CityPups Design Sprint
Video of high-fidelity protoype of CityPups concept
CityPups is a fictitious start-up created by Bitesize UX. I was provided with preliminary research and synthesis in the form of quotes from interviews with potential users, personas, and a recorded user testing session on a competing website.
For this project, I used the Google Ventures design sprint formula to create and test a functioning prototype in five days.
Scope & Timeline
5 Day Google Ventures Design Sprint
Role
Product Designer
Tools
Figma & Maze.co
Day 1: Understand & Map
Using provided interview data, persona, and research I created an affinity map and began to prioritize the needs of the user.
“Some things are much harder to figure out - like how much attention a dog needs…”
“I usually look for smaller dogs… but sometimes the smaller breeds need the most space…”
“I like to see lots of photos - or even better, videos!”
Portions of quotes provided by Bitesize UX - emphasis mine
With the information now organized, I developed a map of a potential end-to-end user experience to guide the next portions of the sprint.
Day 2: Lightning Demos & Sketching
With a general map formed, I began to research competitors and sketch my own solution. I let the persona provided with the prompt guide my research and insights as I considered user needs.
Along with adoption websites and apps, I also looked at Hinge to consider how a dating app may provide insight into improving my solution and AirBnb for its high-level filtering abilities.
Both of these apps offer insight into how to narrow down choices for users prior to them seeing results which could reduce frustrations seen in the initial research.
Sketching:
To Begin the process of designing and sketching, I completed a crazy 8’s exercise, giving myself eight minutes to design eight quick sketches of possible layouts of the most important screen.
After selecting which of my eight designs was best, I ended my second day by sketching the primary screen, the screen the preceded it, and the screen that would appear after.
Day 3: Storyboard & Decide
For storyboarding, I used my three-panel solution from day 2 and expanded upon it to map out the entire process a user would go through to find their ideal dog. This is, clearly, the prominent function of an adoption site and the most important portion of the minimum viable product (MVP).
To stay on track, I asked myself if this storyboard served my users:
Does this flow eliminate their frustrations?
Does this meet their needs?
Day 4: Prototype
Story board complete, day 4 was about creating a functioning prototype. For this, I used Figma and Maze.co.
I developed the color palette around the bright purple color of the logo which was given to me as part of the prompt.
By filling out information about the adopter and their living situation, CityPups would offer better matching capabilities.
Offering keyword search for traits, appearance, and disposition would allow for adopters to achieve a more granular search and find specific needs in their dog.
Based on the initial research, it was clear the pictures and visuals were very important to many adopters. This needed to be balanced with the tendency of users to get attached, hence offering a top match and then leading to other good matches.
Day 5: Validate Design with Potential Customers
On day 1, I reached out to five people and asked them to be testers of my prototype. These were people in my personal network whom I know had an adopted dog and who lived in a large city.
Tester Feedback: The Good
Overall, the testers reported that the app felt fun and playful. The layout and form-filling process felt familiar and easy to navigate.
“This felt similar to other preference forms I filled out and I didn’t really feel confused at any part. The design was also really great, lots of consistency and it felt fun to use!”
“I loved the color palette! Very bright and fun!”
“[This] was a lot more intuitive and less stressful than [adoption sites] we used in the past. The icons/visuals were also cute and I'm sure would help a lot for less tech savvy users, but help keep it fun... Overall a great experience using the prototype.
The testers brought forward some similar information to what was presented in the research. Distance from the dog is very important to people living in the city, in-depth background information, and detailed filtering were things users want to see. A point that was brought to my attention was the importance of understanding potential negatives of any dog, making these clear on profiles or even part of the initial matching process would be a boon to users.
Tester Feedback: To Improve
“ [I would want] background information on the dog, what other kinds of animals it had been around, etc.”
“If there are any opportunities within it to give both the positives and negatives (pros/cons) in the app, I think it would be a cool way to be honest about the adoption process overall and make the app seem even more authentic!”
“An option for knowing the location of the dog at that time or how long it would be before you could meet them if they're out of city/state [and] an option for seeing medications or ailments might be nice...”
Final Adjustments
Following user testing, I adjusted both the UI and the UX of my prototype using feedback from the testers.
UI Adjustments
Color Palette Adjustments
Prioritizing space on page
Adjusted secondary buttons to be less distracting
Adding icons for clarity and playfulness
UX Adjustments
Adjusting selection tools to reflect choice options
Providing a section for negative features of dogs
Adding clear filtering options for results
Adding distance from user to basic information
Closing Thoughts
This was a fun project to work on. While a true design sprint would involve more people and collaboration, this was a taste of the experience. It is very tempting to spend a lot of time fine-tuning the prototype, both before and after testing, and it was an exercise in self-control to focus on function first.
I saw the most success in this process when I kept my user at the front of my mind. Thinking back to the persona and research, checking in on whether I was meeting those goals and eliminating those frustrations was an important touch point. Overall, this was a great learning opportunity and I look forward to completing sprints on a team in the future.
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