Home screen Prototype

The primary goals of user research were to:

Understand the everyday experiences of pet owners
Explore their routines, responsibilities, and emotional connection with their pets to identify key behaviours and motivations.

Identify pain points related to pet safety and loss prevention
Uncover fears, past experiences, and current challenges users face in keeping their pets safe and secure.

Evaluate the perceived usefulness of a pet safety app
Gauge user interest in the app concept and understand what features they would find valuable or necessary.

Define the main user group and their specific needs
Pinpoint the core demographic likely to benefit most from the app and tailor solutions around their expectations. 

Generate insights to inform user personas and design decisions
Use qualitative data from interviews to create realistic personas and guide the development of user-centered features and flows.

User Personas

Why: To establish a shared understanding of core users and guide design decisions with real user motivations in mind.
Result: Clarified key user goals and behaviours, ensuring features addressed needs like rapid response, emotional reassurance, and trust during emergencies.

Ethical Research & Bias Minimisation

During interview planning, I used ChatGPT to improve question neutrality and clarity. AI helped identify potential biases—such as leading wording, built-in assumptions, emotional phrasing, and question order effects—that could unintentionally shape participant responses. I refined all suggestions manually to align with UX research best practices, ensuring interviews were ethically grounded and captured authentic user insights that informed product decisions.

Lean Personas

Why: To capture essential behaviours and goals without overloading documentation, enabling flexibility and quick iteration.
Result: Provided a focused reference for decision-making, allowing prioritisation of features effectively and adapt as insights evolved.

User Stories

Why: To translate research into actionable, outcome-focused requirements from the user’s perspective (e.g., "As a pet owner, I want to get a real-time alert if my pet leaves a safe zone, so I can take immediate action.").
Result: Ensured every feature addressed a validated user need, keeping design decisions aligned with real-world scenarios and measurable value.

Red Routes

Why: To identify and prioritise the most critical tasks that define product success.
Result: Focused design on high-impact journeys—such as escape detection, live tracking, and alerting others—maximising MVP value while reducing friction.

Affinity Sorting

Why: To synthesise qualitative research into clear patterns and actionable insights.
Result: Revealed recurring themes such as emotional urgency, reliance on community, and device trust, directly informing feature prioritisation and strategy.