How might we help people change their perception of their companion animal’s obesity
and stay motivated throughout the long-term process of managing weight?
Group project
2 UX designers
1 UI designer
3 researchers
8 weeks (2020.07 – 08)
Dogidiet is mobile diet management and AR obesity tracking mobile platform for people with dogs. Users can easily diagnose their dog’s obesity and manage diet and workouts to achieve weight goals. The app aims to raise awareness for the risk of obesity and help users stay motivated throughout the journey for their dog without giving up.
Project leader, UX designer
I led a group of 6 people on the project. While leading group on discussion and planning, I took part in the research process and actively recruited and interviewed target users. I conducted 2 rounds of usability studies for iteration. For the final prototype design, I was in charge of branding, UXUI design.
RESEARCH
Ideation
User interview
User research
User scenarios
User Persona
DESIGN
Workflows
Wireframes
Prototypes
Usability testing
UXUI Design
Logo design
PRESENTATION
We conducted an initial survey on a household with pets to find out what their priority of concerns was.
We discovered one thing the families had said in common:
“As animals can’t talk, it's really hard to notice when they are sick.”
They were highly keen and anxious about the health of their companion animals.
Hence, we decided to focus on finding ways to enable healthier life for animals.
We first began our initial observation that people care most about animals’ well-being and longevity. From our initial target interviews, we began with the challenge - “what are the ways to reduce medical costs for animals?” Our investigations came with the idea of a shared social space for vets, which can provide several benefits that we believed can ultimately reduce medical costs for patients.
Shared social space for vets
“WeWork for Vets”
Potential Benefits
INITIAL TARGET: Junior Veterinarian seeking to open hospital
INITIAL GOAL: Reduce investment/operation cost so medical cost can be lowered.
While the investment cost of opening a hospital was somewhat burdening, interviewed vets preferred to work independently. With such insight, we decided to pivot from our initial solution of shared space for vets. Hence, we began to find other ways to enable healthier life for animals. We discovered that most of the concerns are related to the dog’s diet and lifestyle.
Various issues related to dog’s diet.
PROBLEM: People often do not take health hazards of obesity seriously and do not know if their dog is obeseor not.
Our target interviews with people with dogs revealed that eventhough they know obesity can pose high health risk for their dogs, they do not consider weight management as neccesary thing to do.
PROBLEM
CAUSE
Researched 50 apps on ios platform under the animal category and analyzed top 3 apps that focus on healthcare.
Based on our research we found this gap:
"There is no service that only focused on providing customized and specialized information on weight management”
IDEA
SOLUTION
We conducted 13 in-person and online user tests using our interactive Adobe XD protoype.
Users found the app confusing to navigate and impractical to use on daily basis. Users also wanted more customized information provided. We iterated the prototype with usability test insights.
Intuitive UIUX
Users found input process difficult and using grams for measure serving impractical. Input process need to be more simple.
Iteration
We eliminated uncessary information and modified interface to suit everyday use in life more efficiently.
Customized information
Users found diverse workout methods and recipes are provided. However, users was unsure if the presented methods were applicable to their dogs.
Iteration
We emphasized customized curation and presented users with description in earlier depth.
Professional information
Users found technical terms like BCS difficult to understand.
Iteration
We decided to show obesity levels compared to average weight so the users can easily understand the severity.
Current Status Dashboard
Users wanted to see the current weight more clearly with visualized progress interface instead of numbers.
Iteration
We simplified the dashboard by focusing on showing the daily progress visually with pie charts and illustrations.
With the information of dog and AR body shape scanner, the user can easily self-diagnose obesity. Based on the gathered information, it recommends a diet plan suitable for the dog. This makes users aware of the need to lose weight by accurately recognizing the obesity level. Diet becomes more accessible with a customized diet plan that is easy to follow.
The user can track weight progress, diet, and workout records at a glance.
The AR scanner view shows the continuous body shape changes and allows the user to visualize the weight progress more intuitively. Visible progress reinforces motivation for weight loss.
Customized diet and workout contents are provided based on the dog’s information. The curation considers breed characteristics, preferences, seasons, and popularity. Effective diet methods tailored to the dog will maximize effectiveness and minimize stress.
The user can easily log actions and intuitively view the daily progress.Daily missions with gamified elements motivate users to keep working and give them a sense of accomplishment. Pawints accumulated by users can be donated to abandoned dog shelters.When the dog reaches the target weight, the user will be notified of success and presented with a plan for "weight maintenance."
What could be done differently?
Multi-faceted approach at the beginning
We first began by focusing on solving the problem structurally. With further interviews of stakeholders involved, we discovered it was not a viable solution. We could have begun with a multi-faceted approach instead of focusing on one.
During the initial research, we found while several apps focused on companion animals’ health, most of them included too many features - shopping, community, diary and etc. Hence, we decided to develop a single feature app that focuses on the main aim - health, specifically weight management.
More rounds of usability testing and iterations
Due to time constraint, we were not able to test long-term usability.
We conducted 2 rounds of user testing and iterated the prototype. With more rounds of iteration and user testing, we would have been able to design the interface with usability suitable for daily usage. Moreover, as the app aims to help users achieve goals in the long term, user testing executed over a certain period instead of done in one seating would have given us more insight.
What are other area to explore?
Gamification with point system
The future possibilities can explore further on the gamified mission feature with the "pawint" system. With a more engaging design of a reward system, the user’s motivation can be boosted.
Integration with IoT devices
I would love to further develop a more convenient and intuitive experience for users by integrating IoT devices.
