The Bark n Fetch project tackles decision fatigue in the $136 billion pet industry by simplifying e-commerce through user-centered design. By focusing on user-centered design, the project aims to simplify the shopping experience through personalized recommendations and clear product information, creating a seamless and enjoyable shopping experience.

Pet stores often overwhelm customers with too many products and information, making it hard to find what they need. This leads to frustration, high bounce rates, and low retention. Bark n Fetch aimed to solve this by offering a streamlined, user-friendly experience to help pet owners easily find and buy the right products, driving both sales and customer loyalty.

solution

Bark n Fetch addressed common pet store challenges by streamlining the shopping experience through:

I conducted interviews with 6 pet owners to understand their pain points, needs, and behavior when shopping for pet products online. Key findings included:

User feedback revealed two main challenges: difficulties navigating the site to find specific products, often leading to frustration, and a desire for more personalized experiences, with pet owners seeking tailored recommendations based on their pets’ unique needs. These insights informed critical design decisions aimed at creating a more intuitive, customized shopping journey for pet owners.

From interviews and analysis, I found that pet owners in their mid-20s to 30s with disposable income are passionate about providing high-quality products for their pets. The personas highlight how this group values both convenience and unique, tailored products, driving demand for a premium shopping experience.

Based on user feedback, the feature set was designed to prioritize key solutions that improve the shopping experience. This included enhanced navigation, personalized product recommendations, simplified filtering options, and a streamlined checkout process. Each feature directly addressed pain points identified in testing, ensuring a user-friendly and efficient shopping journey for pet owners.

I structured the site’s information architecture, creating a clear and intuitive flow. The new site map improved discoverability of products and featured key sections like "Shop by Pet," "New Arrivals," and "Customer Favorites."

Recognizing the challenges dog owners face in finding and purchasing toys, I designed a detailed user flow to streamline their shopping experience. This included mapping out the journey to ensure easy navigation and quick access to product details and checkout. By prioritizing a user-friendly flow, the platform caters to pet owners' needs for convenience and simplicity.

Before wireframing, I organized a content map for the homepage to decide which site features should take priority as the first thing users see. This approach helped me visualize essential elements on the main pages and offered valuable guidance for designing the layout.

Mid-fi wireframes to establish the layout and key interactions. This stage helped validate the content structure and ensure the main touchpoints were easily accessible.

I designed Bark 'n Fetch's interface to capture the lively, welcoming spirit of pet ownership. The blue and yellow palette adds vibrancy and usability, while thicker strokes and rounded edges create a warm, approachable shopping experience.

I recruited 5 participants to provide feedback on the design and identify improvement opportunities by completing tasks based on the task flow.

User Test Goals:

What could be better

Emphasizing boldness, I aimed to elevate the app’s mood to reflect the adventurous spirit of rock climbing. The design resonated with the dynamic energy of the outdoors, highlighted by vibrant colors. Thicker strokes and rounded edges conveyed approachability and informality.

By focusing on user needs and aligning with business goals, I was able to deliver a streamlined, engaging, and efficient e-commerce experience for Bark n Fetch which was proven in the user tests. This project emphasized the importance of empathy in design and reinforced the value of iterative testing and research.