UX/UI Case Study: Mobile Geofencing App Design Concept

Introduction

Overview | The ideal story | The real challenge | The real model — causes | The real model — contexts | Role &process | Design methodologies

Overview

I started the SmartPet project during UserFocus’s training on usability, with a goal to get practical with the UX process and research (doing proper interviews and putting paper prototypes in front of users).

Then, with IDF Bootcamp I wanted to redo SmartPet as a more realistic study, where I would go beyond what the competition is currently doing. I wanted to understand and solve the pain points that users of GPS tracking apps have — and more generally, to understand and solve geofencing apps issues. In fewer words, to design what happens when things go wrong.

The ideal story

1. You create a fence
2. If your pet escapes the fence, the app warns you instantly with an alarm.
3. Following the app directions, you go after your pet and find it.
4. Everything is great again!

…But…

This is only the ideal (official) version of the story — the one all competitors are advertising. In reality — as most product reviews show — all GPS tracking devices for pets have significant accuracy errors, rendering these simple tasks “useless”.

The real story

1. You create a fence
2. Because of accuracy problems, the app tells you the pet has escaped, but the pet is actually near you.
3. The app will give you directions to your “lost”…