Project Overview
I always have an interest in the relationship between human and their pets. As a committed dog enthusiast and a designer, it has been my long-term goal to help the species in any way by involving my skillsets and to design a platform or service which can help to improve both relationships.
For this Graduate’s Thesis project, my goal is to find a solution that enhances the relationship between humans and dogs to avoid misunderstanding by identifying the communication.
Timeline
February - November 2021
Role (Individual Project)
User Research, UX & UI Design, Development, Visual Graphics, Marketing
Tools
Figma, Bravo Studio, Zapier, Airtable, Typeform, Photoshop, Illustrator, Miro
Introduction
I found myself involving dogs as the subject on my past projects, whether it’s through drawings, animations/motion graphics, and many more. I also spared my free time to volunteer at local shelters, and through this opportunity, I feel like I’m getting closer to actually make an impact to improve human with their dog bonding experience.
Research Methodology
I use Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver method as my process flow
The Problem
How we communicate with our dog and how they communicate with us is different. Throughout decades, dogs evolve by learning how to read human expressions, voice tones, body language, etc. However, the problem is there: real and ongoing. Based on data from ASPCA, every year, there are tons of them being euthanized due to a lot of issues, and one of them is behavior problems. Moreover, it also impacts the return number to shelter, after they were adopted.
Based on the data, Millennials has been the largest group of pet owners in the United States alone.
Then It comes to my target audience which is dog owners whose dog have behavior problems, live in US and smartphone user.
Persona
My findings and research data are based on characteristics and personality from my target audience. My user group has been introduced with the power of internet to gain all the information they need.
I found that my user would try to find their own solution. However, the problem is still happening, which affects their decision and behavior towards the situation that leads to miscommunication.
Problem Analysis & Opportunities
From cluster analysis, the section that I started paying attention into are surrounding Outcomes (from unproductive relationship) and Assumptions (where humans making assumptions based on their own consciousness and own research).
There’s a window of opportunity where human will try to get to know their dogs better and to understand their behavior to build that connection. However, without committing the time to understand or the right tool/method, it will only lead to miscommunication which will result in worse situation.
They need to find a resource that will help them to understand dogs better, so it will avoid miscommunication between both creatures and will help them gaining effective bonding as well.
There's an interval where human will try to get to know their dogs better and to understand their behavior to build that connection. However, without committing the time to understand or the right tool/method, it will only lead to miscommunication which will result in problems from the dogs themselves.
To avoid that, human needs to find a resource that will help them to understand dogs better, so it will avoid miscommunication between both creatures, and fill up the time gap to do effective bonding as well.
Collecting Information
I managed to get about 80 responds from dog owners. Surprisingly, majority of the participants understand the importance of research before and during owning their dog. Not a lot of people as confident to see themselves as having a good leadership skills.
From that, it leads me to my problem statement:
After conducting research on case studies and handing out surveys on the problem, finally, it comes to the bottom line of my design solution:
Design Challenge
How might we deliver a bonding experience which helps dog owners understanding their dog better?
Design Solution
Alpha is a mobile application to help dog owners understand better about their misbehaved dogs.
ALPHA focus on user experience to modify human behaviors in result to be a better pack leader, that’s why our app is human-centered. By enhancing user’s leadership skills, we hope to empower them to take lead and charge on problems they encounter using provided guidance that we generate. We also want to bring awareness towards dog’s mental health which is related with why and how they behave, so dog owners will recognize different perspective.
ALPHA focuses on improving dog owners and their dogs relationship using technology solution that being provided, so when designing the logo, I really want to make that connection between technology and bonding experience.
ALPHA’s branding elements
Alpha Values
Human-Centered
We focus on improving your leadership skills as the pack-leader using provided guidance that we generate.
Leadership Enhancement
Our vision is to empower user on every situation they encounter through provided guidance.
Awareness
Perception on dog’s mental health.
Trusted Sources
We only use authoritative sources like PetMD as our content, where it’s written and reviewed by professionals.
I noticed most available products out there are more focused on trying to create dog’s experience better rather than focusing from human’s perspective.
Before sketching the interfaces, I made a decision tree because my application will focused more on user input to determine the contents that being delivered.
How ALPHA works
First step is the user input collection which using profile datas and questionnaires, the questions will be based on lifestyle changes, environment changes, behavior changes, and many more.
Then, based on those data-sets , It will give users their personalized solution starting with the analysis and explanation about the analysis itself, then moving on to provided guidance on how to handle separation anxiety specifically for Labrador, and last but not least is the Breed information of the dog.
All the guides will be focused more on the human experience, so a guidance to modify human behavior towards the dog will help both creatures overcome the situation.
To develop ALPHA, I use Figma to design my interface and transfer them to no-code platform called Bravo Studio and connect the API and my datasets from my backend tools through Typeform, Airtable, and Zapier.
For determining my MVP, I had to make decisions which one fits my timeline and could be delivered in the most qualitative way.
Limitations
Based on this release, there will be some limitations that my users should be aware.
Future Developments
Community Features
Through community features, I want to connect dog owners who share the same problem.
By providing case studies with success and fails results, I believe it will help our users to discover solution that relates with them.
Connect with Local Professionals
I want to make a bridge between users and our authorized local professionals using the analysis & solution that we provided. ALPHA welcomes professionals who share same goals as ours.
Pitch Video
My Thoughts
Keep Pushing Through
This project is an eye-opening for me from deep research, ideation, development and publishment aspects. Working by myself from beginning to end (with some advising along the way from my mentors) really pushed myself from what I thought I couldn’t have it done.
Changes of Direction is normal
There’s a lot of pivots along the way in the middle of the process, but my decision were based on the timeline from my graduate program, as well as the limited skillsets I have.
It makes me more excited about what’s next in my journey as a product designer because creating changes for the greater good has been becoming my passion.
For ALPHA, my goal is to improve dog owners’ leadership skills, and by being a good leader, they will acknowledge problems from different perspectives and practice the solution in real life with that mindset.
I anticipate my users to apply all the provided information from ALPHA, so it will help them to reach the outcomes of effective bonding.