UX Research/Interaction/Visual/
Motion/Designer
This project is for a group that calls themselves the "Short Stacks." They coined this name because most of the dogs in their group have short statures. The Short Stacks met each other while they were spoiling their dogs at an establishment called Yard Bar in Austin, TX. They decided they wanted a way to coordinate meet-ups without having to use text messages or popular social media platforms.
When interviewing the group, their main concern was being able to inform each other when they intended to visit Yard Bar without inundating each other with group text messages, or needing social media accounts.
The goal of this project is to create an app where the Short Stacks members can leave messages in an activity feed. This will allow the members to see whether or not anyone in their group plans to visit Yard Bar when they plan to go.
I conducted interviews to understand these users and their needs. They liked being able to coordinate meetings at Yard Bar, but they had many concerns, such as device compatibility, using social media, and sharing with people outside of their group.
When I started creating my low-fidelity prototype, I realized I had a few missing screens in my paper wireframes, such as a section to post the time user's will be at Yard Bar, and what it would like if someone commented on a time the user posted. I included that in this prototype before testing it out on the Short Stacks group.
I made the field forms and buttons larger, and removed the less accessible color on all buttons throughout the app. I also made the login process more interactive in the final prototype.
The profile page didn't really stand out when comparing it to the activity feed. It needed more presence and the ability to customize it for each of the Short Stacks's dogs.
The activity page wasn't as clear as the users would like. It was hard to differentiate one user from another. The final prototype took these design issues into consideration.
The search bar was originally at the bottom, next to the keyboard. This wasn't intuitive for the Short Stacks users, so I moved it to the top. I also made this section more interactive in the prototype so the user had a better sense of its functionality.
The users really wanted to see what it would look like to change profile information, so I made sure to make this as interactive as possible in the prototype. I also made the notifications look cleaner and easier to understand.
All of the Short Stacks group loved the most recent prototype of this app. Their feedback really encouraged me to make a design that looks and feels better to the users.
I need to ensure that all buttons and fields are large enough when I create my prototypes. I also discovered, that if it could be customizable and interactive, users probably want those features when they test prototypes.
The final app allows the user to navigate the app as Pixel, one of the Short Stacks' pets. It demonstrates how the sign in process works, how users will navigate between their fellow Short Stacks' profiles, and how the pages and menus will appear when users change profile information, add friends, and post comments.
Please note: Sometimes Webflow (where I host this site) doesn't handle embedded Figma prototypes well. If you notice anything strange while you play with the Short Stacks app here, please try it out in Figma.
