SnoutScout App
Preliminary Research
Research
Role:
Product Designer
Team:
Founder & Product Manager, Engineer
Timeline:
8 weeks, Jan - Feb 2025
Tools:
Miro, Slack, Zoom, Google Meet
See Related Case Studies!
Overview
background
In an increasingly busy world, we thankfully have many apps and digital solutions to help us make life easier and more efficient. However, sometimes it all just feels too serious!
SnoutScout’s strives to embody the fun and playful nature of dogs to encourage positive, real world connections and build community for dog lovers.
As SnoutScout was still in the early phase post MVP launch, I was tasked with figuring out the functionality and services to help users, while also keeping it fun!
processs
This page covers the preliminary research and prioritization process that led to development of the profile enhancements & playdate features (see case studies).
Steps covered on this page:
Initial interviews & testing of the existing app
Determine user problems, goals, and opportunities
Propose features to the cross functional team
Collaborate to determine viability and prioritization.
Metrics
Designs made based on this research increased the likelihood of using the app by out target audience from an average of 8/10 → 9.8/10
+18%
Desirability Rating
From initial ratings prior to the addition of features based on this research
Conducting background research helped identify 3 key user types:
1) Dog Owners
2) Owners with Reactive Dogs
3) Non Dog Owners
Quantitative Survey
Conducting a screening survey validated that both dog owners and non dog owners were interested in building community and that owners with reactive dogs were a large market opportunity.
Pre-survey Purpose:
Screen participants
Refine questions for user types
Follow up on interesting answers
*Pre-survey bar chart shows more than 50% of the dogs polled were reactive
Interviewing target users resulted in discovery of the Problem: finding dogs to play with and Need: a way to meet up again
Participants
2 - Dog Owners
3 - Owners with Reactive Dogs
2 - Non Dog Owners
TesT
Users interacted with the existing app to complete tasks and give feedback with contextual understanding
Tasks
Create a dog profile
Add a dog to your pupdex
Share your pup code
Explore the map
Goals
What users want on dog profiles
What kinds of features users want
Validate reactive owners as users and understand their pain points
Dog Owners
see full persona
Problem:
“I try to time going to the park when I think her friends will be there ... but it’s really just a guess until i’m there.”
Want:
“The most important feature for me would be to keep track of my dog’s friends and plan meet ups.”
Need:
“I want a feature that would allow me to say we should get the dogs together”
Reactive Dog Owners
see full persona
Problem:
“My dog doesn’t like dogs bigger than her or dogs that are too hyper since she’s older”
Want:
“I also wish I could know which dogs are nearby that get along with my dog so we can help each other out”
Need:
“It would be great to know which parks are crowded so I can avoid them”
Non Dog Owners
see full persona
Problem:
“I want to play with dogs, but I don’t really know if it’s okay with the owners for me to just show up at a dog park....”
Want:
“I want to know the rules for interacting with someone’s dog, I don’t want to reinforce bad behaviors.”
Need:
“I’d be happy to help people out if they want someone to walk or play with their dog, but I don’t really know how to arrange that?”
Key insights
All user groups struggle to find dogs to play with
Users want to meet back up with compatible dogs
Dog information users find most important include:
Size
Reactivity
Temperament
Play Style
Energy Level
Role / Job
Obedience
Photos
80%
Desirability Rating
The average rating for likelihood of use of the existing app.
Collaborating with the product manager and engineer led to the prioritization of dog profile enhancements and playdate feature.
Presenting Research
Presented suggestions for potential features based on my research findings
We discussed the viability, scope and engineering lift to determine priorities
Worked our way backwards to determine the simplest MVP version of each feature to build up to more complex features over time
Feature Proposals
(One of the MVP versions of the features not shown below was 1-on-1 playdates!)
*Due to continued developments based on this research, some information cannot be shared *
Prioritization
Priorities
The Dog Profile Enhancements users want were an an easy and big win
The Playdate Feature will help people to meet up again and will be built upon as a more complex feature
Constraints:
As the team was still small, it was important to consider:
Easiest engineering lift
Scope
Now vs. Later
Competitive analysis validated the value and opportunity within our chosen directions!
Market Analysis
Researching other dog ownership apps revealed that playdates were still an open opportunity!
In-Depth Analysis
Pawmates is a strong competitor that allows tags for reactivity and provides compatibility suggestions
However, the inputs for reactivity were very limited and it was unclear how dogs are matched for compatibility
Outcomes: See case studies for solutions based on this research!
Profile Enhancement
Users want to see and share important info about dogs before interacting with them
See Full Case Study →
Playdate Feature
Plan & propose a playdate
RSVP & modify playdates
Get notifications
See Full Case Study →
Metrics
Designs made based on this research increased the likelihood of using the app by out target audience from an average of 8/10 → 9.8/10
+18%
Desirability Rating
From initial ratings prior to the addition of features based on this research
Reflection
Main Takeaways:
To be aware of leading participants during usability testing
To envision dream states and break it down to the MVP version to start
Next steps:
Collect feedback and iterate after updates are launched
Further design and development based on the prioritization matrix
