PetPawket — All pet services in your pocket — Part 2 of 2

Hey there, this case study is a continuation of “PetPawket — All pet services in your pocket — Part 1”.

Please read Part 1 first before you proceed with this article for more context.

To read part 1 click on the link below —

“PetPawket — All pet services in your pocket — Part 1”.

In the previous case study, I addressed 2 problems for 2 user personas. The problems being —

1. To find all pet services in one place
2. To provide a pet-friendly and reliable transportation option to pet clinics/hospitals for emergencies

One of the other concerns highlighted by many pet owners was also veterinary consultations.

For this case study, I will address another problem faced by one of the User Personas.

How do the pet owners consult vets for their pets at the moment and what suggestions do they have? -

I will now try and address these concerns with the help of User personas.

Persona: The ‘Senior Pet’ Caretaker

Problem: To be able to consult vets from home

As seen earlier, Ahaan has a senior pet cat Snowy, that is Snowy is an old cat, has multiple ailments and therefore requires special medical care very often. Ahaan wants to reduce the number of visits to the pet hospital/clinic by being able to consult vets from the comfort of his home

Solution:

To provide the facility of consulting vets from home.

There are 2 ways by which a User may consult a Vet from home —

• Video Consultation
• Vet visits home

I conducted a poll on Facebook pet related groups to get an idea of —

Which of the 2 methods would Users prefer to consult a vet from home?

A total of 74 people participated in this poll across 4 pet related groups on Facebook

Conclusion from poll:

It appears that a vast majority (70.2%) of respondents favour the option of both video consultations and home visits.

The poll results highlight a strong interest in providing both “Video Consultation” and “Home visit by vet”. This approach may cater to diverse user needs and situations.

In Summary:

• The combination of home visit and video consultations provides a comprehensive and adaptable approach to pet care, addressing a wide range of situations.
• Home visits ensure in-depth physical examinations and treatments, particularly beneficial for certain procedures and pets with travel-related stress.
• Video consultations offer immediate support in emergencies and provide a convenient option for routine check-ups and non-urgent concerns, enhancing accessibility and user choice.

By offering both consultation types, this approach can ensure a well-rounded and user-centric veterinary care experience, catering to diverse pet health needs and circumstances.

Home Visit Consultation by Vet

Goals to achieve with home visit consultations —

1. Convenience: Home visit consultations can help save time and effort for pet owners having multiple pets, or hectic schedules and also by catering to pets with limited mobility.
2. Comprehensive Physical Examination: Vets can conduct thorough physical examinations during home visits, ensuring a hands-on assessment that may be crucial for accurate diagnoses, especially in cases where certain conditions or symptoms require immediate attention.
3. Tailored Solutions for Special Needs Pets: Home visits cater to the specific needs of pets with chronic illnesses or special requirements. Vets can better understand the pet’s living conditions and provide tailored solutions that enhance the overall quality of care.

Flow for Home Visit Consultation:

I roughly sketched both the flow and wireframes for “Home-visit veterinary consultations”.

Deep diving into the “Home Veterinary Consultation” flow —

1. Veterinary Consultations Page

2. Veterinary Doctor Detail Page

3. Select Appointment Date and Time Page

4. Select Pet and Concern/Symptom

5. Select and Confirm Address Page

6. Appointment Summary Page

7. Payment Modes Page

8. Payment Successful Page

Final Prototype for booking an ambulance end-to-end

Persona: The Midnight Crisis Caretaker

Problem: To be able to consult vets remotely, any time of the day, especially during the night time when most clinics are closed.

Solution:

To provide the facility of consulting vets remotely even post general operational hours, that is to provide veterinary consultations 24*7.

There are 2 ways by which a User may consult a Vet remotely —

• Video Consultation
• Vet visits home

Assumption:

For this case study, I am assuming that arranging a home visit consultation service post 9 PM in the night may be an operational challenge and therefore I am only going to be focusing on 24*7 video consultation.

