Bark+Play: Encouraging Dog Socialization & Community Building

UX/UI Design — Mobile

01 Background

Bark+Play is an app that helps owners socialize their dogs by finding play dates for them. In the process of finding and interacting with others to set up play dates, the app encourages people to build stronger interpersonal relationships with others in their community. This personal project was inspired by my experiences and served as practice.

How Does Bark+Play Work?

  1. After account creation, a user can enable their GPS to locate nearby dogs on the map — they may also just scroll through a list of dogs registered as living in their city.
  2. Users request to meet up with other users to set up a play date.
  3. For successful play dates, owners can add other owners as friends and build a network.

Team & Roles

Because this was a personal project, I carried out all of the tasks. As a UX Designer, I investigated the problem, understood my users, did a competitive analysis, developed personas, brainstormed potential solutions, mapped the task flow, developed a brand, and created the mockups.

02 Research

As a dog owner myself, I understand the challenge in being responsible for socializing a dog. A lack of socialization may lead them to behave aggressively at the sight of other dogs. Like us, dogs learn through experience and allowing them to experience the world is the best way to teach them how to behave properly. So, how can we help dogs who don't socialize often learn how to behave well with others?

User Interviews

  • Who? I conducted qualitative interviews with five dog owners of ages 18-24. Three of them walked their dog frequently on schedule and two did as often as they could.
  • What? In order to design a solution that facilitates dog socialization, I needed to understand how other owners socialize their dogs and why.
    • Where do you normally go to exercise your dog and why?
    • Tell me about a time when your dog, or someone else's dog, behaved aggressively — what did you or the other person do to handle the situation?
    • Do other owners ever greet you as you walk your dog? Why do you think that is?
  • Where? I interviewed everyone in-person.

Key Insights & Opportunities

Sometimes owners tend to tug on their dog's leash to keep them walking instead of letting them stop to socialize with another dog.

How might we... encourage owners to let their dogs interact with others?

  • Dogs naturally want to interact with other dogs because they're curious, but we as owners sometimes prevent them from doing so which may give our dogs a bad message.

How might we... create/facilitate time for owners to let their dogs interact with other dogs?

  • Sometimes dogs may not come across other dogs on their regular walks which is a lost opportunity; other times owners just don't have the time to go for a walk.

How might we... assist owners to form connections with other owners within a neighborhood?

  • It can feel odd sometimes to strike up conversations with others during a walk if there is no common ground.

Brainstorm

I realized from my interviews that the socialization issue wasn’t just something that dogs had to improve on, but also us as members of a community. In relying on our phones to connect to our world — our banks, our coworkers, our loved ones — we sometimes become detached from the physical community in which we live.

I brainstormed possible ways to help people form connections within their community with the goal of also helping dogs socialize. I didn't limit myself and wrote whatever came to mind.

Some Possible Solutions

  • A page on the city's website that lets owners organize regular meet-ups
  • Asking shelters to organize events for dog owners
  • Building more dog parks within city parks to encourage owners to frequent the parks

I wanted solutions that didn't impinge on someone's choice to participate.

Then, I thought, why not just create an app? I did some research and found that there were two apps out there, but based on their reviews they weren't doing well. So, I thought, what are they doing wrong?

Competitor Analysis

Twindog

Main Features

  1. Swipe left to pass, right to match/request to meet up
  2. Profile — picture of dog and owner; dog's age, name, and breed
  3. Matches are suggested based on location

Notable Features

  1. Feedback is simple and informational — swipe left to pass, swipe right to match
  2. Minimal design helps users focus on the dogs and people, not the app
  3. Less keyboard, more touch approach — the conversation happens away from the screen

Possible Issues

  1. App is marketed as a dating app which excludes many users
  2. Users can't look up dogs they've met or liked
  3. Users can't filter dogs based on age, proximity, breed, etc.

Meet My Dog

Main Features

  1. User can check-in at a location to notify friends and invite them to join
  2. App shows list of dogs in the area
  3. Users can send private messages
  4. Users can add others as friends — build a network
  5. User profiles detail owner and dog information

Notable Features

  1. Users are told how close other dogs are to their current location
  2. Users can search for locations to check in to
  3. Private messaging supports image attachment

Possible Issues

  1. Much of the design and function is taken from Facebook (the old Facebook UI)
  2. GPS continually runs in the background which may drain battery life very quickly
  3. UI looks and feels complex for simple tasks

03 Planning

System Map

I designed a map of a system of actions for a task flow that encompasses the entire experience for a user.

Storyboard

Since I now had a better understanding of the experience and of my potential users, I proceeded to create a storyboard to help frame the context of when someone would use the app.

Creating a Brand

I created a style tile to develop the brand for my app. I chose colors that conveyed the feelings of fun, warmth, and joy which comes when meeting other people and their dogs.

Screen Flows (Lo-Fi)

I sketched a series of screens that capture a user's experiences before, during, and after meeting up with another owner.

Hi-Fi Screens

I designed the final screens using the color palette and elements from my style tile. I tried to keep my designs as minimal and intuitive as possible in order to emphasize the experience that happens beyond the screen.

User Flow

Key Screens

Nearby Dogs

The app uses the phone's GPS feature to determine where a user is and share that with nearby dog owners. Safety is a priority, so this feature is only in effect if a user gives permission — it can be changed in the app's settings so that it doesn't use GPS at all or so that it only uses it when the app has been opened. If GPS isn't used, then only the user's city is displayed on the list of nearby dogs.

Private Messaging

Sometimes a user may want to ask more questions about someone's dog before scheduling a play date, or perhaps a user may want to suggest a meet up location. Maybe they just want to share pictures from their last play date. For many reasons, a private messaging feature allows users to get in touch and keep in touch.

User Profiles

We've all grown accustomed to having our own profiles online for the purpose of sharing our basic information with friends/followers. Bark + Play's profiles help users learn about each other and about their dogs. By giving users a profile, they will feel more comfortable with requesting a play date because they will have learned a little bit more about the person/dog they will be meeting with.

Finding Friends

If the map view of nearby dogs isn't helpful — as in, perhaps no one in the area is using GPS to show where they are — then users may look through a list of dogs living in the city. If users have their GPS enabled within the app, then the list will display the distance between them and another dog. Of course, the other user must also have their GPS enabled in order for the distance to display. Aside from this list, users may also view their friends list and request to meet up with one of them.

Adding Friends

Building a network within a community is something that Bark + Play also aims to achieve. If play dates are successful, then users are encouraged to add someone to their friends list. By adding this feature, I hope to encourage users to form connections with people in their neighborhood and push them to start conversations beyond the screen. Subsequently, through these new formed friendships, the user's dogs will have regular play dates and new friends, which translates to good social skills.

04 Reflection

Through this project, I learned how to understand users through empathy and through creating a product that facilitates behavioral change and delivers value to its users. I also practiced weaving digital and physical experiences into a product that emphasizes building interpersonal relationships in a real life setting. Bark + Play's purpose is to encourage users to meet members of their community and share their love for dogs while helping their dogs learn to socialize through play dates. I would hope that these interactions would generate awareness of diversity and connection within a neighborhood.

I'm always looking to improve as a designer and a big part of this process is learning what my strengths and weaknesses are. I'm not a visual designer, but this project helped me pick up on some skills related to that by testing my UI design abilities. My next steps would be to build a prototype out of my mockups and then test it with users. I would iterate on my designs for as much as I need to until I learn that my users are satisfied with what I've delivered.