SnoutScout App

Playdate Feature

UX / UI

Feature Design

Role:

Product Designer

Team:

Founder & Product Manager, Engineer

Timeline:

8 weeks, Jan - Feb 2025

Tools:

Figma, Miro

Overview

background

SnoutScout is an app for dog lovers to foster real world, positive interactions and build community around the love of dogs! I was tasked to discover and design a feature dog lovers both want and need.

User Problem

When people find a dog they or their dog gets along with, they do not have a way to meet up again without sharing contact information

Business Goal

To promote positive and safe in person and dog interactions to build a community around the love of dogs

Constraints

SnoutScout will not include messaging capabilities to prioritize the safety of both its child and adult user base.

Existing Screens

The app already enables users to add other people’s dogs to their pupdex through scanning QR codes, without exchanging contact information.

Solution

Playdate Feature

Helps dog owners to coordinate playdates for dogs without having to share personal or contact information with strangers.

Select dogs for playdates

Propose a time, date and place to meet

See upcoming, manage and plan playdates from the home screen

Receive notifications, respond to proposals and modify availability

Impact

+18%

Desirability Rating

Increase from initial ratings prior to the playdate feature.

What kinds of features do dog lovers want and need?

Key Insights:

People have difficulty finding compatible dogs for them or their dog to play with (aka. dog friends)

Owners need a way for their dogs to meet up again

People do not want to exchange contact information with strangers

Curious about how I came to these insights?

See Research →

How might we help dog owners set up playdates for dogs?

WireFrames

Option 1: Chose this option because it provided user multiple ways to access and complete their goals

Option 2: Allowed only one path to complete the goal, making it confusing how to access sections when outside the flow

UI KIT

As there was a lot of UI elements already in place, I based new components off the existing elements to quickly and seamlessly fit in.

Mid-Fi Mockup

Feedback lead to changes that made the playdate flow visually distinct from the pupdex flow to prevent confusion.

*these two screens felt exactly the same…

Hi-Fi Mock Up

AFTER

Clear distinction in layout from the pupdex indicates the start of a new flow

Clear selection states enable users to understand their choices

Image clearly indicates the selected dog

Affordance helps users feel like they are pressing physical buttons

Time to test: Do dog owners understand how playdates work? Answer: Yes! But, “where do I go to modify a playdate?”

Usability Testing

5 Dog Owners

Hi-Fi interactive prototype

Key Insights:

Participants loved the ability to plan dog playdates!

They had no problem setting up a playdate

Had trouble modifying playdates

Success Metrics

*Playdate Status although it passed our success metric, I could see it was confusing users and was a pretty simple fix

*Desirability rating +18% after the playdate feature!

Iteration

Problem: once the playdate was set up and they were asked to cancel, people were very confused as to where to modify their playdates.

*Manage playdates was hidden within the Pupdex and people often looked on the homepage when they tried to modify their playdates!

Solution: Added playdates to the home screen where users expected to find it anyway! Now users know where to find all things related to playdates.

The playdates feature not visible or clear to users within the pupdex

BEFORE

AFTER

Notification animation

Manage & plan

playdates

Weekly preview

Upcoming playdates

Expand to see more

Challenge:

Communicating information without taking up too much space and matching the existing homepage design

*I kept the plan playdate button on each dog profile because it was super intuitive for participants to plan playdates this way during usability testing!*

Were they now able to find and modify their playdates?

Answer: Yes! But ...“what does this notification mean?”

Usability Testing

5 Dog Owners

Hi-Fi Prototype

Key Insights

Users were able to find & modify playdates

Notification Issues: copy, status & navigation

“Are change rsvp and cancel playdate different things?”

“The red border on the confirmation is confusing, is it successfully cancelled?”

“If I click back, does it undo my change? Where will it take me?”

Iteration

Problem: People now knew where and how to plan playdates but were confused about the status of notifications and how to interact with them.

Solution: Consolidated actions to be the same whether sending or receiving a playdate and aligned colors with UX conventions to reduce choices and provide clarity through alignment and consistency.

BEFORE