Observations & Interviews

NOTE : Names of people interviewed have been changed to preserve anonymity.

1.

How long have you had a dog?	<2
How old is your dog?	5-7
How big is your dog?	medium
How often do you exercise your dog?	2 times a day
What kind of outdoor activities do you involve your dog in?	Walking in the park, hiking, playing fetch
How often does your dog socialize?	At least once a day
What concerns do you have while letting your dog socialize with other dogs?	Worried about aggressive dogs
What problems do you face while involving your dog in out door activities?	"We meet other dogs and dog-owners when we go to the park but often need to coordinate with them to make sure we meet."
Any ideas for applications that might help improve your/your dog lifestyle?	"Access to dog relevant information (for e.g. dog friendly places to visit such as hiking trails, outdoor restaurants, etc.), Finding dog-owners in the neighborhood and organizing activities with them would be great too."

Lessons learned

Dog owners are probably willing to have his/her dog socialize
Dog owners faced problem of coordination with other dog owners
Dog owners might expect a platform that collects info about dogs and their owners

2.

How long have you had a dog?	>5
How old is your dog?	>7
How big is your dog?	medium
How often do you exercise your dog?	everyday
What kind of outdoor activities do you involve your dog in?	Everyday the dogs are let out to play and run in the backyard. In the summer there is an underground pool that the dogs enjoy swimming in. Usually 4-5 times a week they dogs are taken down to a meadow down the street where they can run and play. A few times a year the dogs are taken on hunting trips as well.
How often does your dog socialize?	Well, we have two dogs, so they socialized everyday.
What concerns do you have while letting your dog socialize with other dogs?	The friendliness and cleanliness of other dogs
What problems do you face while involving your dog in out door activities?	n/a
Any ideas for applications that might help improve your/your dog lifestyle?	Doggie play groups? There are kid play groups, so why not? This actually could be a great idea. It could also be a way for people to meet other people who love dogs. Sort of like a social media app for humans and pets

Lessons learned

Our user interface can be not only for pets group fun, but also for human social network.
People who have more than one dog may not need our UI as much as others who only have one dog.
Dog owners care much about other dogs' friendliness and cleanliness

3.

How long have you had a dog?	<2
How old is your dog?	3-4
How big is your dog?	Small
How often do you exercise your dog?	everyday, unless someday when I am too busy
What kind of outdoor activities do you involve your dog in?	Playing in the garden is the most frequent activities. I have him get out to the park about 2 times a week.
How often does your dog socialize?	Not often. The only opportunity is when we meet someone in the park who also have his dog playing nearby
What concerns do you have while letting your dog socialize with other dogs?	aggressive, unclean, too big (my dog is relatively small)
What problems do you face while involving your dog in out door activities?	do not know info about other dogs.
Any ideas for applications that might help improve your/your dog lifestyle?	1. find dog-owners 2. find a good place for dog activity 3. check info about the dogs 4. schedule dog social activities

Lessons learned

People who owns a small are less willing to let his dog socialize.
Without a nice UI, the number of a dog's social activity depends on whether the owner's neighbors have dogs.
Dog owners think much about other dogs' friendliness when considering do dog social activity.

User Classes

Dog Owners

As what we observed and interviews, dog owners strongly needs a platform to communicate with other dog owners
Dog owners care much about other dogs' friendliness and cleanliness, which can be collected and shown in our User Interface

People who are interested in dogs

Many people want to own a dog, but they do not have any experience about it. The best way is to communicate with some experienced dog owners.
For people who like dogs, they would be able to know and attend the dog social activities that publicized in our User Interface