Healthy PetsVeterinarian booking website
Duration
Aug-Oct 2022
Role
UX Designer
Challenge
Pet owners want a way to easily make appointments and be able to read profiles and reviews about veterinarians and clinics
Goal
Design a website that allows users to book appointments with the best veterinarians according to their needs
Empathize
Summary
I conducted interviews to understand the needs, challenges, and point points that pet owners face when looking for a veterinarian online. One of the identified groups wanted to be able to do all their booking appointments and communication online.
A second identified group confirmed the same needs but also revealed mistrust in the professionals and wanting to be able to learn previously to the appointments reviews and profile information such as academic formation and specialties.
Pain points
1. Support
They don’t have flexible customer support and easy to access channels
2. Content
Websites don’t have the information that users need
3. Booking
Websites don’t have an online booking process
Personas
Age: 38
Education: Bachelor Degree
Hometown: San Jose
Family: Husband
Occupation: Data Analyst
“I’m an introvert person, I don’t like to be calling clinics and making appointments that would be basically easier online”
Lia is a 38-year-old Data Analyst who lives with her husband. They recently added to their family a beautiful French Bulldog called Maya. They both have tight work schedules but they use their free time to be with Maya.
They are frustrated that is hard to find a good veterinarian clinic with a good website platform to make appointments and that is flexible with their scheduling.
Goals
Making an appointment online on a site that works
Using an intuitive platform to book appointments
Having the option to book house visits
Frustrations
I am very annoyed that the websites are not intuitive.
I’m frustrated that in previous experiences services weren’t responsive in emergencies
I feel really overwhelmed by all the website options
Problem statement
Lia is an introverted pet owner who needs an easy way to book her pet appointments online because she doesn’t like making calls
Define
Her main goal it’s to make appointments online on a intuitive platform and to be able to book home visits for her dog
User journey
Action
Task list
Opening her browser to look for vet options
Browse for vet options on her area
Browsing through comments and reviews on social media
Choose a vet clinic
Narrow down to a couple of options
Select one of their options
Find a form to place the appointment
Search through the site to find the appointment section
Placing the appointment
Filling out their dog’s information
Selecting date and time
Click confirm appointment
Taking Maya to the appointment
Receive confirmation of site
Travel to clinic with Maya
Feeling Adjective
Overwhelmed by all the options
Frustrated by the lack of reviews
Optimistic about the option she choose
Confused about not knowing where is the information
Curious
Satisfied that she found the form
Optimistic about the appointment
Relieve about receiving her confirmation
Excited about meeting the vet
Improvement opportunities
Reliable reviews
Having a call to action on home to easier found
Having an app that recommends vets
Registering pet only the first time for future appointments
Allow house visits
Website sitemap
It was difficult to plan the information architecture around all the features of the web, so I separated them between what you can do as a guest (booking appointments) and what if you create an account (your pet’s information, make reviews, appointments, etc)
Design & Testing
Digital wireframes
I created over 50+ wireframes for both web and mobile versions of the website to represent the layout and process flow. Having in mind the booking, content, and support pain points in the flow.
For example, on the homepage, I wanted to add the main feature, the search section on the center stage, and on the profile of the veterinarians, I included important information like professional formation and studies, plus the reviews and services section and updated visibility of the availability calendar
Usability study
The main findings found during the usability study
1. Location
Users want to search by location as the primary option
2. Appointments
Users needed a clear flow to follow to complete the process
3. Pet registration
Users want a flexible form where they can fill certain information later
Mockups
Location
The primary search option was changed to be first by location and second by specialization, name, treatment, etc.
Appointment flow
The flow of the appointment setting was change to progressively disclose the next steps. Based on their choices more options would appear
Pet registration
An option on the pet registration to be able fill out the information later on, in case they don’t have it at hand or don’t have it yet
Accessibility considerations
1
Color palette friendly for people with color blindness and sensitivity to contrast
2
Clear hierarchy in the typography through both website versions
3
Iconography to help users to navigate
High-fidelity prototype
The high-fidelity prototype features two easy-to-use different user journeys. Where in one the user can search and read profiles and book appointments from the website and in another where the user can also use these features but also has an account where their pet information it’s stored, they can manage appointments from there too, and post reviews.
Takeaways
Impact
Users repeat how easy it was to use and how necessary are all these features for pet owners.
What I learned
How important are both initial interviews and usability studies for actually meeting the users’ needs and also never assuming the behaviors and preferences of the users
"It's super easy! I think all apps should book this way"
Usability tester