Introduction to the Design

Design Problem

Pet owners struggle to find an all-in-one pet care app that allows them to care for their pets quickly and efficiently. Most users found a lack of personalized pet care in existing pet apps. My challenge was to design an all-in-one solution that made pet care feel effortless, not overwhelming.

79% of pet parents already rely on technology to track pet health and activities

Goal

My goal was to design a personalized, all-in-one platform for health tracking, daily care tasks, and sitter services.

Add personalization by creating pet profiles and assigning personalized tasks to meet the pet’s health and everyday needs.

Create a way for pet owners to look for pet sitters.

POV Statement

Users struggle to keep up with their daily responsibilities and their pets' health. Their busy schedules make it difficult to organize veterinary appointments and daily care, resulting in gaps in their pets' well-being.

Users find that when using a pet care app, they don’t see its value or find it helpful due to its limited number of features, lack of engagement, and generic advice. As a result, they end up leaving the app and become disengaged.

HMW Questions

How might we create a space for users to customize and organize tasks, such as pet health, daily tasks, and reminders, to reduce stress and achieve accomplishment?

How might we add or integrate features to create a user experience that keeps users engaged with the app?

Insights Gathered

Competitive Analysis

I analyzed three competitor apps to identify where Pawfection could stand out.

While one app offered feeding schedules, none combined pet health management with daily care tools in a single experience.

I adopted the scheduling concept but expanded it — adding a customizable daily needs tracker so owners could set reminders for feeding, walks, grooming, and medication all in one place.

Strengths

User-Friendly Interface
Integration Capabilities
Focus on Preventive Care
Comprehensive pet care management, including medical records, grooming schedules, and feeding routines.
Customizable reminders with an intuitive interface
Cloud sync for backup and multi-device access
Vetted network of pet care providers
Secure payment processing
24/7 support and reservation protection

Weaknesses

Limited integration with external pet care services (e.g., veterinarians, groomers)
Advanced features require a premium subscription
May lack real-time tracking capabilities found in other apps
Service quality may vary between providers
Commission fees may reduce provider earnings
The app is limited to service connections and lacks deeper health management features

User Interviews

Through interviews, I heard a recurring frustration: task overload. Owners felt buried under daily responsibilities, struggling to keep up with routines while managing pet health.

Total 5 Participants

Four participants were interviewed over the phone, and one was interviewed in person.
Three out of five participants have experience with pet sitting.
One of the participants has never had a pet but loves pet sitting.

Common Themes

All participants expressed the need for reminders. They usually use a calendar or their memory to keep track of specific tasks.
They emphasized a strong need for task reminders and scheduling features.
Veterinary management was also crucial, with users relying on annual reminders to keep up with appointments.

Pain Points

Overwhelming Task Management: Maintaining daily routines, tracking health, and receiving reminders without an integrated system made pet care feel disorganized.
Health and Veterinary Management Challenges: Tracking vaccinations, medications, and symptoms was difficult. Participants expressed a need for reminders, symptom guides, and easier access to veterinary services.

User Interview Key Questions

How do you keep track of feeding, walks, or grooming?
What’s your routine for taking care of your pet(s)?
What’s the most challenging part of managing your pet’s care?

Affinity Mapping

I mapped interview insights into clear themes:

Overwhelmed by daily tasks
Lack of centralized pet health tracking
Desire for proactive reminders

These themes became the backbone of my feature prioritization, ensuring Pawfection addressed the most pressing user needs first.

Piecing the Puzzle Together

User Persona

I developed four personas to reflect varying levels of pet care experience:

Experienced owners who needed efficiency tools
New owners who needed guidance and reassurance

This helped me design an app that could adapt to both confidence levels without feeling overwhelming or underpowered.

User Flow

With personas defined, I mapped three core flows:

Onboarding & Profile Setup – Create an account, set up pet profiles, and personalize care needs.
Daily Management – Track feeding, health routines, and receive reminders.
Book-a-Sitter – Select a sitter, choose between boarding or house sitting, and complete the booking process.

Bringing Ideas to Life

Low-Fidelity Wireframing

When developing my low-fi wireframes, I drew inspiration from Rover’s layout patterns to create a structure that feels trustworthy and user-friendly, aligning with Pawfection’s goal of providing a reliable pet care experience.

Mid-Fidelity Wireframing

Testing revealed a gap in the “Book a Sitter” flow—participants found the service page confusing due to scattered CTAs.

Branding

Inspired by pet brands like Rover, I built a visual identity that felt trustworthy yet personal. I kept the tech-forward professionalism but replaced green tones with a soft purple palette, aligning with Pawfection’s core values of reliability, simplicity, personalization, and transparency.

This branding extended into a custom logo, icons, and typography to maintain visual consistency across the app.

Moodboard

Color Palette

Typography

Logo

High-Fidelity Wireframe

I implemented the changes from my mid-fidelity testing, restructuring the flow to include a single, clear CTA that directs users straight to the sitters page. This improvement made the experience more intuitive and user-friendly, resulting in a 100% success rate for participants navigating the flow.

Refining the Journey

User Testing

During testing, the sitter booking flow emerged as a key pain point. Users expressed confusion about the distinction between boarding and house sitting, and some struggled to find the booking button. To address this, I:

Clearly labeled and separated boarding vs. house sitting options.
Added clear worded CTA buttons to guide users through booking.
Improved navigation to make the path from sitter selection to booking more intuitive.

Sign-Up

Improved mobile layout with better padding and a clear ‘Save’ CTA.
Clarify the photo upload process, including labels and editing options
Improved the usability of the zip code and password fields

Add A Pet Profile

Made the “Done” button larger for easier tapping
In the “What type of pet?” section, I updated the prototype to show both dog and cat options.
Added a green highlight to indicate Frank’s availability, clearly distinguishing available vs. unavailable dates

Book A Sitter

Move “Search for Sitters” to the top and add filter options
Simplify the booking process, including availability and calendar interaction
Redesign sitter cards to highlight ratings and pricing
Allow users to favorite sitters for easy access

Iterations

-Introduced a dog and cat image for clearer pet type selection

-Increased tap target size for key action buttons

-I kept the consistency and added the new design to the bottom.

-In the “What type of pet” section, I changed the button from a dog to a cat and adjusted the prototype.

-Brought sitter search higher in the flow for visibility

-Added green highlight rows to indicate available service dates quickly

Final Design Mockups

Key Takeaways

Challenges Faced

The biggest challenge was deciding which features to focus on and maintaining simple flows, despite having a lot of potential content. I also had to maintain visual hierarchy consistency and ensure the experience felt intuitive for all user types.

What Made It Meaningful

Prioritizing features within time constraints pushed me to focus on impact over volume. Prototyping and validation ensured each decision improved clarity and reduced user stress.

If I had more time

I’d gather deeper user feedback through follow-up interviews and expand the app’s feature set to make it a fully realized all-in-one pet care solution.

What I’m most proud of

I created a functional and visually engaging solution that helps pet owners stay organized and reduces the mental burden of daily pet care. Through research and iteration, I kept users’ needs at the forefront and improved my ability to gather, interpret, and act on feedback.

Evolving as a Designer

This project reinforced the value of communication, simplicity, and iteration. I learned to balance creativity with usability, making decisions that serve both user goals and business needs — skills I’ll carry into every future design challenge.

Explore The Prototype

All - Valueserve - Pawfection - Instagram - LovePlan

Pawfection

Simplifying Pet Care Management

Year

Duration

Role