Salty Pack
Salty Pack is an Australian owned service company providing dog services such as training, grooming, and pet sitting. Salty Pack takes extreme care when dealing with dog and handler duos. They recognize that all dogs and people learn in a variety of ways and approach every customer uniquely.
Project Overview
Challenge
For marketing, they rely solely on social platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. With a new website, they have the potential to build their online presence and grow their business.
Solution
- Create a brand identity for Salty Pack for marketing and business purposes
- Design a website that meets the goals of the business and user
Role
UX/UI Designer, Branding Designer, Web Developer
Tools
Figma, WordPress, Photoshop, Illustrator
My Design Process
Empathize
Research
I wanted to get more familiar with the industry I was designing for by getting a better understanding of both the international pet industry and the Australian dog industry. Through this process, I will be able to better identify the opportunities and pain points in the industry, today’s trends, and dog consumer’s needs.
Market Research
- Australian households are estimated to have spent over $33 billion on pet services and products in 2022
- Dog training services are some of the most lucrative sectors and account for 10% of the pet care service industry
- In Australia, Dog owners spent the most, with an estimated average of $3218 spent per animal each year while cat owners spend an estimated average of $1715 (nearly half of dog owners)
- Demand for pet training services is likely to increase due to the rapid adoption of pets by millennials and generation z
- Middle-aged women with a household income of between $30,000 -$100,000 are the most likely to have purchased dog training services and are willing to pay higher prices for private lessons or group classes
- The U.S. Dept of Labor estimates that the employment of animal trainers is projected to continue growing from 2016 to 2026, faster than the average for all other occupations
Local Business Discovery
- Over 20 other companies in a 20-mile radius provide similar dog care and training services
- Many of the already established local companies either don’t have a website, or their website has an outdated user interface and unfriendly user experience
- Studies show that between 70-80% of people research a company online BEFORE visiting the small business or making a purchase with them
- 97% of consumers go online to find a local business or local services
- 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation
- 61% of mobile searchers are more likely to contact a local business if they have a mobile-friendly site
- 75% of people have judged a company’s credibility based on its website design
Research Insights
With my preliminary research complete, I felt confident making some important conclusions about how my found data relates to this topic:
- The dog service industry is growing and has a lot of promise for business opportunities in Australia, especially in the Coastal towns
- Studies show that a good website has a huge impact on small businesses gaining new customers
- There is a lot of competition locally but other businesses are falling short in their online presence
- Salty Pack has an opportunity to capture its local market through an elevated online experience, good and accessible online reviews, and a strong social media presence
Demographic
In collaboration with Salty Pack’s founder, Kristen Vautin, she gave me a good starting point of their demographics and the company’s personality. Their target customers are working professionals who care for their pets deeply but don’t have as much free time for training and exercising on their own. They refer to their dogs as “fur babies” and are willing to spend the extra money on the best-trained dog experts in their area. With their busy schedules, accessibility is everything and they either need a dog trainer in a small radius of their house or a dog trainer who is willing to pick up their dogs from their personal residents. Overall, they want to feel like they can trust the person is going to take great care of their dog and strengthen their relationship with their pets.
Provisional Personas
Using the insights gained from my research, I created provisional personas to help me identify potential users. These help me set get a base of who I am designing for, what their goals are, and what problems they are facing as dog owners.
Single Woman
Baby Boomer (mid 50s-mid 70s), recently retired. Never been married or divorced. Owns a small-sized West Highland White Terrier named Lucy.
Goals
- Wants her dog Lucy to get as much exercise as possible, but has a hard time doing it all by herself
- Has been trying to get Lucy to stop jumping on the couch for months but can’t seem to control the undesired behavior
- Wants her relationship with Lucy to be the best it can possibly be
- Needs weekly dog care once a week
Pains
- Because she is single, she is the only carer for the dog
- Not in shape enough to do the daily walks and wants more rest days
- Not tech savvy
Young Boyfriend
Boyfriend in a young couple who live together in their 20s, no kids. Male works in tech, female is a food blogger. Owns a large-sized golden retriever named Zoe.
Goals
- They have all the time in the world for exercising Zoe, but don’t know how to irradiate some bad behaviors
- Wants to bring Zoe camping and not worry of misbehaving with the other campers
- Loves taking pictures with Zoe for their Instagram
- Needs ~3 months of help training their dog through the teenage phase
Pains
- Tired of Zoe pulling on leash and not coming when called for
- Both their first dog and completely new to how to train a dog
- No big backyard for Zoe to play in while they are out of the house
Mother and Wife
Married mother in her 40s with 2 kids ages 6 and 8. Both parents work and the kids go to school. Owns a medium-sized poodle mutt named Spot.
