PLAYPAWS
TEAM:
Grace Dong
Michela d’Amico
Qinyu Wang
Mark Ma
Xinying Li
ROLE:
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Conducted industry and competitor research on the pet toy industry
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Conducted exploratory testing with 2 participants
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Product managed by creating deadlines and updating project progress
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Created 3D model of Ball-Bot toy
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PROJECT SUMMARY
This case study is a course project for University of Toronto’s Master’s level Fundamental of UX course
The core goal of this project is to:
Help people’s cats and dogs that need enrichment play with toys that are fun and challenging so their pets become healthier physically and mentally.
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The problem:
Pets are understimulated when they are home alone for a long time.
The solution
Creating an app for an imaginary interactive toy that can keep pets happy and engaged
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Phase 1: Discovery
Meet Kiki, my moody, black-furred companion.
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Like all pet owners, I’ve always wanted Kiki to be happy, healthy, and engaged.
But I noticed that she's been feeling sad as I'm away from home to go to school and work. Finding toys that truly challenge and entertain her while I'm gone also wasn’t as easy as it seemed.​
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This sparked an idea: how might I help other pet owners ensure their furry friends thrive physically and mentally? It turns out my whole team has been having the same frustrations. This case study will explores me and my team’s journey in 4 phases: discovery, definition, design, and refine.
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We wanted to make sure that our solution could address all these problems. We also wanted to know what kind of product will be needed by the user. To answer these questions, we get our researcher hats on.
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Phase 2: Definition
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Through research, my team found that the pet industry is a booming market, with a growing trend.
90% of pet owners view their pets as their family member and are willing to spend money to improve their physical and mental health. ​
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Industry and Competitive Research
We were excited to see that people loved their pets as much as us, and dove deeper in our research to uncover some market gaps.
Two clear trends emerged:
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Limited Longevity: Pets quickly grow bored with repetitive interactions.
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Lack of Multi-Functionality: Most products focus on either physical or mental stimulation—not both.
We also looked at some of our competitors:
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FitBark
Great for tracking health, but it’s purely observational—there’s no interactive element to keep pets actively engaged.​
Wickedbone by Cheerble
An innovative interactive toy, but its pre-set features feel limiting, and it requires pet parents to activate it manually.
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The research revealed our opportunity:
What if we combined interactive play with customizable features that adapt to a pet’s preferences? And what if we integrated health tracking, so pet parents could ensure their furry companions stay active and healthy while having fun?
This insight became our North Star: to design a product that keeps pets happy, healthy, and engaged—not just today, but for the long haul.
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User Interview
With these questions in mind. My team decided to conduct some user interviews to get a better understanding of what the users will be. Below are the details of our interview.
Participant demographics:
10 participants in total
From ages 22 to 26, all genders
Working professionals & students
11 min average interview duration
Inclusion criteria + recruitment screener
Do you currently have a cat or dog?
Do you buy toys for your pet?
Do you have a smartphone?
Are you over 18?
Top 3 questions:
1. How long on average is your pet alone in a day?
2. Is your pet at an ideal weight right now (over/underweight)?
3. What is your pet’s play style?
Affinity Mapping
From the user interviews, my team took the results and created an affinity map to categorize and to find some user pain points.
We categorized the raw data into 4 categories: play style, pet problems, toy types and health concerns
User Persona
Using the information we extracted from the affinity maps, we made our persona, Dana the dog lover, and some quotes Dana would say.
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Phase 3: Design
After competing phase 2, my team is ready to start phase 3. We started by defining a vision for the design.
Our visions for the design
In an ideal world, pet owners would have:Engaged pets, even when they’re not home.Pets that thrive physically and mentally through consistent stimulation.
To achieve this, imagine:
Smart interactive toys that not only entertain but also monitor and support a pet’s overall health.
A toy that dynamically adjusts its playstyle to align with a pet’s unique preferences and needs.
By bridging the gap between health and play, we can create a product that seamlessly combines entertainment with health tracking, empowering pet owners with actionable insights to ensure their furry companions lead happier, healthier lives.
Ideation
As a team, we participated in Crazy 8 activities to with potential designs and functionalities of our app. Then, we voted on our ideas and picked some functionalities that we wanted to implement.
Prioritizing What Matters
After ideation, my team started refining the ideas we generated from the previous ideation process by creating a prioritization grid. The grid would help ensure we delivered the most value with our resources.
It allowed us to evaluate each feature by balancing two key factors:
• Impact: How much value the feature adds to users and aligns with project goals.
