Taily — Pet Care App Design
Pet care app for owners of any animal — food safety checker, health diary, and vet chat with licensed professionals. Designed to reduce anxiety in moments of uncertainty: when you don't know if something is dangerous, and you need a clear answer fast.
Role: Solo project — UX Research, IA, all fidelity stages (lo-fi → mid-fi → hi-fi), visual design system | 2 weeks
Tools: Figma, FigJam, Lyssna, Google Forms, Photoshop, Slack, AI tools
Pet owners regularly face moments of uncertainty — about food safety, symptom severity, and when a vet visit is actually necessary. Existing solutions are fragmented: Google searches return conflicting results, vet apps feel clinical and cold, and no single tool combines daily care with emergency guidance.
The starting point: my dog ate a grape. I didn't know if it was dangerous. I spent an hour searching instead of acting.
55 pet owners surveyed across two languages. 7 in-depth interviews conducted in Berlin, Munich, and South Germany.
The data was direct: 67% don't know how serious a symptom is. 91% have searched for pet info online but found unreliable results. 47% struggle to reach a vet quickly. 44% prefer a real licensed vet over an AI chatbot. 82% would use an all-in-one app — but 42% named feature overload as their main concern.
That last finding shaped the entire product decision: three functions, nothing more.
Two personas emerged from the interviews — Emma, a first-time dog owner prone to over-Googling, and Alina, an experienced cat owner who trusts her instincts but wants documentation. Both needed clarity, not comprehensiveness.
Information architecture was built around a three-tab bottom navigation: Food Safety as the primary entry point, Health Diary, and Vet Chat. Mid-fi prototypes were tested with two participants — no navigation confusion was found. Both participants suggested additions: a contact card for their regular vet clinic in Settings, and a dedicated Symptoms & Allergies tab in the Diary. Both were added to the hi-fi version.
The visual system was built in parallel: Warm Sage palette — calm and natural without feeling clinical — custom felt-style icons, and Satoshi typeface following iOS HIG sizing standards.
Taily. When you're not sure — Taily helps.
Food Safety lets owners search any ingredient and get an immediate verdict: Safe, Caution, or Danger — with specific instructions and symptoms to watch. Danger results escalate to What To Do and direct access to VetChat.
Health Diary stores the pet's full timeline of events, uploaded documents, and individual symptoms and allergies — shareable as a profile link with vets, family, or travel authorities.
Vet Chat connects owners with real licensed veterinarians for case-by-case consultations.
Settings includes the owner's regular vet clinic contact and notification reminders for vaccinations and medications.
The 42% feature overload finding was the most important constraint in the project. It forced a decision early: scope discipline over completeness. Every feature request that came up during research — sitter search, trainer chat, social feed — was documented for a future roadmap, not added to the MVP.
The usability testing result was unexpected: zero confusion points. Participants navigated the mid-fi prototype without hesitation. The value of the test wasn't in finding breakage — it was in the two feature suggestions that came from real use, both of which genuinely improved the product.
The "Your Vet" card in Settings is a small detail that reflects a larger principle: the app doesn't try to replace the vet relationship. It supports it.