Goals to achieve with 24*7 veterinary video consultations —

1. Emergency Care Access: 24/7 veterinary clinics and video consultations provide immediate access to emergency care, ensuring timely attention to pets’ health needs outside regular clinic hours.
2. Continuous Guidance and Follow-up: Round-the-clock video consultations allow veterinarians to promptly address pet owners’ concerns, offering peace of mind and ensuring continuity of care, particularly for chronic or complex health issues.
3. Convenience and Timely Interventions: Both 24/7 clinics and video consultations offer accessibility and convenience, accommodating varying schedules. They prevent delays in treatment during non-business hours, ensuring timely interventions for surgeries or specialized procedures.

I made a few changes to some of the pages -

Persona: The In-Clinic Wellness Advocate

Problem: To be able to schedule appointments with Vets at Pet Clinics beforehand

In-clinic veterinary consultations are necessary for the following reasons:

1. Comprehensive physical examination: They allow for a thorough hands-on examination to accurately assess the pet’s condition.
2. Diagnostic tests and procedures: Veterinary clinics have specialized equipment to perform tests, procedures for accurate diagnosis.
3. Controlled and sterile environment: Veterinary clinics follow strict cleanliness protocols, minimizing the risk of infections.
4. Collaboration and consultation: In-clinic consultations facilitate collaboration among veterinarians for complex cases and treatment planning.

In order to incorporate Clinic Consultations along with the other consultation on the ‘Veterinary Consultations’ page, I classified all the consultation types into 2 main categories —

• Consultation from Home — (Vets that offer ‘Home visit’ and ‘Video Consultation’)
• Consultation from Clinic — (Vets that are only available at Clinics)

Here is a sitemap demonstrating that all types of consultations will be on the same page.

Conclusion

What did I learn?

While I have already summarized what I learned while working on this project in “Part 1” (https://medium.com/p/1f68d10b7334/edit), there are still a few things worth mentioning that I observed as I worked on this project -

1) Different sections of the app are dependent on each other

When I first laid out a plan to design the PetPawket app, I initially started by designing the sections in order of sequence, eg. in the “Pet Health” service category, I started with designing the Pet Ambulance feature first, but then I realised I needed to design the vet and clinic consultation service first as there were a lot of elements that both services had in common

2) Including personal experience-driven enhancements

I had tried one existing mobile app to book a vaccination appointment for my cats. Attempting to book a vaccination appointment for my cats revealed a gap in functionality — the inability to schedule appointments for multiple pets simultaneously. This real-life scenario inspired a small enhancement in PetPawket. Users now have the flexibility to select multiple pets when booking appointments, allowing to —

• optimize cost by not having to pay the consultation fee multiple times
• streamline the consultation process for efficiency and convenience.

3) Going above and beyond: A Commitment to Excellence

Even though this app has not yet gone live, I felt compelled to exceed expectations by dedicating extra effort to perfecting every detail. It all began with the meticulous design of the logo and the careful selection of a distinctive brand name. From there, the journey extended to:

• Designing Icons from Scratch: Crafted unique and impactful icons that align seamlessly with the app’s identity.
• Designing Illustrations: Developed visually engaging illustrations to enhance user experience and convey information with clarity and style.
• Prototyping for Multiple Scenarios: Went beyond the basics by creating prototypes that account for various usage scenarios, ensuring a seamless and intuitive user journey
• Drafting Relevant Content: Instead of relying on generic placeholder text like Lorem Ipsum, I took the time to draft purposeful and informative content. Each section of the app is enriched with carefully curated notes and guidelines to provide users with meaningful information.

Designed by me from scratch

What’s next?

This project has been one truly long and crazy journey where I have learnt a lot. While this would definitely count among one of my passion projects, the vision extends beyond just a case study; I aspire to transform it into a fully functional mobile app and establish a company someday. The goal is ambitious yet driven by the belief that it can simplify and enhance the lives of countless pet parents.

The journey doesn’t end here. Continuous iteration, ideation, and refinement will be the guiding principles as I work persistently on this mobile app in the background. The aim is to return with an even more refined and innovative version in the future. The commitment remains unwavering — to contribute to the seamless experience of pet parenting and to make PetPawket a go-to platform for pet care solutions.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of PetPawket’s evolution. Until then, the journey continues, fueled by the passion to create something exceptional for pet owners everywhere.