ROLE
UX/UI/3D Designer | Team Project (with co-designer Jaewan Byun)
March 2022, 5 weeks
DURATION
PETBOTT
Combination of Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and big data, in products and services necessary to safely and conveniently care for pets.
Design a device that allows for remote connection and pet care at any time and from any location.
THE
GOAL
Lack of companionship and maintenance for pets who are
left alone at home for long
periods of time.
THE
PROBLEM
PetBott delivers the high-tech solutions for healthy pet life across long-distance, away from home and pushes the bond between pet and owners through increased safety, convenience and peace of mind.
Love is being connected.
Pet care at the touch of a button.
We smartify care.
USER RESEARCH
The goal of the research is to identify the common pain points pet owners have during their everyday interaction with their pets. Ten participants (pet owners and non pet owners) were asked to fill out a Google survey, which includes multiple choice, short and long text questions, and a story share (any interesting pet stories) at the end.
The team was able to gain new insights through user research. It became evident that a significant portion of the current social situation, including the pandemic, is not only inconvenient but also very destressing. Like humans, pets have also spent more time at home. The main pain points for pets included depression when their owners went out for work and a lack of interaction.
PROBLEM & SOLUTION
IDEATION
STORYBOARD
CONCEPT ART
We continued to improve the design with smoother usabilities after developing a basic structure that complied with the key components.
USER TEST
We conducted an early moderate usability study, using open ended questions such as "how did you feel about..?" and "what bothered you about..?" A key insight was the colour choice of our device. How is the device accessible for pets?
With further research, we have learned that blue or yellow is/are the easiest and most attractive colours for dogs to see. Scientists and experts also believe that cats are able to easily detect blue hues, more specifically, blue-violet hues.
PROTOTYPE
We used PiCar-V, an open source robot learning kit based on Raspberry Pi to create the prototype.
CHALLENGE
To mimic the automatic feeder function on the robot, we had cut an opening on a plastic bottle.
We then attached an invisible string to tug it open (wizard of oz method).
USER TEST
We managed to remotely log into the Pi, ran the startup script from PiCar open source and initiated a web server of the car at http://<RPi_IP_address>:8000/
We had the final prototype tested at a pet owner’s house. Interestingly, the cat started to play around with the invisible string that we had attached for the automatic feeder bottle. This new insight leads to future consideration of designing the robot that can be used as a play for pets.
PROMOTION VIDEO
IMPACT & LESSON
Animal companions are increasingly becoming regarded as human partners. Today, it has a similar connotation to family and friends. The pandemic has severely limited society as a whole. Our service, which combines cutting-edge technology and petting, aims to improve communication between pets and their owners.
Wizard of Oz is a flexible and efficient approach that allows concepts to be tested and modified without the need for potentially time-consuming code changes or full development process.
NEXT STEP
Construct a higher-fidelity prototype using 3D printing materials, as well as the physical automatic feeder engine.
Conduct another round of usability studies to validate whether the pain points users experienced have been effectively addressed.
Identify any additional areas of need and ideate on new features.