Overview
Paws A Minnit, in a nutshell, has been conceptualized as a one-stop destination for pet-lovers, where users can watch videos of their favourite animal influencers, find helpful columns on raising furry (or maybe not) friends, shop for animal products, or adopt pets if so inclined.
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I first hit upon the idea of creating Paws A Minnit on a lazy Saturday afternoon, while I was sifting through my Instagram feed for funny pet videos. Animals are adorable, I mused, and it couldn't be that I was the only one who thought so. While the world's been waiting for the next Game of Thrones spin-off, there has come into being an entire counterculture of viewers hooked to pet videos. These people number not in ones or twos, but in multitudes, and they follow their favourite animal stars on social media like one would a movie star. For instance, Jiff the Pomeranian had over 9.5 million followers on Instagram as of December 2021. And so, it begged asking, why do these celebrity beasts have to exist on common-purpose social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram or TikTok when they could have a platform of their own?
Research & Planning
Just as no solid structure can be set up before digging a trench first, I believed it important to figure out certain whats, hows, and whys before getting down to creating the Paws A Minnit website. To achieve that purpose, the first course of action lay in identifying our target audience and what they may expect from it.
User Interviews
It would obviously have been deeply amiss to create a website without checking what users may expect from it. Taking cognizance of this view, I interviewed a set of eight people — two students, four young professionals, and two middle-aged individuals — from different walks of life but united in their fondness for animals. While some of them had actually posted videos of their furry friends on social media websites, others would frequent such platforms to watch pet videos.
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Here are the questions I asked, an overview of the feedback I received, and the conclusions for the website that I drew therefrom.
What I learnt: The primary issue of users with these media sharing websites turned out to be the lack of attention their videos receive due to the overwhelming competition they face. With several well-established handles already dominating these platforms, new users find their videos disappearing without a trace.
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Action considered: Situate a section for latest videos atop the website homepage’s right sidebar, and rotate new uploads on an hourly basis through the day for maximum visibility. Heighten visibility in search results through effective implementation of SEO/metadata techniques.
What I learnt: Facebook Marketplace turned out to be the most favoured, followed by eBay and Kijiji. This gave me a fair idea of the kind of user experience people prefer when it comes to browing a marketing website.
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Action considered: Identify what Facebook Marketplace does right, and consider drawing inspiration for Paws A Minnit’s shopping/adoption sections. The idea was not to replicate the design, but to learn and improve upon it.
What I learnt: People hate registering with websites, even through Google or Facebook, unless absolutely necessary. That said, lack of personal information may affect aspects such as targeted advertising, which is required to support non-commercial websites such as this. Also, user registration would provide an extra layer of security on Paws Marketplace.
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Action considered: Users would be allowed to view videos and read articles on Paws A Minnit, without restrictions, whether they arrive through the original link or the Google search results page. But they will need to register to follow video posters, comment on content, post videos and articles online, or conduct transactions through Paws Marketplace/Adopt a Pet.
Main Components
On the basis of all the user-related information gathered so far, the following were planned as the main components of the website.
Homepage
This is where the website URL would bring the user. It would contain the best bits of everything the platform has to offer, from most-watched videos to articles on rearing pets and a prominent 'Superstar Pet of the Week' section. More importantly, it would have a dedicated new video upload section that retains the latest clip posted by a user for at least 30 minutes, so it gets adequate time for viewer recognition before being moved to a category page.
Category Pages
There would be three such pages, namely Dogs, Cats, and Others. The category pages would have both video and textual content pertaining to each kind of pet.
Paws Marketplace
Here's where one would go to look for products being sold or given away across each category. While it retains the format of Facebook Marketplace to some extent, clicking on a product opens it in a pop-out window instead of taking the user to a separate page altogether, while greying out those in the background. This would be done to ensure that while the user gets to focus on the product at hand, they wouldn't lose sight of everything else on offer. The Paws Marketplace page will also have a link to upload products one may want to sell or donate.
