Pet Alley

UX Case Study
Pet Care E-commerce App

2023

Tools Used:

Project Overview 01
About
Pet Alley is a dedicated digital per care store.
The application enables pet parents to
conveniently browse A to Z products for their
pets and make purchases online. The app also
provides easy access to pet care service
providers nearby.

P roblems

0 1

Hectic schedules, tiresome lifestyles makes it

difficult for pet parents to manage pet care
routine.

Pet care market being disintegrated makes it

02
difficult and confusing to browse for right
products or services.

03
It is difficult to search for on demand pet care
service providers nearby.

Solutions
0 1

One stop pet care shop to provide digital

solutions for all pet care needs.

Connect with verified and trustworthy service

02
providers nearby and easily book pet care
services at your fingertips.

03
Find all products for your pet under one roof.

Design Strategy 02
Executive Intent
The intent is to make pet care easier by providing a user friendly and comprehensive pet care platform where
users can buy products for their pets and book pet care services nearby. Due to busy schedules it is difficult
for pet owners to manage pet care and disintegrated pet care market makes the online shopping experience
tiring & confusing. Pet Alley improves accessibility to safe & reliable pet products & services by providing a
one stop shop experience to users.

Target Au ience d Success Factors Technolog Constraints y

Targeting users above 25 years U sers can find services thar are Smartphone with internet
of age trustworthy, cost effective and access.
Working professionals easily accessible
Pet Owners/ Pet Parent Easy access to variety of pet
Pet Lover products that are safe &

Users who want to buy

reliabl Cross Channels
products for their pets onlin Community for pet parents to
connect with each other
People who need help with pet iO
care activities like walking,
Androi
boarding, etc. Web

Design Process 03
0 1

Research

05 02
Test Define

04
03
Design
I eate
d

My Role & Responsibilities 04

Role: UI/ UX Designer Project Duration: 14 Weeks Screens: 30+

As a UX Designer my role was to uncover user behaviors, needs & motivations to make products, services
and websites more intuitive and enjoyable for users.

What was I responsible for ?

The UX research for this project was conducted with a team of 5 members in total. As a part of this project I
was responsible for conducting the following activities.

Design
trategy User
S
Persona User
Research
Competitive
Analysis
Prototyping
Primary Affinity
Research
M apping User ourney
J

apM

High Fidelity Empathy apping M

Wireframes Information Low Fidelity

Architecture Wireframes

S ite
M ap
Card orting S

Usability Testing

Paper ketches S
Visual Design

Research Phase

Competitive Analysis 05
A competitor analysis was done to enhance our understanding about competitor businesses. A list of
competitors were studied to understand their audience demographics and business model. We used their
products to conduct a feature analysis and understand the pro’s & con’s.

Competitors
11 P ets Wiggles Wags N Tails H FTU P etBac er k

Boar d ing __ __

Grooming __

Sitting __ __ __

Wal ing k __ __ __

Training __ __

Remin er d __ __ __

A option
d __ __ __ __

P ro ucts d __ __

Communit y __

Veterinar y __ __
Service

P et Frien l d y

P laces __ __ __ __ __

Transportation __ __ __ __

Blogs __ __

User Research 06
User Research was conducted to understand user behaviors, their needs, pain points and motivations. oth B

Quantitative & Qualitative Research methods were used to conduct user research.

Qualitative Research

We conducted one on one interviews for around 15 potential users, some on call and some in person to
gather their perspective on pet parenting, its benefits & challenges.

Below are some of the questions as k e d d uring the interviews.

As a pet parent, would you say are the positives of having a

pet
What are the day to day challenges of being a pet parent
Does your schedule permit time to manage pet care
What pet care services and products do you look for online
offline
What is good or bad about the pet care products/ services
available in the market
How do you get vet appointment for your pet
How frequent do you pay attention to grooming
In case of travelling what is the first few things you are
concerned about your pet ?

Ke ta eawa s from Qualitative Research

y k y

0 1 02 03

Busy and hectic schedules N eed to depend on family Browse through a number of
makes it difficult to spend and friends during office platforms to check services
time with pets, and manage hours to take care of their or products as the pet
pet care routine. pets. market is scattered.

