For this project, I am considering focusing on healthcare related to animals. Therefore, I decided to do some research focusing on that area to see if it is the route I want to go down.

VetToPet

I read a case study about a website that allows pet owners to easily connect with vets online. I enjoyed reading through her process and how she got to the final prototype. The focus of this project was to enable users to book an online consultation with a vet and access their pet’s medical records.

Before getting into what I think about the prototype, I wanted to mention her competitor analysis process. She was able to make a great comparison between the big competitors using a competitor feature analysis chart. She then marked each feature red or green depending on whether it was present. I think this is a great idea as it provides a visual representation of the apps. This technique is something I would like to try in the future.

The App

On the mobile prototype, this is the first screen you see. One of the main purposes of this is to book a consultation so I like that there is a call-to-action button for that. The home page is clean, simple, and easy to find what you are looking for. Something I may add would be a logo to go alongside the wordmark to further develop the brand identity.

After you click on this, it brings you to a page of different vets to choose from. From here you can find out more information about them including their areas of specialty, availability, reviews, etc. I think the amount of information they give is great as it allows pet owners to make an informed decision and choose the vet that is right for them.

I like that they provide photos of the vets as it makes it more personal. I have noticed that a lot of healthcare sites fail to do this. The overall design is nice, it has easy navigation, good typography, and good use of white space.

 

Pawsome

The purpose of this app is to allow owners to access their pet’s health profile, make online appointments, gain advice and knowledge about their pet. It also builds a community of people and brings people together with community walks, for example. I think this app provides a lot for users, meaning they don’t have to have multiple apps for their needs, instead, everything is in one place.

The App

The “Book an Appointment” screen is designed well. It has the dates at the top where you can choose a date and time that suits you, then below it has the vets that are available. I think it’s good that the user can choose their vet as it gives them more control and allows them to choose the one that fits their needs. The ability to choose a time that suits you also takes away from, what can be, a stressful experience.

The user can also add optional notes when booking an appointment which I think is another great feature. This ensures they don’t forget any symptoms their pet is having or questions or concerns they want to bring up in the appointment. This shows that they are really considering user needs as they are likely to be stressed during an appointment, making them likely to forget these things.

The overall design of this app is very considered. I think it’s easy to use, doesn’t contain any unnecessary information, and allows users to complete tasks with no stress. I like the colour pallet as it isn’t overwhelming. It matches the tone of the app which is professional and calm. They then use more stand-out colours for call-to-action buttons to grab users’ attention. These are all things I will consider when designing my app.

 

Pet Diabetes Tracker

This app allows pet owners to better manage and track their dog or cats’ diabetes. You can also use this to keep your veterinarian up to date with their health. The goal behind this is to enable pets with diabetes to live a happier healthier life.

The app

I think the content within the app is useful. For example, users can monitor how much food and water their pet has consumed and then track their blood glucose level. This can be very useful as it can be easy to forget things like this. You can also record the dose and time of insulin shots throughout the day. This will ensure good pet health and you can also use this information and send it to the veterinarian.

Although I think all the content is there, I think the design of it could be improved. Some screens don’t have enough white space and then others have unnecessary empty spaces. Therefore, I think the content could be spaced out better. I think it is important to remember not to try to fit everything onto one screen and instead allow users to scroll down.

Some of the text is quite small and nothing is really standing out. Instead, I would use colour and size to make important information stand out. The app does use some icons but I think this could be improved by adding some illustrations to break up the content and make the experience more enjoyable.

 

I have enjoyed spending time looking into pet health-related apps and I definitely want to focus on this area for my project. I found it interesting looking at how these apps have approached different areas and it was useful for me to see their strengths and weaknesses. This means I can take inspiration from what worked well and avoid things that didn’t work well.