Adopt A Pet
Similar to Paws Marketplace, only advertising pets for adoption.
Article page
I envisioned this as a simple one, similar to what one would see on news websites. The articles may range from tips on bringing up a pet to emotionally charged stories that are heartening to read. Users will able to make observations and interact with each other through the comment box.
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The idea was to create a unique product, and yet not a product so unique that it would alienate users. I drew inspiration from ideas that worked in other platforms, and discarded or improved on those that didn't. The video player, for instance, could be a minimalistic version of YouTube, and the product and pet adoption pages could be more Facebook Marketplace.
User Personas
The user interviews also helped create fictional representations of what the actual users may look like. These are meant to assist in figuring out the various reasons for which people access the website, so I can focus my energies on improving the experience for real people.
The Video Sharer
The Video Watcher
The Businessperson
Laying the Groundwork
An idea can be concretized only when put down on paper. While I had an inkling of what I wanted to make, I couldn’t go forward without knowing what it should shape up as, and the void it means to fill on the world wide web. And the best way to do that was to define its primary objectives, chart out my course of action, tick some boxes that needed ticking off, and most importantly, consult the very people who I was going to all this effort for. Potential users.
Website Objectives
The intention was to create the ultimate platform for animal enthusiasts to watch and post user-created videos, donate or sell related products in a trust-inspiring environment, and share tips with new pet owners through articles. So I got down to jotting possible objectives of the planned website, and these were the ones I eventually zeroed in on:
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Facilitate viewing and upload of videos into three clearly demarcated categories of dogs, cats, and other animals, with provisions to like content, follow pet influencers, and post comments.
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Provide users with an opportunity to enter contests such as Pet of The Week. Winners get free pet supplies from sponsors, besides being featured prominently on the home page for a duration of seven days.
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Enable donation or sale of pet products on a trading platform modelled on Facebook Marketplace, with provisions for users to chat with ad posters and rate them.
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Enable adoption of pets, with a provision for users to chat with ad posters and rate them.
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Allow users to write and upload articles on pets across the dog, cat, and other animals categories. These articles would be vetted for facts, language, and accuracy before publication. The articles can be rated and commented on.
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Create a community of pet enthusiasts, allowing them to interact, assist, and share tips on raising domesticated animals.
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The last objective was of particular importance because a website such as this can truly succeed only if users start regarding themselves as part of an online community. This could be ensured by facilitating channels for communication and providing them with enough opportunities to interact both with the content as well as among themselves.
Business Goals
No platform, en ligne or off it, is sustainable in the long term unless it establishes itself well enough to keep the wheels turning. It was, therefore, important to chart out a few key objectives aimed at doing just that. They were:
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Promote pet owning and watching pet videos with an emphasis on Paws A Minnit.
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Become the go-to online destination for watching pet videos, buying pet-related goods, and reading pet-related stories.
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Create brand loyalty through a combination of great service and active user involvement.
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Attract advertisers by becoming a known entity among pet enthusiasts.
The Competition
This, of course, had to be the very platforms that Paws A Minnit would have to draw some design inspiration from. But while their contribution to the making of Paws A Minnit is acknowledged, it is also essential to understand that once out, these very platforms would be the ones competing with the website. Here's a list of likely competitors, with pros and cons of each listed.
Hurdles to Overcome
Before stepping into the arena, it was important to envision likely challenges that a website like Paws A Minnit may face. After thorough contemplation and consultation with veterans in the field, narrowed them down to four.
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Many of the current celebrity pets are already on well established Internet platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. Making them switch to Paws A Minnit could be a challenge when the website is still in a fledgling stage.
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If Paws A Minnit does manage to click with its target audience at the very start, it will need the infrastructural capability required to host thousands of videos without server issues.