04 05 06

Don’t prefer online shopping It is difficult to manage time Pet care service providers
due to concerns such as for visiting vet clinics, home should be skilled and
availability, safety, reliability, & visits are preferred more. e perienced in managing
x

quality of products. pets.

07 08

Pets become an ious with x asy to book and verified

E

new people and in new services will make pet care

places. easier.

Quantitative Research

An online survey was conducted using Google Forms to get a more rounded perspective of the
target users. A total of 18 responses were received and below are some key takeaways.

What’s the most important Where do you usually shop for Would you be willing to pay more
concerns towards your pet? your pet? than average shop price for high
quality products?

55.6% 66 7 %. 66 7 %.
16 6%.

.
11 1%

16 6%. 33.3% 33.3%

L eaving alone O ffline Yes

Travelling with them O nline No
H ealthcare
M anaging pet care

What kind of information do you Where do you get majority of

look for your pet? information you use regarding pet?

Pet Food (66.7%) .

16 7%
16 7% .
Pet Friendly Places (66.1%)
16 6% .
Veterinary (38.9%) 33.3%
16 7% .
M edical uppliesS (38.9%)
S ocial ediaM
oarding, Grooming,
B
(27.8%)
Walking, Training, itting S
Veterinarian
Websites
Toys & Accessories (33.3%) Friends/ Family
B logs

What are the concerns about products/ services available?

Quality (72.2%)

Availability (66.7%)

Accessibility (38.9%)

S afety & Reliability (66.1%)

Define Phase

Affinity Mapping 07
We consolidated and organised the data gathered from user research into groups with common
relationships.

P ain oints
P Nee s d

Spending Dependency Regular

Community Reminders for
Busy time with on others for pet
updates
Schedules pets is during office appointments from service
parents
difficult hours providers

Better product
Difficult to Tracking Pet parenting is Safe & Reliable
checkups & difficult for new
range for Vet visits at
train to litter smaller home products
appointments parents
animals

No daily Apps have Browsing Products & Services like

updates from some non- multiple services under boarding,
Boarding verified sources when one roof grooming,
services profiles shopping training

Motivations

Connecting Easy access Look forward

with fellow pet to products & to low
parents services maintenance

Genuine & Trained and

verified experienced
services staff

User Personas 08
We created two user personas who represent ideal users of the application. The two personas gave us a
better understanding of the user’s background, pain points, motivations & goals.

P ersona 1

Motivations
Service Accessibility

Product Availability
Age : 24 years

Occupation: MBA Student Safety & Reliability

Location: Mumbai Socialising

P et : 1 Dog
Claire Thomas Affordability

Bac k ground
Claire is a Master ’s student studying in Bangalore. She adopted a dog 4 months back. However, her schedule is mostly busy
where she attends classes from morning to evening. In the evenings she likes to spend time with her pet dog. She loves to
pamper her dog and shop for him.

P ain oints P Goals

Need pet parenting training Be more available for her dog
Not aware about nearby pet services & vets Doesn’t want to miss out on social life
Difficult to travel to the clinic without private car Wants to know about nearby trustworthy pet
Not able to spend time with pet due to hectic services
work schedule Wants easy accessibility to good quality products.
Don’t get time to manage pet walks & grooming.

P ersona 2

Motivations
Service Accessibility

Age : 45 years Product Availability

Occupation: Engineer
Safety & Reliability
Location: Delhi
Socialising
P et : 3 Cat, 1 Rabbit
Ric ky Go m e z Affordability

Bac k ground
Ricky works as a Software Engineer in Delhi. He lives with his family in an individual Villa. Since he works from home he spends a
lot of time with his pets and is also able to take care of his family. Ricky finds it difficult to search right products and services for
his pet. He also faces issues with managing pet care for all of his pets

P ain oints P Goals

Manage health records of all his pets Better access to services
Finds difficult to track vet appointments of all pets Have better and faster food delivery options
There are very few food options for her rabbit available for his pets
Needs to check multiple apps & websites to shop Be a part of pet communities & connect with
for his cat fellow pet parents.
Most of the times products are out of stock.

