Overview
Purring - Cat Parenting Mobile App Design
Great cat parenting is fulfilling for both cat and cat owners. However, being a house cat is not as happy and carefree as we thought, especially when the owner lacks proper parenting knowledge. Purring helps novice cat parents demystify cats’ needs and build users’ confidence in parenting.
Role
Product design, user research, visual design, branding
Time
10 weeks, 2023
Team
Passion project
⚖️ Challenge
Notorious rumors such as that cats are low-maintenance discount the significance of proper cat parenting. Current pet care companies value commercial objectives over cats’ needs. Combating negligence, decoding cats’ minds, and crafting a holistic and trustworthy experience for a parenting guide is the biggest challenge for Purring.
🎯 Goals
1) Connect users with the right products. 2) Demystify cats’ needs. 3) Build a trustworthy shopping experience. 4) Cultivate long-term proper parenting habits
🗂 Solution
Purring, a low-cost app that educates novice cat parents with engaging details as new cat owners shop, seek community help, and plan out their day-to-day.
User research
Progress
Methodology
Desk research, semi-structured interviews, participant observation, competitive analysis
Participants Interviewed
6, with 2 extreme users
“Cat parenting is not as easy as expected, while pet service brands care more about commercial objectives than cats’ needs.”
“I felt like I was wasting time and money doing the wrong thing.”
“Cats come first.”
User research - Takeaway
🐈 🚨
Cat Problems in Society
59%
Irresponsible feeding causes 59% of the cats in the US to be overweight.
15%
Insufficient grooming leads to 6% to 15% of cats suffering from skin problems.
400,00+
Lack of attentiveness results in over 400,00 of them ingesting toxins such as medications, human food, and plants.
User research - Takeaway
Competitive Analysis
Current solutions consist of veterinary services, pet-care brands, and expert blogs. However, the information is piecemeal. Terminologies are overwhelming. Constant veterinary visits and wrong product purchases could be pricey.
User research - Takeaway
Empathy Map - Meet Savanah, a Novice Cat Mom
Generation Z and Millennial cat parents occupy the majority of novice cat parents. They live an on-the-go lifestyle and lack a strong economic foundation. Wanting to bring out the best in their cats, they especially attach great importance to information accuracy and personalized parenting.
User Research - Takeaway
User Journey Map
Worrying about what to buy for their cats and how to interact with cats is extremely common among novice cat parents. Related scenarios include setting up a new home for their cats, cats becoming sick, or losing interest in the environment. Usually, responsible cat parents will turn to online resources and try out different products.
User Research - Takeaway
User Pain Points
Due to these characteristics, their complaints range from tough time management to the lack of community support.
User Research - Takeaway
Purring Special - Everyday cat thoughts
Cats imply their thoughts and emotions in their ears, eyes, tails, and sounds. Blinking is love, thrashing the tail is annoyance, all hair up is absolute fear, and purring - purring is the enchanted joy.
Physical motions help decode cats’ minds in general. But cats are endowed with unique individual instincts, too.
How might we demystify cats’ needs and build confidence in parenting for new cat owners?
Ideate
Brainstorm - from Opportunities to Five Core Features
Ideate
User pain points and cats’ needs require a highly personalized, low-cost, educational, and trustworthy solution. Based on the HMW statement, I developed 25 product ideas and finally combined them into five core features.
Ideate
Storyboard
Scenario: Savannah trying to bring out the best in her cat under a hectic schedule with Purring.
Ideate
Design Principles
Caring, personalized, enlightening, and autonomous are all Purring’s personality and design principles.
Design & Prototype & Iterate
From sketches to High Fidelity Design
Design
Sketches
Design
Design System
Colors inspired by real cats.
Pink conveys a sense of warmth, calm, and care. These soft and delicate colors arouse users’ motherly instincts.
Iterate
Concept Testing
Iterate - from Low-Fidelity to High Fidelity
Purring behind the Scene - Iterate on Iterations
Design
Purring Final Look
Smart Mall
Connect cat growth with the right products.
Shopping Guide
Build users’ trust with professional filters and genuine reviews.
Online Community
A low-cost engaging support group with user-generated content.
MindReader
Purring’s one-million-dollar idea!
Demystify cats’ needs with the motion-emotion guide and face recognition.
Cat Parents Calendar
Build users’ sense of growth with daily checklists and activity advice.
Try out Purring!
Reflection: to Err is Human, to Purr is Feline.
Life-changing cat parenting.
The project took place in 2023, but it all traced back to 2021 when I met Chuan Chuan the astray cat. He was dashing on the road. I worried that he would be crushed by cars.
I brought him back and took care of him till found him a new home. It took two months. But it’s enough to change his life, and my life, too.
With careful parenting, Chuan Chuan grew from a timid kitten to a confident little lion. My depression from getting rejected by all Ph.D. programs was cured by his everyday meows, purring, sleeping on my lap, and rubbing my face.
It is this impact that motivates me to design and constantly iterate Purring.
Iteration clears design mistakes.
While designing Purring, I worked closely with cat parents, deeply empathized with them, and truly improved the design based on their feedback. This experience taught me that a good product should be grounded in users and solve real user problems.
Improving and enhancing the product is even more important than creativity.
In half of this project, I was refining the details to simplify user flow, encourage users’ initiative, and grant user autonomy. I wish every pixel of Purring could exude the initial kind intentions: to be caring, personalized, inspiring, and most importantly, helpful.