• Effort: The time, complexity, and resources needed to implement it.
By mapping features onto a grid, we identified clear priorities:​
• Quick Wins (High Impact, Low Effort): These features were no-brainers—simple to implement but packed with user value.
• Strategic Moves (High Impact, High Effort): Crucial features requiring careful planning and resource allocation.
• Nice-to-Haves (Low Impact, Low Effort): Considered only if we had extra bandwidth.
• Deprioritized (Low Impact, High Effort): Features that weren’t worth the investment given their minimal impact.
In the end, we decided on this list of features:
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Free Play Mode: Owners can change the play time and mode at will according to the pet's mood or behavior.
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Health Monitoring Integration: Track the activity level of pets and convey opinions to owners.
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Remote Interaction Function: This function allows pet owners to interact with their pets remotely through mobile applications.
Early Stage Wireframing and Planning
After deciding the functions. Each team member individually created some wireframe sketches, an user flow, and a storyboard. The ones I created are shown below:
Wireframe Sketches
User flow chart
Storyboard
From discussing and sharing each teammates wireframe sketches, we finalized on what to include in our final low-fidelity wireframe. Each team member chose 2 frames to design. I chose to develope the home page and health page.
Usability Testing
With our basic wireframe completed. We made a low fidelity prototype and conducted our usability testing to see what we need to improve on before moving to our high fidelity wireframe and prototype.
In testing, we asked users to complete three main tasks: check pet health info, start "Preset A" play mode, and add a custom action.
We started with a 5-second look at the first screen to get their first impressions, followed by a “think-aloud” session while they worked on the tasks.
This method let us see where users struggled with the design, like understanding button purposes or knowing what to do next.
Results:
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Clarity: Users found some parts confusing, especially the large undescribed image on the main screen and certain buttons.
Guidance: Navigation was tricky; users suggested organizing elements better and making the app’s purpose clearer.
Task Completion: Users could complete tasks but suggested changes to make it easier, like more obvious buttons and smoother navigation
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Phase 4- Refine
After listening to the usability feedback, the team made some adjustments to our app.
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Feedback: Users found parts of the interface confusing, especially images without descriptions and unclear button functions.
Changes Implemented: Updated Interface Icons: Added clear labels/icons for all buttons and image elements. Simplified Navigation: Redesigned navigation by consolidating key actions (e.g., “Check Pet Health,” “Start Play Mode”) into a single, easy-to-access menu.
Result: These changes make navigation more intuitive and ensure users understand each element’s purpose at first glance.
Feedback: Users expressed that interaction should be more responsive to pets’ actions.
Changes Implemented: Pet-Triggered Play Modes: Enabled a mode where the toy can detect pet interaction and automatically start play.
Adaptive Play Options: Introduced customizable play styles based on pet energy level and mood.
Result: These features aim to keep pets engaged while minimizing the owner’s need to initiate play manually.
Feedback: Users had trouble understanding the app’s purpose and suggested clearer organization and more guidance.
Changes Implemented: Onboarding Tutorial: Added a brief tutorial for first-time users to explain the app’s main features (health monitoring, play modes, etc.). Tooltips: Incorporated tooltips for key actions, like “Check Activity History” and “Start Play Mode,” to guide users through tasks.
Result: These additions help users feel more confident with navigation and better understand the app’s purpose and functions.
UI Style
After adjusting the wireframe to the feedbacks. The team started designing the UI style for our app.
Moodboard
Style Tile
Stylized High-Fidelity Wireframes
Verison 1:
After deciding the UI, the team members each created some high fidelity wireframes. I continued working on the home page and the health page and created the 1st version of the high fidelity wireframes.
Final Version:
Finally, the team came together and created the final high fidelity wireframes and prototype.
You can take a look of the interface and test out the prototype below!
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Conclusion
This project was an incredible opportunity to explore the process of turning an idea to a full project. Designing an app for an interactive pet toy taught me the importance of grounding solutions in real user needs—both human and animal.
One of the highlights was discovering creative ways to balance user-centric design with technical feasibility, ensuring the features were engaging for pets and practical for pet owners. Challenges like prioritizing features with limited resources due to the short time frame pushed me to think critically and use tools like the prioritization grid to stay focused.
Through this process, I honed my skills in problem-solving, collaboration, and iterative design. More importantly, I deepened my appreciation for creating meaningful experiences that enrich everyday lives. This project has prepared me to tackle future UX challenges with empathy, adaptability, and a commitment to delivering impactful solutions.