Empathy Mapping 09
Empathy mapping was done to gain a detailed perspective about what the users thoughts, feelings and
actions were. The observations made during user interviews were used to map this particular data.

Sa y s Thin s k

I want someone to look after my pet in my I want to know more about daycare/ pet
absence boarding services nearby
I love to spend time with my pet Wish it was easier to travel with my pet
I want be able to easily take my pet to the Hope my pet is safe when I’m away
Vet Want to know about cab services to travel with
I want to know what are the pet care services my pet
available around me. I want to be part of a community to learn from
I want to arrange a pet walker to take my pet other pet parents.
for a daily as I am not available always.

Does Feels

Searches information on apps/ websites Anxious about the safety of my pet when I’m
Cancels her weekend plans incase she is away
not able to find anyone to take care of her Feel guilty as I’m not able to spend time with
pet. my pet.
Checks with regular cab services if she Confused on choosing between my friends
can take pet until one of them approves it and pet
Searches on Google to find vet and Feel the need to be better informed on how to
clinics. better take care of my pet.

Sa y s Thin s k

I would like to have more food options for my Wish there could be better services for my pets
pets at the door step
I don’t get to spend a lot of time with my I want to be part of a community.
pets It is confusing to look for services on multiple
I want some help to manage pet platforms
appointments. It is time consuming to check stock in pet
I want to be part of some pet communities stores
and meet other pet parents Wish I could get vet and grooming services at
I am not able to regularly take my pets for home.
grooming especially during the summer
months when they shed more.

Does Feels

Looks for information on apps/ websites to Frustrated researching on multiple platforms

find best products with the least delivery for pet food.
timeline I am so lucky to have 4 loving pets.
Tries to make time to take pets for I feel sad that I am not able to spend time to
grooming. groom my pets.
Calls service providers to fix I feel irritated when the food is out of stock.
appointments. I feel worried about missing out on my pets
Sets calendar reminds for vaccination vaccination dates.
dates.

Ideate Phase

How Might We 10
We used the “How might we “ method to e plore ideas that can help solve user pain points. We casted x

votes to choose the top user pain points to be addressed. ome of the key solutions are mentioned below. S

P roblems Solutions

Spending Pet Walking - Pet Boarding Pet Daycare -

Busy time with - look for look for nearby
look for nearby
Schedules pets is nearby pet daycare
pet walkers
difficult boarders
centres

Receive regular Verification &

Difficult to Tracking training for all Online Vet
checkups & updates from
train to litter service service Consultations
appointments providers
providers

No daily Apps have Variety of

updates from some non- Training for new Vet visits at product
Boarding verified pet parents home categories
services profiles and services

No daily Apps have Tracker for vet Starter kits

updates from some non- history, Community
for new pet
Boarding verified prescriptions & Chat
parents
services profiles reminders

User Journey 11
User ourney was mapped across various touch points in our application to gain insight into how users
J

interact with our application and how to improve their e perience. x

Entice Enter En a e
g g E it
x Po st E it x

Opens Sign U Uses filters to Attends Sessio Gives service

Application Picks locatio get suitable Gets reward feedback
Comes to Home option points
Pag Browses list of
Chooses Vet Vet
Servic Makes a
ints

Checks types of selectio

Po

services under Views Vet

Ve details, reviews,
ch

verification &
Tou

Chooses Online
Consultation qualification
Books Servic
Makes Paymen
Gets email
confirmation
ti ns
E o
mo

Research S g i n Up Book in g A tten d S essi n o E it

x

Wants to book Easy sign up Easy to navigate Vet has a good Online
pet care process services understanding consultation
services for their Able to find List of vets can of pets health. saves tim
pe products & be filtered Earn reward
App uses good services under Able to book a points on
illustrations one roof consultation at a completio
e i hts

Can add suitable time & Option to

l g

multiple pet dat generate and

accounts. Can view vet store
D

details, appointment
verification & report on
qualification session
Set booking completion
reminder and
get notified

Give discounts Prompt Provide Nil Earn rewards on

to first time product/ discounts for referring friends
rt nities

users service member

suggestion Option for
u

Get updates date/ slot

Oppo

for pet change

bookings

User Flow 12
We created a user flow to map out steps that the user takes to navigate from entry point to e it point in the x

application.