Goals
- Spot barks at dogs when on a leash which is scary for the 8-year-old to take him on a walk
- The family needs help with Spot on Tuesdays and Thursdays when the kids have swim practice
- Wants confidence the dog will be well-behaved when guests come over, and bring to swim meets
- Needs weekly dog care twice a week
Pains
- The parents are too busy to give Spot the proper attention and the kids are too young to handle an unpredictable dog
- Parents feel uncomfortable asking for help from friends who are also busy
Define
Project Goals
Before I could make any decisions on what kind of solutions we wanted to implement, I needed to have a clear understanding of the goals we are trying to meet. These goals would help guide the decisions made moving forward to ensure we are moving towards the right direction. I created a venn diagram outlining the different goals between the business and where there might be some crossover.
Problem Statement
Pet owners want their dogs to be obedient and physically and mentally stimulated, but their busy lives and limited knowledge about dog training are too big of an obstacle to achieving this goal by themselves.
Ideate
Information Architecture
With a focus on the user’s top goals, I crafted a comprehensive site map of the information architecture to establish a user-friendly content structure for Salty Pack’s website. The aim was to facilitate seamless navigation for visitors and optimize their overall experience.
Lo-Fi Wireframe Sketches
These wireframe sketches are designed to communicate the basic structure of the website. With a few rounds of these simple sketches, I can efficiently find the best layout, organization, and functionality in the website before diving into the UI elements. Whenever I do this stage, I make sure to do one layout for desktop and one for mobile to ensure a cohesive and seamless user experience across all devices.
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes
To create my mid-fidelity wireframe, I start by taking my low-fidelity sketches and converting them to a digital format using Figma. I added enough information to enable users to navigate and accomplish tasks for usability testing. The resulting mid-fidelity wireframes allowed me to identify areas that needed improvement for design functionality. Here are a couple screens I made for this part of the process.
Branding
Before moving onto the UI design of the website, it was time to for branding to get a voice for the company as well as design elements. With the company being based on the Australian coast in Mooloolaba, Salty Pack’s stakeholders envisioned a brand strategy that captured the joy of the beach, playful nature of dogs, and conveyed high-quality services. I looked for inspiration in the natural beauty of the coastline, the colors of the sea and sky, and the lifestyle of the local community.
Final Logo
Other Logo Options
Typography
Colors
Prototype & Test
High Fidelity Wireframes
With the brand identity set, I used it as guidelines to start building out my high fidelity wireframes based off my my previous iterations and feedback from Salty Pack’s stakeholders. I added more detail such as copy and imagery, and used a higher fidelity visual language to more closely represent the final product. Similar to past wireframes, I make sure to carry over the design across different devices to ensure a consistent user experience. At this stage, I focus on ensuring that the design is not only visually appealing, but also functional and intuitive, with clear and accessible navigation and interactions. Overall, the high fidelity wireframes provide a comprehensive preview of the final product, allowing for more accurate user testing and facilitating a smoother transition into the development phase.
Testing
After finishing my prototype, I proceeded to develop a testing strategy to direct the testing process. Following that, I enlisted volunteers and carried out usability testing to evaluate the user experience of my design and pinpoint areas that require enhancement. I wanted to see if the participants could complete my tasks, how long it would take them, observe their different paths, see if there were any pain points, and ask for feedback.
Testing Overview
- 5 participants of varying ages, all dog owners
- Task Completion Rate: 100%
- Average Time: 5 minutes
- Method: in person watching the user
Enhancements From Testing
- Add a contact form field to be able to message the company on the website
- The website, in general, is intuitive for the average user to understand quickly
- Dog pictures were loved by all, so don’t be shy with dog imagery
- The pricing page isn’t quick to comprehend when listed out, make an improved pricing page using tiles to better group the prices and services
Final Website
After creating my hi-fidelity wireframes, I made the necessary edits from feedback and testing and developed/launched the final product.
Project Reflection
Designing and developing a website for dog training was an exciting project that required careful planning and attention to detail. Effective communication with the client ensured that the website met their needs and represented their brand identity. Overall, the project was a great opportunity to showcase both my design and development skills while learning and researching the dog/pet industry.
What’s Next
- Test various metrics on google analytics to get a feel for user engagement, and if there are any problem elements or pages.
- With a full working website, conduct a second round of user testing to identify active usability issues.
- Salty Pack is still very new so I used mostly stock imagery. Ideally, the company could hire a professional photographer to get some real shots of the employees and the dogs together for a more personalized and cohesive feel.
Takeaways
Developer: While I enjoy being able to develop the designs I create, there are certain interactions and animations I would have loved to incorporate in this website that was out of my skill set. It would be nice to have a developer hired to do the heavy lifting on the backend so I can just focus on the design and add high-end interactivity.
Clear business strategy: Salty Pack’s website and branding is a project where the design work came in a little early before established business planning. It allowed me to feel like I could make a big impact in doing some of my own research but was also difficult to adapt to the changing requirements of the client.