DuoPet — An App for Scheduling Veterinary Appointments
overview
This app was developed as part of a UX design course to enhance the experience of Brazilian pet owners when scheduling vet appointments. Many face delays and frustration with traditional methods like WhatsApp, so we aimed to streamline the process.
Through user research, we identified key pain points and created a user-friendly solution, resulting in a booking time 15.9% faster than competitors and filling a clear market gap.
Team
Matthias Karl Schaefle
Leticia Magri
Scope of work
User research; Wireframes; UI design; Prototyping; Usability testing; Iterating on Designs.
role
UX/UI Designer
year
2023
The Problem
Brazilian pet owners love their pets, but scheduling vet appointments feels like entering a maze. Waiting on hold or using WhatsApp only adds to the chaos. That’s where Duopet steps in. It’s the ally in pet care. How did we achieve this? By asking one thing:
“How might we make scheduling veterinary appointments stress-free and time-efficient for pet owners?”
Highlights
We designed a user-friendly app with a simplified scheduling interface that minimizes booking time and frustration. It provides information on nearby veterinarians and emergency services, enhancing the user experience and boosting satisfaction.
Design Process
Choosing Design Thinking was a way to deeply connect with users, guiding the process with a focus on people and effective solutions.
EMPHATIZE
Following the footprints of the tutors
Inspired by the dogs’ ability to sniff out and follow trails, we scoured the web for insights about pet owners and their care habits, guiding us toward a more empathetic experience.
Our findings are organized in the affinity diagram beside and in the key insights listed below.
Data that guides
You can see my thoughts hovering the lights 🙂
Recognizing that our desk research left gaps, we surveyed 164 Brazilian pet owners about scheduling veterinary appointments, leading to key reflections and deeper questions for user-centered solutions.
This number stands out. I wonder how satisfied people are with booking their appointments through WhatsApp?
And what is the experience of taking a pet to the vet in emergency situations like?
It's a big number and shows that proximity matters to a lot of people. This points to a need to explore, but it's not time to think about solutions yet.
56%
Scheduling via Whatsapp
Represents the number of pet owners who schedule appointments through the app.
52%
Take only when they show symptoms
Some pet owners schedule regular check-ups, while others seek care only when their pets show symptoms.
63%
Nearby veterinarian
Represents the percentage of pet owners who take their pets to the nearest veterinarian.
Connecting data and stories to impactful solutions
To clarify the questions from the previous phase, we conducted interviews that connected data to real stories, revealing pet owners’ pain points.
Type: In-Person
Location: Brazil
Participants: 5 (20-40 years old)
Duration: 15 to 25 minutes each
We chose the pet owners’ demographic profile based on insights from our desk research and survey.
01
Annoyed
Scheduling via WhatsApp is inconvenient, with responses sometimes taking up to an hour.
02
Search struggle
Pet owners have struggled to quickly find clinics and veterinarians offering emergency services.
03
Forgetfulness
Remembering appointments and vaccine dates is difficult due to busy lifestyles and no reminders.
04
Convenience
Most people prefer to go to the nearest veterinary clinic for convenience.
DEFINE
Bella’s Journey Map
It’s time to adopt a cat’s sharp focus to guide our project. By zeroing in on the data, we can explore the user journey and identify key opportunities for impactful solutions.
Bella Rios in Focus
The user journey reveals our persona’s needs and pain points, guiding our design solutions.
Boosting UX through sharp insights on competition
Feature analysis
Drawing inspiration from our competitors, we embarked on a journey to examine their features, uncovering potential opportunities to enrich our project.
Opportunities
01
Many pet owners prefer nearby veterinarians, but most apps lack this feature.
02
A quick locate option for emergency veterinarians could be a key differentiator, as pet owners struggle to find vets in emergencies.
Looking at usability
Next, we analyzed the usability of the apps, with findings from 2 that stood out the most, revealing key opportunities for improvement.
IDEATE
Turning ideas into impact
Buzzing with ideas, we shared insights and turned them into features, prioritizing high-impact, low-effort solutions.
Solutions
By analyzing competitors and Bella’s pain points, our persona, we focused on user-centered solutions that address her needs, concentrating on:
- Streamlining the scheduling process with an intuitive calendar that displays available slots, making appointment booking quick and accessible during Bella’s busy workdays.
- Prioritizing proximity by showcasing nearby veterinarians for added convenience.
- Implementing a feature for easy access to emergency veterinarians in critical situations
Small UI changes, big UX impact
We created mid-fidelity wireframes and tested them with 3 pet owners, simulating the booking process and making adjustments based on insights.
01
Users had difficulty finding key information in the veterinarian's profile.
Solution: We redesigned the veterinarian profile for easier identification and alignment with other pages, enhancing app usability.
02
Participants struggled with navigating the integrated calendar.
Solution: We chose to implement a simpler, more recognizable calendar on a separate page to improve focus and clarity.
03
Users need quick and easy access to appointment details.
Solution: After an appointment is made, the section “Next Appointment” appears on the home screen.
Streamlining appointment scheduling
In the second high-fidelity test, we evaluated our app’s efficiency compared to competitors, focusing on a common concern among pet owners: the time it takes to schedule appointments. 5 pet owners booked appointments using the Vets and MeuPet apps, the most downloaded in Brazil, before trying ours.
Due to time constraints for the case study, the sample size was small, but the initial test showed a promising efficiency improvement.
We aimed for our app to be 10% faster at scheduling compared to competitors
Result: Our solution exceeded expectations, with an average scheduling time of 45 seconds.
15,9%
Style Guide
A fur-iendly design
We chose blue as the primary color for our app, symbolizing trust and reliability.
Colors
Used solid icons in the navigation menu for clarity and quick recognition, with casual and creative icons from Flaticon throughout the interface.
Icons
Typography
Result
Enhancing pet care through thoughtful UX
15.9% faster in scheduling appointments
Our app shows the nearest veterinarians, aligning with pet owners’ preference for nearby options. Users can quickly select a vet and book an appointment, with the intuitive calendar further speeding up the process.
The feature that was missing
Emergency services are crucial for users. In urgent situations, they need to quickly locate veterinarians available for 24/7 care.
Click less, care more
Users simplify pet care with an intuitive account setup and integrated menus, eliminating multiple screens.
Lessons Learned
01
Focused prioritization
A key learning was prioritizing scheduling over expanding pet profiles, highlighting our focus on immediate user needs.
02
Communication
This UX project improved my communication skills through interviews and usability studies with my teammate.
Next Steps
01
Veterinarian filter analysis
Considering adding filters on the homepage beyond nearby veterinarians to better meet user needs.
02
Emergency vet feature testing
Test the emergency veterinarian feature and conduct further scheduling tests to enhance user experience.
03
Review of pet profile
Investigate the inclusion of medical history in the pet profile, given its importance to users.