DoggyDoor — Jordan Klein

DoggyDoor:
July 2020 - Present

DoggyDoor connects suitable homes with Australian registered dog breeders in a safe, transparent and modern way whilst at the same time educating the wider community on the importance of responsible breeding practices, responsible dog ownership and the role of the Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC).

**How might we make buying a puppy in Australia a more transparent and safe process?**

The problem

In 2018 I was looking for a pup from a breeder for my family. The process was gruelling. I didn’t really know which breeders to trust, where I should go, or who I should speak to.

It felt like the wild west.

Eventually, a mutual friend put me into contact with a breeder, Jo, who we’d get our Black Labrador from.

Going through this incredibly frustrating and somewhat murky process made me think: “there must be a better way!”

I had become so accustomed to the AirBnB experience whilst searching for accommodation, that I felt the dog industry needed something like it.

Meet Betty & Matt

I created Betty (breeder) & Matt (buyer) based on my assumptions about dog breeders and prospective dog owners.
Betty & Matt helped guide my design decisions for DoggyDoor.

My assumptions about breeders

Marketing

By going through breeders websites it is clear that marketing and website building is not their strength. Breeders are looking for a quick and easy solution to help them with their marketing presence.
Financials

Of course breeders love and care for their pups. But it is still a job and a business that they have to manage. Breeders want to be able to keep on top of their financials, and make sure they are hitting their goals.
Management

Breeders get contacted all year round (24 hours a day!) on a plethora of mediums. They receive emails, phone calls and website form completions. They want a one stop shop for their management needs.

The research

User Interviews. Affinity Mapping. Feature Prioritisation. User Journey Map. User Flows.

My research started when I reached out to my breeder, Jo, about the DoggyDoor concept and she was generous enough to allow me into her home and provide me with feedback.

What I learnt from my first meeting with Jo was that I did not understand the needs and wants of dog breeders around Australia.

Jo taught me about the registration process to become a breeder in Australia and the problems that ANKC registered breeders around the country were facing.

She explained to me what her real pain points were.

I conducted further user interviews with other breeders to really understand the motivations, goals, needs and frustrations of breeders around Australia.

What breeders really care about

Promoting purebred dogs & the ANKC

Purebred breeders are incredibly passionate about promoting their breeds and other ANKC registered breeders. They often do not want to be associated with other registration members and cross-breeds.
Education of the wider community

Breeders are incredibly passionate about educating the wider community about their specific breeds and traits. They would rather sell their pup to someone who has put the time and effort into researching their breed over others.
Finding suitable homes

Breeders do not care about hitting financial goals. ANKC registered breeders continue to breed for their love of the breed. Often breeding is a hobby and costs more money than you get in return. Breeders do it to ensure the continuity, health and excellent standards of their breed.
Control

Often, breeders are in the dog breeding industry for decades. They have stringent processes that they have been employing for a long long time. They have an adverse reaction to anything that suggests to be taking away their control (or elements of it).

User Journey Map

To better understand the buyer's emotions and thoughts throughout different stages of the puppy search, I created a user journey map based on Matt’s process.

It’s clear to see that the opportunity to enhance the buyer experience lies in the middle parts of the process. The goal is to provide Matt with a safe, transparent and trusted platform to allow him to make an informed and calm decision.

User Flows

To understand how both buyers and breeders find and interact with DoggyDoor I needed to make two differing user flows.

It is interesting to note how the expectations and needs of one side of the market influences the journey of the other.

The buyer flow incorporates education as a key component of their journey, as highlighted by breeders.

Similarly, the breeder flow incorporates a verification process, as highlighted by prospective buyers.

The design

Low-fi wire-framing. UI style guide. Hi-fi prototyping.

I started out with low-fidelity wire-framing, and then progressed into some hi-fidelity designs on Adobe XD.

UI Style Guide

I decided to go with two different colours for the two different users on DoggyDoor. This way users would know exactly what side of the site they were accessing at any given point.

Buyers is light blue.

Breeders is a yellow-orange.

A variety of cartoon purebred stickers were placed throughout the website to display the variety of purebred breeds that exist and are recognised by the ANKC today.

The cartoon style is consistent throughout the website including the logo which displays a DoggyDoor accompanying a door for a human which represents the relationship between owner and dog.

Hi-fidelity Prototyping, Testing & Iterating

We went live with DoggyDoor in November of 2020.

Watching the ways in which real users interact with our website (using analytics tools such as MixPanel) has allowed us to learn and iterate on the fly.

Below are some examples of our first designs and where we iterated, and why.