CityPups
Jun 2021
Background
The Problem
The Solution
My Role
CityPups is a startup that aims to assist city dwellers with finding their perfect pup. I was brought in to get a baseline for their Minimum Viable Product (MVP) by running a Google Ventures (GV) Design Sprint - a five-day process consisting of mapping the problem, exploring possible solutions, prototyping the best solution, and testing that prototype with customers.
According to CityPup's research, dog adoption in cities is especially challenging due to unique aspects of city life such as small living quarters, a lack of green space, and lease restrictions.
I designed a desktop site that includes a dog matching assessment and allows users to quickly compare dogs' key attributes.
Since CityPups already organized and analyzed user research, I primarily acted as a UI/UX Generalist, Prototyper, and Usability Testing Moderator.
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Day 1 - Map
I kicked off the Design Sprint, by reviewing existing user research and the persona, Ellie, so I could come up with an initial iteration of our user journey. As I analyzed CityPup's research findings, three key trends surfaced:​
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users like to connect with a dog emotionally but practicality guides their choice
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the searching process gets time-consuming
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users' main concerns are a dog's size, activity level, and comfortability in busy areas
Using this information, I wrote out potential end-to-end user experiences, similar to how a user journey would be. To avoid getting bogged down, I set a 20 minute timer and created as many routes as possible in that window. Even before I finished, I could already tell one map stood above the rest.
Day 2 - Sketch
Before fine-tuning my makeshift map, it was important that I got a feel for other popular and effective products in this space. I conducted 20-minute lightning demos of two competitors, PetFinder.com and AustinPetsAlive.org. Both sites had thorough filtering tools and matchmaking quizzes that addressed many of the concerns our users expressed. Though many of their UI elements and patterns seemed to fall flat, their features and understanding of their users' needs hit the mark, helping to guide my approach to CityPup’s MVP.
From there, I raced through a crazy eight sketching exercise before tackling the final deliverable of the day, a three-panel solution sketch of critical screens. Based on my research and as someone who has tried to adopt a dog through similar sites, I know that independently browsing through puppy profiles could be time-consuming and overwhelming. That left me to explore ways that we could help users weigh their options, much like they would any other big decision. This thought train propelled my sketches along until I eventually landed on a comparison tool off of which I based today’s main deliverable.
Day 3 - Decide
After all the ideating and sketching from the previous days, it was finally time to pick the best solutions and sketch a storyboard for the prototype. Although I lacked certainty regarding the flow and the UI, I knew that the concepts I discovered in the previous days - a matchmaking assessment and comparison tool - brought value to our users.
The matchmaker not only helps users significantly narrow their options, it also ensures they aren’t getting excited about a dog to later uncover that it’s a poor fit, an issue that repeatedly surfaced in our user research. Furthermore, our research indicated that users would get caught up on a handful of dogs that they really liked but couldn’t decide which would be the best option. Integrating the comparison feature and assessment into the same flow would reduce cognitive load on our users, thereby ensuring that their searches resulted in conversions.
Day 4 - Prototype
Day four was taxing yet rewarding! With my storyboard fleshed out, it was time to put together our prototype. The beauty of a 5-day sprint is that you don’t have time to second guess yourself or fret over minor details. All of my energy went toward designing only the necessary screens, UI elements, and a rather basic script. For efficiency, I designed directly in Marvel, utilizing their preset UI elements, colors, imagery, and fonts. This choice, in turn, allowed me time to craft the test script and conduct a trial run of the test.
Day 5 - Test
The final day of the sprint was stacked with usability tests followed by review sessions. Since only the ideal user route was mapped out in the prototype, we had spare time to chat with testers and get their input on the UI.
Through testing, I confirmed that users found the matchmaker assessment and comparison tool desirable and unique. All users managed to navigate the flow with relative ease, expressing excitement the features and curiosity about other aspects. Some concerns with the information available and the organization of that information on dogs' profiles did come up but with minimal impacts upon the usability of the flow itself.
Takeaways
The GV Design Sprint methodology offered a nice change of pace from past projects due to its rapidity. Each day brought different challenges while eliminating any space for self-doubt or indecisiveness. I would have preferred a bit more time to design the prototype; although, it seems more time may not have translated to greater benefits to users regardless.
Moving forward, I think CityPups is in a great spot to provide users with an exceptional adoption experience. I would love to see future iterations address the full adoption process by streamlining applications, coordinating meetups, and the like. For myself, I look forward to conducting more GV Design Sprints and approaching future projects with the same velocity.