The Product
BestHund is a website that provides free information on how to train dogs, specifically German Shepherds, including House Training, Obedience Training and Protection Training. What sets BestHund apart from competitors is that users will be able to access the website and get free training.
Core Concept
As a long time German Shepherd owner, I searched for years and found very few free online training programs that were meant specifically or German Shepherds; after doing extensive research, speaking with professional dog trainers, reading books, and watching videos, it became apparent most people either gave up or resorted to buying books, or paying for private lessons.
Authors are too focused on selling information for a profit via books and private lessons, breeders are too focused on selling dogs, and owners are too focused on their own day-to-day lives and want quick solutions.
My Role and Responsibilities
In this six month long project, I worked as a UX Designer and created this project by myself. My responsalibities included competitor research, user research, personas, wireframes, brand, typography, user testing and prototype.
Competitive Analysis
I researched websites that provide dog training. Profit is the predominant driving factor behind most websites. Therefore, existing websites focus on offering paid training services and selling German Shepherds. Free training information is usually at a very basic level.
German Dog Training Center
This website offers German Shepherd dogs for sale, paid training services and some training tips with a few videos. They are mainly focused on selling dogs with limited training programs for protection training.
Kraftwerk K9
This website provides information about German Shepherd training, puppy training, health and care. The website has a nice layout, easy to read with good photos. The website offers in-person training and it is very expensive.
Persona - Jill
Persona - Cindy
Logo Specification
Typography and Color Palette
Information Architecture
Wireframes
I created wireframes to describe how to start free training. The home page has information about training and how to start. The training page consist of Obedience, House and Protection training with photos, videos and detailed step-by-step instructions.
Early Concepts
I created a couple of versions of the website with different layouts, colors and fonts. I got feedback from my friends and colleagues on how to improve the interface and the User Experience.
User Testing
Usertesting.com was used to conduct the testing of the first prototype. The main goal of the testing was to make sure the website was intuitive and easy to navigate.
The feedback collected by the users were the following:
- Intuitiveness and expectations of the website
- Ability to use the website on various mobile devices
- Ability to use the website on various personal computer operating systems & Internet browsers
- Usefulness of the information provided about training German Shepherds for new dog owners
- Usefulness of the information provided about training German Shepherds for existing dog owners
Solution
A website focused on free training information that can benefit millions of German Shepherds and their owners. Responsive web pages will have broad device coverage to ensure the target market and audience remain engaged.
What sets BestHund apart from competitors is that users will be able to access the website and training content from smartphones, tablets and desktops.
Final Version
For the final version of the responsive website, I updated the website based on the feedback I received from the User Testing. I updated the color, fonts and grid layout to make it a better experience for the user.
Takeaways - What I learned
Although there are many websites that provide information about caring for dogs and purchasing them, there are very few websites that focus on training German Shepherds. As a lifelong dog owner, I personally experienced the shortage of high quality content available online for free. After months of research and analysis, I believe I was able to come up with compelling content for the Besthund website.