Role
UX Design Intern
Duration
10 weeks
Tools
Figma, Jira, Miro
Team
Scenthound Technology
Scenthound S.C.E.N.T Check App
May 2023
Seamlessly track and communicate dog hygiene information between customers, front desk, and technicians for the appointment process🐶
Scenthound is a company with a mission to provide routine hygiene and wellness care so dogs live longer, happier lives.
During the summer before my 4th year of college, I joined the Scenthound Technology team as a full-time UX Design Intern.
Context
Problem
Overview
Scenthound provides accessible, routine wellness and hygiene care so dogs live longer, happier lives. On the Technology Team, we developed an updated enterprise web app for rollout to all corporate Scenthound locations. My project (4 weeks) was to design a library of appointment states to track and communicate dog S.C.E.N.T. check progress between customers, front desk, and technicians.
My Role
As the sole design intern, I collaborated with a team UX designer and product manager for weekly design critiques, as well as software engineers for feedback to identify any limitations or restrictions and proposed solutions to issues. I also had the opportunity to work with the Development Team and Marketing Team to discuss training and branding materials for the project.
🌟 The Challenge: How can we easily communicate appointment states for all users involved?
The Scenter web app is designed to increase accuracy, efficiency, and speed. Technicians work with multiple dogs daily and the Scenter app can provide a more streamlined process for tracking health and hygiene information.
S.C.E.N.T. Check app and existing appointment documentation
Design Process
Key Information
DESIGN
DESIGN
Appointment States
DESIGN
Visibility
DESIGN
Dashboard
Outcome
Takeaways
Research
My first step was to understand appointment flows by synthesizing current appointment use cases and beta-tests while identifying new edge cases for any disruptions during appointments.
Our team conducted interviews with Scenthound technicians as beta testers to learn more about how they used the existing S.C.E.N.T. check app system. They revealed that the existing app did not have enough capabilities to accurately communicate the state of appointments and it became an inefficient process to physically inform the front desk throughout the day.
“When dogs are not behaving, their appointment get put on hold while I go and service other dogs”
-Brittney (Dog bather)
“Sometimes, I need more time to go back and finish the S.C.E.N.T Check even after the service is completed.”
-Katie (Grooming technician)
Appointment flow - customer, front desk, and technician users
I collected the information that was necessary for each user throughout the appointment process by gathering beta test notes and viewing past appointments. Most appointments “followed the happy path”, so I explored options of displaying unique scenarios in my final designs.
Use Cases
While understanding appointment flows between multiple users, the app needed to accurately display the stage of appointments in progress. The following were a few edge cases that needed to be accounted for:
Trial visits
Incomplete S.C.E.N.T. checks
Missing waivers
The problem with the original app was that there were no indicators to easily recognize and differentiate dogs in the system. With each appointment being unique to the client, I had to think about the best way to present appointment progress states, flow of services, and any callouts for attention items.
Sticking to a card format for each client, the challenge was finding a balance between essential and non-essential items that needed to be visible before the start of an appointment. What information did employees need? How can users view information without getting overwhelmed? Is there information that can be viewed after clicking and starting the appointment?
Multiple users, including the front desk and technicians, rely on a dashboard throughout the appointment process. In design explorations, I thought about the information that needed to be displayed for each user and how it would fit in a larger dashboard context for different users.
Final Appointment Dashboard for Enterprise Workflows
Franchise Rollout
In the final weeks of my internship, our developments of the new Scenter app was launched to 5 corporate locations in the Jupiter, FL area with beta testing beginning at non-corporate locations, awaiting a full rollout.
Design Library System Components
I designed my project to scale it as reusable components for the Design Library System for the Scenthound Technology Team to adopt in future solutions. I detailed development notes and handed-off an organized final Figma file to allow the engineer to jump in.
Reflection
Design solutions have tradeoffs. Sometimes the business interests conflict with user needs, and what designers need to do is to find a “sweet spot” where both needs are balanced.
Designing a feature is challenging. Designers not only need to design the feature itself but also need to consider where the feature fits in the existing product.
Design is not an assignment. There are really no correct answers or grades for design work. All that matters is how much users are benefitting from the design.
Feedback is important. To succeed, designers need feedback from users, stakeholders, and peers. They should carry the feedback through the design journey and constantly iterate based on it.
During my internship, I also partnered with the COO, in coordination with the Dev Ops Team, to design and launch an informational page on the website for the new Flea & Tick Program that was pushed to 5 Scenthound locations.
Currently, I am still designing for Scenthound, working on building out an ordering portal for Scenter locations to order equipment and products for back-of-house needs and retail. My time at Scenthound has allowed me to wear multiple hats and touch new aspects of the business by working across teams with multiple levels of management. Continuing to develop my design skills and apply them to specific business needs, I look forward to seeing my projects through and continuously iterate.