Start

Open Application

Splash Screens

Have an

account?

No Yes Login

Sign Up Pet Profile Pet Type Pet Name Breed DOB Gender Not ification Location

Yes

Ho me
General

Inbox Not ifications

Chat

Settings

My Pets Na me Gender Breed Birthday Create

He lp

Profile User Profile

Orders

Bookings

Pet Records

Logout

Reminders Add Type Choose Pet Select Date Select time Confirm

Shop Search Product Products List Select Product Add to cart Delivery details

Vet List of services Online Consultation Choose Vet

Confirm
Service List of services Boarding
Select Date & Time

Boarders List
Choose Pet

Payment
Select Boarder
Confirm

Boarder Details
Payment Success

Select Pet

Select date / time End

Pickup/Drop

Pet Details Confirm

Card Sorting 13
Card sorting was done to understand how information will be organised under different sections in the
application.

H o me P rofile Shop Service Vet

Bottom Navigation U ser Information Pet ood F Boarding Clinic

Profile My Pets Medical Supplies G rooming O nline

Categories My Orders G rooming Daycare H ome Visit

Inbox My Bookings T oys Sitting

Blogs Pet Re ords c Accessories Training

Community Settings Clothes W alking

Reminder H elp Centre

Information Architecture 14
The results from card sorting were further used to create information architecture (IA). It helped to organise
and structure the content more effectively.

Open Application

Onboarding Login Register Pet Profile Enable Notification Enable Location

Email Email/mobile

Password Username

Password

Create Account

Verify

Home Bottom Navigation Profile Categories Inbox Blogs Community Reminder

Shop General

Services Chat

Vet

Bottom Navigation Home Profile Categories

Profile User details My pet My orders My appointment Pet Records Settings

Help center Log out

Service Boarding Select boarder Book appointment Payment

Walking

Daycare

Sitting

Grooming

Training

Shop Search product Select product Order Payment

Vet Select Category Select Vet Confirm Booking Payment

Community Get access to Groups, People & Feed

Blogs Browse blogs by pet types & topics

Site Map 15
Next, site map was created to get a clear perspective about how individual screens in every flow are related
to each other. Below is an example of site map for one of the flows.

Level 0

Home

Level 1

Categories

Level 2

Shop

Level 3 Level 3 Level 3

Cart Wishlist P roduct list

Level 4

Selected Product
details

Level 5

Cart

Level 6 Level 6 Level 6

Add/Select
A pply Coupon Checkout
address

Level 8

P ayment option

Level 9

Confirmation

Design Phase

Paper Sketches 16
Initially, I sketched the below paper sketches to represent the information architecture mapped in the
previous phase.

Low Fidelity Wireframes 17

Paper sketches were transformed into low fidelity wireframes to get a more accurate representation of app
screens using the alsamiq tool. B

High Fidelity Wireframes 18

Next, I created high fidelity wireframes in Figma as per UI guidelines for iOS platform. The low fidelity
wireframes were improvised based on mentor and my teams feedback.

Test Phase

Usability Testing 19
To conduct usability testing I used the a e platform. a e allows to capture feedback on design M z M z

prototypes made in Figma. The test was conducted with 5 users to understand how user friendly the
application is.

U sers were as e to carr out the below tas s

k d y k :

1 S ign Up to create account

2 Create your pet’s profile

3 Add your location

4 B ook a boarding service

Implementing ser Fee bac U d k

O verall, users found the app easy to use and crisp.

Initially some struggles to understand the Figma prototype presentation
Users were able to successfully complete the tasks and navigate through the app.

After considering the suggestions received from the usability test the following changes were made.

A section for any additional

information was including on the pet

boarding service booking screen. This

Pet Boarding Booking
will enable users to include any
Screen changed to
additional information about their pets

such as allergies, behavioral issues or

special preferences.

Thanks for Watching!