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Although Paws A Minnit does not take responsibility for any commercial transaction occurring between people who trade on the platform, it will need to create a system capable of ensuring that its Paws Marketplace and Adopt A Pet platforms do not fall prey to anti-social elements out to target unsuspecting users.
Designing the Product
So, now I had an idea of What I was making, Who I was making it for, and Why, but the question of How still loomed perilously over my head. An effective way to answer that was by charting a tentative course of action on paper, using sitemaps, user journeys, and storyboards.
Sitemap
As a way to figure how all the website would come together in its entirety, I designed a sitemap that displayed hierarchically how its composite elements would be prioritized, linked, and labeled.
Storyboards & User Flows
The sitemap had been put on paper (or, more accurately, a Figma frame), and I had a better understanding of how the website would look skeletally. However, there was still the matter of charting out how the user would actually navigate it while attempting to accomplish their goals. So, I set down to drawing out storyboards of the user carrying out primary tasks on the website, and the user flows that transpire as a consequence.
Scenario 1: Pet video enthusiast watches a funny clip
This would be the most basic purpose served by Paws A Minnit, and yet its most important. The user flow charts out the steps a person has to take to access a streaming video on YouTube video, while the storyboard sheds some light on the circumstances surrounding their decision.
The user flow arising from this scenario would look like this.
Scenario 2: Pet owner uploads funny video of their cat
There can’t be a lot of pet videos to watch if there aren’t any being uploaded, which is why this is an especially important aspect of Paws A Minnit.
​The user flow for this scenario would go this way.
Scenario 3: Posting a product ad on Paws Marketplace
Paws A Minnit is all about community building, and giving away (or selling) used products to those with greater need is a nice way of doing that. This is one scenario in which a user would want to do that.
And the user flow…
Early Renditions
​It was now time to design the user interface, and I couldn't do it without having a rough sketch in hand. The initial renditions were crude, but they helped me better understand the placement of images, text, and links. This phase took some doing, with elements being moved across the pages continually until I had a bunch of skeletal structures that seemed to work.
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These are some of the factors kept in mind while creating the ‘Homepage’ and ‘Paws Marketplace’ wireframes.
Homepage
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As the idea behind Paws A Minnit is to attract contributions, I decided to reserve a large section of the page—right under the main video showcase—for the ‘Superstar of the Week’, featuring the overall winner for that period of time.
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The right sidebar would have three sections, namely ‘Latest Video’, ‘Most Watched’, and ‘Favourites’.
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The 'Latest Video' section would retain the most recently posted video at least for half an hour, so as to accord it enough exposure before it's finally replaced.
Paws Marketplace
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This page showcases the most viewed ads in the categories of Dogs, Cats, and Other Animals. Each category has a ‘View all’ link that lead to a page displaying all the products on offer therein.
Modifications
After some consideration, I decided that changes needed to be made. While some of it involved the website’s design, a few concerned the proper positioning and promotion of elements crucial to advancing the website’s business interests.
Homepage
The right sidebar on the Homepage originally had the category ‘Latest Video’ on top, ‘My Favourites’ second, and ‘Most Watched’ at the bottom.
Paws Marketplace & Adopt a Friend
Both these pages orginally had four videos in each category, bringing the number of videos featured to twelve. Which, I later realized, was a little too many.
UI Styleguide
The website was ready in black and white, and it was time to flesh everything out. That involved finalizing the colours, fonts, and UI elements.
Colour Palette
Having arrived at a basic understanding of the features and structure of the Paws A Minnit website, I was faced with the task of figuring out the colours and effects it required to stand out from the crowd. Pets evoke a range of feelings within us, most significantly homeliness, warmth, and togetherness. The colours that best represented all these qualities, it was concluded, were shades of brown (imagine a cozy, wood cottage), a happy orange (a sunny spring day, maybe?), and turquoise for that quintessentially classic feel.
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The primary spectrum of colours, extending from dark brown to light yellow ochre, looked thus.
