Pet Dynasty, a Pleasanton, CA pet care facility, sought to revamp its online presence to attract and retain customers in the Tri-Valley area. I led the adoption of a local SEO strategy and the transition from outdated offline methods to modern technology. By consulting with employees, the owner, and customers, we created an engaging, intuitive website that captures the local essence of Pet Dynasty with plans to integrate a third-party booking system.
Summary
My Role
UX/UI Designer, SEO Analyst, Graphic Designer
Tools Used
Figma, Prompt Engineering, SEM Rush, Wix
Timeframe
Nov 2023 - Ongoing
Challenges
Small business with limited resources for hiring consultation design help
Limited to using WIX since I wanted to focus on providing a professional design for them where they could update prices or create campaigns on their own
Original website, while informative, lacked user engagement and modern design elements versus local franchise competition
Evolving requirements: Initial software offering was not what the client wanted, upon trial, so had to pivot strategies from original vision
Compare the full pages for 1.0 and 2.0 by clicking on the full-screen button in the before and after slider.
Process
Discovery: Using the double-diamond, we began with in-depth research that included discussions with Pet Dynasty staff and its owner as well as a competitive market analysis of local competition. This also included interacting with customer reviews to discern their favorite and least favorite parts of Pet Dynasty.
Used SEMRush to discover keywords for Pet Dynasty to rank on versus its local competition
Emphasized a more visceral neurodesign to the website using the video game series Persona as a design inspiration
Consulted with Pet Dynasty’s owner throughout the discovery and design phase, keeping him in the loop and collaborating with current employees
Utilized prompt engineering to reduce the amount of marketing and copywriting work that would be required to increase local seo flavor
First round of unmoderated usability testing has been positive, indicating an improved user experience and delivering a more modern design solution:
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100% of participants were able to complete their assigned tasks (lookup info, find the booking link, etc.)
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75% of participants said that the new design is cool, fun and exciting and would definitely consider using Pet Dynasty if they were in the area
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25% of participants said they were surprised Pet Dynasty had an app
What's Next?
Small Business Problem, Large Scale Solution
A second round of usability studies will occur after polishing version 1.5
Integrate third-party booking app once client finds one he likes. We are currently
still using the existing online and in-person registration form.
Storyboard, design and develop facility video for the company’s About Us section