Type: UX Design Certification Project

Duration: 2-3 Weeks

Tools Used: Figma, Canva, Google, Gemini, Ect…

Role: UX Designer (Solo)

Goal: DogWalker is a mobile dog walking app for busy families, to make sure they have a trusted DogWalker in the area to take their furry friends for a walk. The goal was to create a seamless experience for both scheduling and tracking walks.

Problem: Dog owners struggle to find trustworthy and available walkers, especially on short notice. Existing services can feel impersonal, have inconsistent reviews, or lack transparency. Walkers, on the other hand, don’t always have a clear way to manage their availability or communicate with owners.

Solution: DogWalker makes it easy to find verified walkers nearby, view real reviews, and book in just a few taps. Owners get real-time updates during the walk, while walkers have a clear, simple dashboard to manage request. The design focuses on trust, convenience, and transparency.

To better understand the needs and frustration of dog owners, I conducted..

● 5 User interviews (Ages: 25-50)

● 1 Online survey with 7 responses

● A competitive analysis of Rover, Wag!, and Petbacker

Research Goals

● Understand what makes dog owners trust a walker.

● Learn how people currently book dog walks and pain points they face.

Key Insights

● Trust is the #1 factor…

● Real-time updates help…

● Booking flows need to be faster…

Hancy Hobbs, 32 - Health Inspector

● Balances a full-time job, college classes, and parenting.

● English is her 2nd language, prefers simple, clear app language and visuals.

● Values straightforward communication and easy scheduling.

● Wants to build trust with a reliable dog walker.

Peter Quill, 28 - Business Accountant

● Runs his own business and works long hours.

● Has little time to walk his dog regularly.

● Needs a trustworthy, convenient service to find a reliable dog walker quickly.

I mapped out key user flows to ensure a smooth experience for both dog owners and walkers.

Hancy Hobbs Flow

Opened DogWalker App 🡺 Searched for available walkers nearby 🡺 Viewed Walker Profiles and reviews 🡺 Selected prefered walker 🡺 Chose date and time 🡺 Confirmed booking 🡺 Received confirmation

Peter Quills Flow

Opened DogWalker App 🡺 Clicked Schedule 🡺 Viewed DogWalkers nearby 🡺 Clicked Tracy 🡺 Looked at reviews 🡺 Scheduled Tracy 🡺 Picked date and time 🡺 Selected Recurring walks 🡺 Selected what dogs will go on the walk 🡺Clicked confirmed booking 🡺 Received confirmation

Walk Request Process

Receives notifications when walkers responded 🡺 Reviews walker profile and messages 🡺 Confirms the walker for the scheduled time 🡺 Communicates with the walker through the app to coordinate details

1. Homepage & Discovery

Goal: Allow users to quickly browse available walkers.

● Grid layout for featured walkers or services.

● Filters/search for user convenience.

2. Search Results / Listings

Goal: Make comparison easy.

● Cards with walker info, rating, price, and image.

● Search bar and category filters at the top.

Design Principles

Clarity: Simple layout with clear user flow.

Trust: Emphasis on images, ratings, and bios.

Efficiency: Minimal clicks from search to booking.

Mobile-first: Sketches designed with responsive behavior in mind.

Next Steps

● Conduct user testing on interactive prototypes.

● Implement visual design (color, typography, branding).

● Iterate based on feedback before low-fidelity prototype.

Tool: Figma | Platform: Mobile-first

The prototype translates sketches into an interactive low-fi mockup focused on the Core User Flow:
Discover → Select → Book → Confirm

Key UX Decisions

Recurring Walk Options: Adds flexibility for regular users.

Visual Feedback: Reinforces action and flow clarity.

Progressive Disclosure: Breaks down booking into digestible steps.

Low cognitive load: Only necessary fields are shown at each stage.

Reflection

Designing DogWalker taught me the value of progressive task flow and building trust through design. With simplicity and clarity guiding the process, I created a foundation that is easy to test, refine, and scale.

Goal: Validate the design with pet owners.

● Interviewed 3–5 pet owners.

Test key flows:

● Discovering walkers

● Booking a walk

● Viewing a walker's profile

Key questions I had:

● Is the booking process clear?

● Do users feel they can trust the walker?

● Is navigation natural?

Gathered Feedback:

🔴 High Severity

● Unclear buttons: All buttons look the same; users may miss the primary action.

● Trustworthy Walkers: Missing trust signals like ratings, experience, or reviews.

🟠 Medium Severity

● Walker list is overwhelming: Too many identical profiles without key info.

● "Recurring?" checkbox unclear: Needs explanation or better labeling.

🟡 Low Severity

● Plain success screen: Add celebratory elements like icons or animations.

● Empty sections: Feels like placeholder content, remove or fill in.

Took all this feedback into consideration for my high-fidelity prototype!

Objective

Transform low-fidelity wireframes into a visually engaging, user-friendly, and branded experience. Ready for development, or stakeholder presentation.

Design Goals:

● Trust & Personality: Use friendly branding and imagery to build emotional connection.

● Clarity & Simplicity: Make scheduling natural, with clear pricing, dates, and walker availability.

● Delightful UX: Celebrate success with visual feedback and microinteractions.

Design Highlights & Improvements from Lo-Fi:

● Added visual hierarchy for CTAs (primary buttons in orange, supporting in cyan).

● Walker trust-building through ratings, and friendly photography, Bios and more.

● Chat and past walks history added to improve functionality and transparency.

DogWalker was designed to solve a real user problem: finding and booking a trusted dog walker with ease.

From sketching wireframes to building a polished high-fidelity prototype, I focused on:

● Clear navigation and booking flow.

● Building user trust through profiles and reviews.

● Delightful, friendly visuals to enhance engagement.

What I learned:

Design isn’t just about looking good! It’s about guiding users through an experience with clarity, trust, and ease.

Progress pictures and a working prototype down below!