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And here's the secondary spectrum, consisting mainly of turquoise shades.
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And that was it for colour. When it came to Paws A Minnit, less was more.
Typography
This spelt minimalistic too. The font mostly used for main headlines, I decided, should be Rubik in an extra-bold avatar. This was complemented with Karla for the body and pop-up notifications in various avatars of Extralite, Light, Regular, Medium, Bold, and Extrabold.
Other fonts used on the website, more sparingly though, are Roboto and Ubuntu.
The Final Product
The finishing touches had been applied, and the final product was ready. Here's what it looked like.
The Homepage
The big daddy of all pages on the Paws A Minnit website. It contains snippets of the website's most popular offerings, and a big chunk of real estate is allocated for the Pet Superstar of the Week section. The Paws A Minnit logo on the header is generally the quickest way for the user to return to the homepage from any corner of the website.
Category Pages
The three links on the global navigation bar (namely, Dogs, Cats, and Others) lead to the category pages. Each category page offers the most popular articles and videos on offer, with options to view more.
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Marketplace
The ‘Paws Marketplace’ link on the courtesy navigation bar leads here. This features the most popular items for sale or donation on the website, categorized in accordance with dogs/cats/others. The ‘Post An Ad’ link at the bottom right takes the user to the ‘Upload Ad’ page.
Note: The ‘Adopt A Friend’ page is also built on the same template.
Video Player Page
This page houses the video player. The player is fairly simple to navigate, with play, next, previous, settings and fullscreen options. The comments button at the centre opens up the comments page, taking up the space occupied by video recommendations in the ‘You May Also Like..’ section.
Article Page
The article page is fairly simple, with space for a headline, byline, dateline, bodytext, and a ‘Read Also’ section. A default line at the end of the article provides users with an email address to send their write-ups to. Three links under the article provide options to ‘return home’, go to ‘articles listings’ and ‘next story’. The button at the bottom brings up comments made by users.
Pet Superstar of the Week
This page features the winning pet gallery, with options to jump to specific images or videos through the sidebar, or launch a slideshow if so desired. The slideshow can be paused anytime by clicking on the same button.
Testing
I now had some pages ready and a working prototype too (which I will unveil later), so I carried out some usability testing on the very group of eight people I had earlier interviewed. To achieve this, I presented them with a link of the website prototype along with seven simple tasks to achieve.
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Find a video of a puppy bullying a bigger dog on the ‘Dogs’ category page.
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Post an advertisement on Paws Marketplace.
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Post an advertisement on Adopt A Friend.
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Try buying a Halloween costume for your cat on Paws Marketplace.
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Try to find an article on ball python upkeep on Paws Homepage.
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View comments on the video of a cat shutting the door on a dog’s face
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Enable slideshow mode on the ‘Pet Superstar of the Week’ gallery
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While seven of the eight-member group achieved all the objectives without issue, one faced some difficulty in posting advertisements on Paws Marketplace and Adopt A Friend (she did not notice the 'Post an Ad' button immediately). However, she was able to complete the task after watching the Paws A Minnit video provided below.
Showcase
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Paws for a Video?
While I do have an interactive prototype of my final Paws website design ready, I believed it important to create a short video showcasing all its features. So, here it is!
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Interactive Prototype
A working model of my website design. Much of it should function like an actual website, but do accept my sincerest apologies for the occasional stray link that leads nowhere.
Conclusion
Working on the Paws A Minnit case study provided me with the opportunity to put into practice skills I had learnt about only in theory, especially those related to UX research and testing. From a technical standpoint, creating Paws A Minnit allowed me to further hone my expertise in Figma and Photoshop.
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Would I do anything differently if I had to do Paws A Minnit all over again? I would probably seek user feedback more frequently, rather than just the research and testing phases. I believe that no end product is ever perfect, and with some extra inputs, I would be able to come up with a website that's even better in terms of design, value, and user-friendliness.