Business Pain Points

As part of this integration, we first needed to take into account the needs of our new users. Our research goals were:

• Difficulty keeping track of the cats and their owners. They've been having several cats per day, so they've been having problems keeping a track of which cats are from which owner.

• Having access to each cat's needs and backgrounds records. Each cat has different needs or backgrounds, so CatPlaceLA needs to have a handy record of each one in order to keep them healthy and safe.

• Being able to quickly identify which cats are doing boarding and which ones are doing dailycare. It's been difficult to identify which services each cat's owner had booked. Some cats need to be picked up in an hour, other ones just arrived, and others are sleeping over for the next few days.

• Making sure each cat meets the health requirement checklist. Each cat has to meet certain health requirements in order to be able to use CatPlaceLA services. How can CatPlaceLA keep an easy track of which ones have been vaccinated and which ones haven't?

To keep track of all their clients and its pets, CatPlaceLA has currently been using traditional systems such as email, phone and agendas or journals, but it's getting a little bit out of hand and they need a product that will resolve these issues.

Competitive Audit

I selected the three booking/appointment systems I considered were the closest to the product that CatPlaceLA would need to solve these pain points, keeping on mind the content management system they're currently using is Wordpress (Calendarista, WC Marketplace Booking System, and Revolution Pets).  Deeper analysis of these three products helped me to identify what were their weaknesses and strengths so I could create a product that not only would solve the issues the company was facing but also make it more desirable, useful, usable, and accessible for both employees and clients.

Weaknesses

• Not mobile friendly. (Webkul, Calendarista and Revolution Pets)

• To access to the admin, the CatPlaceLA employee would have to login in Wordpress in order for the employee to be able to see the admin panel. (Webkul and Calendarista)

• In the case of Revolution Pets, to create a booking is too long of a process. Forms ask for too many details and client don't really have a way of knowing which info is really necessary and which one is not.

• The interface design is not very desirable. (Webkul and Calendarista)
  

Strengths

• The use of the icons in Revelation Pets makes very clear what the services  Boarding and Daycare are about.

• Calendarista walks you through the process by numbering and naming each step through tags. Also, this system prevents you from having to scroll too much.
  

Problem

CatPlaceLA doesn't have a system that allows them to keep track not only of their clients but also of their clients cats' vaccinations, needs, and services that are being provided.

Use Cases

According to the owner, people who have cats in Los Angeles are usually:

• Young, busy, and don't have much family or friends in the city. They live in Los Angeles temporally but they love animals and they own one or more pets.

• Stable families who have been living in Los Angeles for years and their pets are one more member of the family so they look for the best care for them.

"I'm going on a week vacation trip and I need somebody to take care of my cat."

"I have a whole day event and I'm worry I won't be able to make it home to feed my cat."

"My company set up a last minute meeting with our New York department and I don't know who to leave my cat with for the next few days."

"My house is under construction right now and I'm worry it's not a safe place for my cat."

Executive Summary

CatPlaceLA will provide their clients with a customized booking system (app) where they will be able to make appointments for their cat(s), specify the type of service they want, and insert special information about each cat. Through another version of this app, CatPlaceLA employees will have easy access to this information and be able to keep track of the cats, check which necessities each one has, which clients booked which type of service, and if they meet the health requirements.

Feature Narrative

For Clients

To create an app that allows users to sign-up/sign-in, add their cats records and details, and book their preferred services in a easy, fast, and carefree way. The key phases and components are:

• Finding CatPlaceLA. Most CatPlaceLA clients find them through Yelp, Google search, or word of mouth. Their website must show instructions for how to get started in the CatPlaceLA App.

• Account creation. Once they open the CatPlaceLA App, the first it requires is to sign-up/sign-in. Anybody would be able to open an account or sign-in in one easy step.
  

• Choose the services you need. Instead of continuing building a profile, the user will be redirected to choose the services they've been needing. They'll have only two options (the two services CatPlaceLA offers): Boarding or Daycare.
  

• Add your cat details. Once the user is certain that CatPlaceLA offers what they need, it's time to fill some details of their cat. Here the client will be able to place specific details they consider CatPlaceLA should know about their pet: special diets, treatments, vaccinations, etc.
  

• Booking a date. After selecting the services and adding their pet to the system, the client will pick up a date and time for their appointment with CatPlaceLA.
  

• Review and checkout. All done. A screen will show a review of all the details in case the user wants to edit something and if everything looks good, they can proceed to pay through the app or to just book and pay at the moment once they visit CatPlaceLA for their appointment.
  

For Employees

To create an second version of the user's app but exclusively for the CatPlaceLA employees in which they will be able to check the clients' appointment, the services required and the cats' specifications. The key phases and components are:

• Account creation. Employees will download the CatPlaceLA Workers app and they will be required to enter a code given by the company. Once they have access to the app they'll create an account with an email and a password.

• Check appointments. The first screen the employee will see when they sign in will be the calendar, which will remain the same for each employee account. The calendar will update automatically every time a user makes a new appointment and it will always show first the current day with the appointments for that day and the current month so the employee can check other day's appointments easily.
  

• Consult cats and clients information. Next to the calendar icon there will be place a cat icon where employees will be able to check the information of each cat and a second icon which will take the employees to a list with all the clients and their information.
  

Design Principles

Intuitive / Second Nature

Using the app should feel instinctual, clear, and simple. Easy for the clients to follow the steps and comfortable for employees to navigate through and find information.

Trust

The design should built trust for the client to leave their pets with somebody else.

Carefree

Having your pet taken care of should be a relief. The experience of using this app should be one that leave you carefree.

Clients Journey Map UX Flow

Based on the feature narrative, I began to construct the user experience flow, taking into consideration the following:

First time user experience vs. returning user experience

Daycare user experience vs. boarding user experience.

Low-Fidelity Wireframes

Clients App

Employees App

Laying The Foundation

Branding

When the owner first contacted me and explained her business idea, she already had clear the concepts she wanted to work with in order to create the brand image for CatPlaceLA:

Clean
Modern
Fresh
Cute
High quality
Simple
Likable

She wanted a logo that would reflect what the company was about at first sight, so the silhouette of a cat had to be on it.

After several version, we finally decided to simplify and unify the logo a little by removing some details and merging the symbol with the font.

Bringing it all together

Clients App

Other Screens

Employees App