Overview
Context
Felix is a comprehensive mobile app meant to guide the user in the day-to-day care of their feline companion.
The goal of Felix is to be the ultimate at-home survival guide for any cat owner, new or current. Felix will provide comprehensive information to cat owners on proper care regarding diet, health, behavior, and recreation.
Users will be able to track their pet’s health by creating a profile unique to each animal and staying informed through reminders of necessary medication, vet visits, or feeding times.
The Problem
When it came to developing a concept for a mobile app, the answer proved to be close to home. Even as a longtime cat owner I have still found myself surprised time and again by my cat's behavior, unexpected dangers, and what is needed for proper care.
With this in mind, I set out to create a guide for the average cat user which could provide comprehensive care and information for our feline friends.
Test Subject #1 (AKA "Bento")
Test Subjects #2 & #3 (AKA "Poppy" and "Peanut")
Project Goals
My overall goal with this project was to provide users with a more engaging, interactive, and convenient mobile experience for cat care.
I wanted to make owners feel confident and capable of handling any problem, from trivial to serious, and to make care for each feline friend feel personalized and backed up by experts..
Taking the previous analysis of customer needs into account, I broke the overall goal into multiple sub-goals
Sub-Goals
Educate New Owners
Felix must provide new cat owners with the best tools and knowledge to learn how best to take adjust to and take care of their new companions.
Support Existing Owners
Felix must provide features which allow existing cat owners to track and maintain proper care of their cats long-term.
Educate New Owners
Nearly all of the pet care apps I analyzed were devoted to connecting a pet's medical history with a vet or providing urgent medical information to the user.
There was a distinct lack of more general cat care information related to areas like behavior, diet, and recreation.
Additionally, many of these apps were designed in a functional manner, but I wanted Felix to be designed with the same fun and energy that comes from our feline companions.
Planning
Sketching and Wireframing
I created these sketches prior to flesh out the contents of each screen and serve as a guide for the wireframes below.
Branding
Color Styles
Logos
Design
Hi-Fi Prototype
Redesign
Reevaluating the Problem:
Felix is a project that is near and dear to my heart. Looking back on it, however, I felt that the original version fell short in achieving its full potential as a result of time constraints. I decided to revisit the project with the goal of developing a new version from the ground up.
I identified several areas with potential for improvement, those being:
Lack of Cohesion: The original Felix often felt disjointed across different sections of the app when it came to areas such as typography, colors, and iconography.
Lack of Consistency: The original Felix also lost visual appeal due to inconsistent spacing, margins, and brand identity.
Overcomplicated Branding: I felt the brand identity of Felix could be made simple, more cohesive, and of higher quality.
Clunky UX: The original version of Felix contained several instances of user interactions and an overall app flow which had potential for improvement.
Establishing a new goal:
Develop a comprehensive rebrand of the Felix mobile app with a focus on strong, consistent branding, a practical yet engaging user interface, and a charming and memorable user experience.
New UI Elements
Typography and Color Styles
I developed a new color palette for Felix which balances a modern, sophisticated look with fun and vibrant accent colors.
For fonts I elected to use Oswald and Montserrat as both maintained the more modern and clean appearance I was attempting for Felix's redesign.
More Interactive Elements
Felix 2.0
Wireframing
Hi-Fi Prototype
Outcomes
Fundguard's social media posts on platforms including Twitter and LInkedIn saw a 20% increase in engagement within the first two months of work, judged by numbers of likes and comments, while being seen by 10,000+ individuals.