Petcy is a free mobile application designed to help pet owners prepare homemade food for their furry friends. The app provides a daily feeding plan designed for each individual pet based on their nutritional needs. The app can also deliver the ingredients from local stores so each meal will be the freshest.
An online research led me to two conclusions.
Most processed (ie. branded) foods possess health risks for pets.
The healthiest choice is a balanced homemade diet.
However, providing a homemade diet that meets all the animal’s nutritional requirements is challenging. It entails research, ingredients, measurements and recipes that fit both the pet’s individual needs and the owner’s lifestyle.
Processed food is unhealthy for pets. Ingredients often include waste products from the human food industry or leftover meat from diseased animal carcasses. On top of that, the vast majority of commercially available pet foods on the market contain chemicals, preservatives, emulsifiers, artificial colors, flavor enhancers and extra fats that make the food more palatable to dogs and cats, but also less healthy.
Since processed food for pets has been introduced, the pandemic of degenerative health problems has escalated in dogs and cats. Pets continually suffer from leaky gut syndrome, inflammatory and degenerative diseases as the result of a poor diet.
The commercial pet food industry faces minimal substantive regulation. No organization requires proof for the health claims pet food makes and no company is investing in extensive research to determine whether its products keep animals healthy in the long run.
Learning about pet owners’ feeding challenges was a great way to be motivated and understand their daily needs. Real world data is an essential starting point that avoids guesswork and misconceptions.
Learning about pet owners’ feeding challenges was a great way to be motivated and understand their daily needs. Real world data is an essential starting point that avoids guesswork and misconceptions.
The results of my survey suggested that there were several typical users that represented various needs. As time and resources are limited it was necessary to identify the most common patterns and create one typical case. Focusing on a specific user avoids distraction whenever an idea for a new feature or demand pops up.
One of the most powerful tools I used is a JTBD form. Instead of focusing on what the problem is or what the users want, I focus on why they need it. Understanding why people might want this app, increased chances of designing a valuable product.
Mapping the basic flow of the app required from me to figure each step on the path the users will take throughout the solution. I first sketched it on paper and then digitally rendered it.
We used wireframes to help us determine the basic structure and navigation patterns of the platform. It was used to show hierarchy of information and identify key functions, while considering how this layout serves the purpose of each page and the overall goals of the users.
Nunito Sans is a free Google font designed by Vernon Adams and Jacques Le Bailly. It is a well-balanced sans serif typeface superfamily that seems to complement the interface. Simplicity was the leading mantra; therefore, I decided to go with just one font family.
The color green symbolizes nature, life, health, hope, renewal, growth, rest and relaxation. Hence, a green color palette is fitting for an app that promotes healthy and natural pet food. Additionally, I used gray for the text and included a great deal of white to give a calm and clean appearance.
