept , it was not required to follow the existing RSPCA design language / branding.

Accessibility Variation

The ideations, The wireframes, and 4 final screens

The third and final design concept must cater to visually impaired users — specifically users with low vision. These users require a higher contrast in the interface design and struggle to read small font sizes and small iconography.

Read more on: https://nehalakshana.medium.com/design-challenges-9642ace6c459

Designing the final prototype for the RSPCA app

The Storyboards

We were asked to create scenarios to better understand how the users would benefit from the app in the everyday life. This step helped in designing the final app prototype.

• Senario 1

• Senario 2

The A/B Split Test

The A/B split test allows the designer for the app to have a feedback or another point of view from other individual concerning the small details of the app prototype design.

User Testing Report Summary

After conducting the A/B split test , we finalize the initial app prototype and run a user testing review to see if the app can be easily understood and what changes are to be made for a better and smooth screen transitions, to enhance overall user experience and trigger emotional response.

Question 1: How was your overall experience?

The overall experience response from the 5 user tester were positive. They found it interesting and easy to use.

Question 2: Which part did you struggle the most?

The majority response was no. They did not have any difficulties navigating through the app prototype.

The only issue that one of the user tester had was when pressing on certain buttons on the app it did move to the next screen smoothly. The user had to press twice.

Question 3: Was there any confusion about the application?

The response from the user testers was no. The app interfaces were
pretty easy and direct to use for a first timer.

Question 4: Would you use this app for your pet? Why?

The response from the user testers were positive. They would use this app as it was quite informative and had the right information and covers mostly everything on how to properly take care of a pet.

Question 5: Would you consider this app for pet adoption? Why?

The response from the user testers were positive. They would use this app as it would save so much time and it has the information needed .

Also during this global pandemic due to Covid-19 this would be a much better option and minimise the interactions.

One of the user advice for more information or elaborate more the adoption section.

Question 6: Which feature did you find the most interesting or useful?

The majority of the response were the Know your pet feature in the app , the statistic feature and the consultation feature.

Link to the user testing review: https://youtu.be/WVBQCN3DF-o

Changes made in the app prototype.

After conducting the user testing, the user testers advice for some development in the adopt me section for the pet.

Also, to add a title in the statistic section as it was not mentioned in the app and develop the consultation button found in the vaccination and disease section for consultation with the veterinarian.

The 7th feature found on the main menu was removed as it was of no use. The user were not really interested in this feature.

The Final App

The final app design is quite simple and minimal mainly consisting of rectangular and rounded shapes.

The colour used where quite playful so that it could bring certain things to the user’s attention. Also vibrant colour sets the tone and mood of the application.

The colour used were mainly teal blue, marine (dark)blue, mustard yellow, coral red and white.

The final app design for this assignment consist of the following features:

• Know your pet feature
• Appointments
• Task reminder
• Adopt a pet
• Statistics
• Memories

Link to the final app prototype: https://www.figma.com/proto/O8wS6KolgfwtTtKidVuR7S/RSPCA-FINAL-APP-A3?page-id=0%3A1&node-id=1%3A2&viewport=-128%2C331%2C0.25&scaling=scale-down

Personal Review: The challenges and refelctions

This process allowed to have a better overview on the target audience and the availability of the final solution and what would trigger the need to use the application.

It allowed me to write down my list of ideas, prioritize and choose which idea would be the most efficient or has the most potential. By doing so, it helped me to select what features to put in my app and how to tackle the problems.

The A/B split test and the User testing exercise allowed me to understand the point of view of my target audience and the issues they might come across and what changes could be done to avoid such situation.

The challenges faced for this process were mainly when conducting the interview review for the app prototype as we are in a pandemic and we have limited access to different type of users and their opinions.

Overall ,going through all these steps definitely challenged me as it was a new way of tackling a design solution and I am still in the learning process. It took some time and disciple to break my old habits and apply this new technique for a design solution.

I will definitely use some of the techniques learned and apply it in my future projects.

Link to the user testing review: https://youtu.be/WVBQCN3DF-o

Link to the final app prototype: https://www.figma.com/proto/O8wS6KolgfwtTtKidVuR7S/RSPCA-FINAL-APP-A3?page-id=0%3A1&node-id=1%3A2&viewport=-128%2C331%2C0.25&scaling=scale-down