UX Design & Product Management
•
Qualcomm
•
1.5 years
•
2012
Tagg the Pet Tracker
Redesigning pet activity monitoring and leading iOS/Android development as both UX lead and product manager.
ROLE
UX Design & Product Management
Company
Qualcomm
Duration
1.5 years
Year
2012
The Challenge
Tagg's GPS pet tracker had capable hardware but an app experience built for basic functionality, not real pet owner needs. The interface surfaced a desktop-only tracking experience — data that was difficult to monitor in real-time when actually searching for a lost pet. The redesign required an app experience that also provided emotional reassurance, and the development needed a product manager to bring it across the line on both platforms.
We also had the case of additional accelerometer data with no clear UX to make it meaningful, which provided an opportunity to increase the value of the product with no additional hardware requirements.
The Solution
An upgraded experience for Tagg the Pet Tracker which included native apps for iOS and Android for tracking pets in real-time, new intuitive device LED feedback, and an activity tracking feature for monitoring pets while owners are away.
"Knowing where he was heading allowed me to actually think instead of panic and plan instead of react."
— Tina K, Actual Tagg Customer in Illinois
Outcomes
iOS + Android
Dual Platform
↑ Usability
Customer Rating
1.5 year
PM + UX Cycle
The process
1
Discovery & Research - Summary
I joined this project during its version 1 iteration, prior to branding it as Tagg the Pet Tracker or public launch. My role on this project was first as a product manager, overseeing and assisting with elements of the UX, hardware behavior and web UI. My role was to lead the rollout of the iOS and Android apps. During the course of the project, following the app launch, I switched to a role in User Experience to design a new pet activity tracking UX.
Research consisted of the following, leading up to the initial product rollout:
User interviews with pet owners.
Cameras set up in some employees homes to observe dog behavior.
Observation of dogs at pet daycares.
Users
Pet owners (primarily dog owners).
People who leave their pet at home during the day while they leave to work.
People whose dogs sometimes run away from home.
Needs
Remove the stress of losing a pet.
The owner needs to know if their pet runs away.
The owner needs to know where their pet is located.
The owner needs to know if their pet has had enough exercise/activity for the day (to stay healthy).
Problems
When an owner is away from home, they have no way to know if their pet runs away until after they return home.
When a pet runs away, owners have had to search their neighborhood, hoping to find it, sometimes with no luck.
Short of having an in-home camera to view the pet, owners have no insight into what their pets do during the day.
Findings
A couple of user interviews revealed that a pet would sometimes escape the yard during the day when the owner was away at work, and return prior to the owner getting home.
Some owners had a few usual places they would search when their dogs would run away.
Fireworks (few times a year) were a problem for many dogs, sometimes causing the dog to flee.
Owners with higher income levels or owners who would travel for work would board their dogs in doggy daycares that interacted regularly with the pet during the day. Some owners worried about their pet getting lonely/depressed/anxious if alone for too long.
Users expressed willingness to pay for a device that could reliably track their pet and give them peace of mind at a price point described as "less than a Netflix subscription."
2
Defintion - Summary
Defined the redesigned feature set as a PM/UX hybrid: activity level relative scoring, multi-pet tracking in native app, and logical LED feedback while interacting with the tracker hardware.
Prioritized iOS and Android parity while managing scope against a fixed launch timeline with development team.
Opportunity
Many pet owners have a problem with their dogs running away. A pet tracker that notifies them of an escape and shows the pet's location is peace of mind that people would gladly pay for.
Expanding the product interface to operate on Android and iOS would further extend its functionality with a mobile UI, beyond just a computer browser.
Utilizing the hardware capabilities (accelerometer, gps, etc.) to extend to other functionality could improve the value proposition for potential customers.
Personas
Pet Owner (works away from home): Takes the dog outside in the morning, ensures the pet has food and water, and ensures the doors are properly closed before leaving. Has emotional attachment to their pet. Pet is likely chipped (microchip with owner info inserted under the pet's skin); may or may not have updated information on pet chip.
Wants/Needs
Wants peace of mind, knowing their pet is safely at home.
Wants ensure their pet is happy.
Curious about what their pet does during the day when returning home.
Needs to know immediately the pet's location if missing.
Needs to know when pet goes missing to have better chance of recorvering them safely.
Pain Points
Pets that are chipped may not have updated information associated with it, particularly if the pet owner has moved or received the pet from a previous owner.
Chips are only helpful if someone with a chip reader finds the pet; doesn't help locate a missing pet.
3
Design - Summary
Designed push notification flows for escape alerts and daily activity summaries and a consumer-friendly activity monitoring interface:
Activity scoring across platforms
Multi-pet profiles and tracking
GPS status and range of accuracy display
Ideation
I first worked on the requirements for the smartphone application, submitting them to the iOS and Android app stores for approval. I later updated the design to include activity tracking, in addition to designing all LED feedback interactions with the hardware.
Smartphone App:
I wrote the app specification for early versions of iOS and Android style guides, reviewing the initial designs, and updating them with multi-pet tracking and activity monitoring.
Activity Tracking:
Iterated on representational levels of activity, basing levels on accelerometer detection within a certain amount of time.
Given different levels of activity per pet breed, the activity number became a relative measure to view pet activity levels compared to its normal/average amount.
I designed the feature for both web and phone app.
Prototyping & Testing
Hardware:
LED feedback patterns and color selection were well understood by users.
Clear indication for when it was on/off, charging, fully charged, and undergoing an update.
Activity Tracking:
Users found it clear, which pet had which activity associated with them.
Levels of activity were clearly understood.
Some were unsure how to interpret tracking metric at first, then adjusted over time.
4
Delivery
Managed development sprint cycles, QA, and App Store submission for both iOS and Android. Coordinated between the hardware firmware team and app development team to ensure reliable data sync. Shipped both apps within the target launch window.
Result
After a few years after launching Tagg, a company called Whistle purchased the Tagg Pet Tracker business and operations, bringing all future development under their umbrella.
Lessons Learned
Talking to users was key to creating appealing product features. At the time, I wasn't a pet owner, so I didn't truly appreciate how important the problem statement was. As a dog dad now, I couldn't imagine what I'd do if my dog went missing. The emotional tie within this space is quite powerful.
Lesson 1: Simply relying upon feedback from others observing pet interactions is not as powerful as being present for the interactions themselves. While I focused on observing the testing, setting it up and taking notes hidden behind a computer screen or two-way mirror, I would have benefitted more from being more present, conducting the tests, which allows asking follow-up questions as needed during user interviews and testing.
Lesson 2: Having worked in both the Product Management and UX side of building a product strengthened my understanding for the overall process. From a requirements perspective, learning the problem space faced by users allowed me to build out needs and prioritize what needed addressing in the workflow. Switching to UX allowed me to fine tune the design based on my expertise in the area, knowing the required features were built and in place.
