How might we improve the process of moving abroad with a pet?
PetJet was born out of necessity. I moved to Tokyo with my cat in 2022 and found only stress, confusion, and pain during the process.
This was a capstone project for Springboard’s UX/UI certificate.
Tools
- Miro
- Figma
- Uizard
- Milanote
Team
- 1 UX designer
- 1 project mentor
My Role
- UX design
- UX research
- UI design
- User test facilitator
Timeline
- Overall: 3+ weeks
- Discovery & Research: 1+ weeks
- Design & testing: 2+ weeks
The Problem
Each country has very strict pet import and export rules, which if done incorrectly can cost you time, money, or your pet’s life.
Over 70% of American’s currently own pets.
Between April and May 2020 internet searches for dog and cat adoptions increased 250%
Between 2014 and 2018 it’s estimated the number of American’s living abroad increased by 11% and by 13% from 2018 to 2023.
As of 2023, it’s estimated over 5.4 million Americans live abroad and this number is increasing.
Current Options for people moving abroad with a pet:
The Solution
Create an app that:
Simplifies country import and export regulations.
Helps you decide what to pack for your pet.
Keeps track of the many paperwork and vaccine due dates.
Alerts you of pet travel restrictions.
Helps find a pet friendly flight.
My Design Process
Empathize
Research
I began this project with secondary research. I looked at forum and Facebook posts from people who were planning on moving abroad with their pets to see their questions and pain points. I also looked at current products available including; the USDA website and some pet relocation services.
I found that current information about moving with a pet is spread widely throughout the internet with many contradictions. Country specific import rules can be found on government websites but can be convoluted in their wording. Airline pet information is often hidden and websites are not up to date. Every country, airline, pet species, and breed, has their own specific rules and regulations and keeping these straight while planning a big move can be a nightmare.
Interviews
I decided to focus on the most prevalent pain points from my user research. I performed five interviews in person and over zoom.
They were 30 minutes each with people who are planning to, or already have moved abroad with pets
Define
Synthesis
After my interviews, I analyzed the data into affinity diagrams and user stories. From these, I focused on how to design a product that helps streamline the government paperwork, finds a flight route, and removes anxieties from unconsolidated information.
Stickies grouped into possible user journeys based on common themes found during user research.
Personas
Common threads among users interviewed were stress, frustration, and confusion on the whole process of moving their pet to their chosen country. Moving abroad with a pet involves risk. If a pet’s paperwork is not completely and correctly filled out, they could be sent back to their home country or destroyed. This thought caused a great deal of worry in every user. So my goal in creating Pet Jet was to design a product that ensures Pet Jet users will have a safe and successful move with their pets.
Ideate
Site map
Above is the site map of how Pet Jet will be laid out in the MVP. The main pages: My trips, Profiles, To Do List, and Travel Information were chosen because they can best help a user plan an entire trip with their pet, from knowing country import rules to what to bring to which flight is best. The main pain points found in our users.
Constraints
Due to time constraints, I prioritized features that would make up the Minimum Viable Product. During my discovery phase, users expressed a desire for a community where they could ask questions about the travel process, however, I decided that platforms like Reddit or Quora already exist and it would be more beneficial to focus on aspects that users cannot find in another product.
Sketches and Wireframes
I began the design process with paper sketches and then low-fidelity wireframes in Uizard to accelerate decision-making through visualization without losing time. My sketches and wireframes were based on the initial user interviews, secondary research, and the site map.
I came back to these first iterations throughout the entire design process to make sure that I didn’t lose sight of my primary goals and ideas.
Prototype
Wireflow
Wireflow of main user red routes including; login or sign up, add a task to to do list, add a new trip, and search for a flight. This helped me determine the most important flows to test users on during the usability testing phase.
Test
Usability Testing
I performed three rounds of usability testing with five different participants each time. The first was with the wireframes and next two were to refine the high fidelity models. Each test was completed either in person or over zoom, with the participant sharing their screen and voicing thought processes as they completed tasks.
Observing participants navigate the product in vastly different ways was instrumental in creating an intuitive design that would be helpful for all users.
Tasks were given to users based on real life ways they might use the app. For example: “you just downloaded this app and need to plan your move to Japan with your dog. Where would you start?”
issue 01
Users were confused about how to add an item to their to do list.
solution 01
In the wireframe stage, the add a task button was a plus on every page, but that confused users as they were unsure of it’s meaning or if it changed depending on the page.
To fix this, I got rid of the plus and changed to do list to a menu item. The add a task + was now a little too small and unnoticeable so it was changed to the large blue + within the to do list for the hi-fi model. This alleviated tester’s confusion.
issue 02
Users were unable to find the button to edit their trips.
solution 02
At first, users were unsure the settings gear was how to edit their trip, so I changed it to an edit pencil icon. This alleviated confusion in future tests.
issue 03
Users had difficulty adding an item to the packing list.
solution 03
At first, users did not know that the + to add a new task also added a new packing item. In one round of tests, I added a “add to packing list” button, but users did not notice this. To fix this, I changed the wording so it was obvious the packing list and to do list were the same form and simplified it to one add button.
issue 04
Users were unsure how to add a new trip.
solution 04
During the first iteration of PetJet, I had the new trip button at the top next to trip name. Once the UI was added, the button was harder to find, so users were unsure of how to start a new trip. Some users went to the trip name drop down and so I added another add a new trip button there to alleviate any confusion.
Hi Fidelity Model
Designed the UI to be friendly, approachable, and clean.
Check out the high fidelity model below:
Next Steps
Users during testing expressed a frustration in finding pet friendly airlines and also amenities for pets in airports so they can plan the safest trip for their pet. To alleviate this frustration I would add airline pet reviews and airport amenities and maps where to find pet bathrooms in airports.
Another thing users had questions about were what to bring. So, I would include affiliate links for pet travel products.
More case studies
Sources
Pet RSV graph: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34046443/