Wristband Design GA

Collar Design GA

Final Video

Packaging

Service Blueprint

Studio Photos

App Features

User Testing 2

User Testing

Making the collars

The Collars are made from silicon and the colours represent the materials that would be used in actual manufacturing.

Making the video, My companions for this video

Promo Video

This is the promo video I created for Instagram as a very brief insight to the app

Trophy examples

Here are some of my trophy concepts

Gamification Examples

Exploring Gamification in popular apps

Snapchat:  -Trophy System
                  -Holiday Announcements
                  - Customisables

Fitness Apps:  -Goals
                        -Congratulations

Imgur: -Points system
            -Social Approval

Candy Crush: -Colourful
                       -Harder Levels
                       -Moving up map / Board

Nintendogs: -Care for pet
                     -Toys

Games in general: -Extra Players
                              -Customisable
                              -More Levels
                              -X.P. points
                              -Campaign
                              -Play with friends
                              -Online Co-op
                              -Colorful
                              -Simple yet Hard
                              -Restrictions/ Unlockables
                              -Use of characters                      

wireframe

Gamification

Further research has led me to understand what makes people return to games and how to encourage people to keep going. This will be extremely helpful when designing my own app.     Gamification is the concept of applying game mechanics and game design techniques to engage and motivate people to achieve their goals. 

Peoples natural desire for Competition, Achievement, Status, Altruism and Community Collaboration. 5 Most common mechanics are Points, Badges, Levels, Leaderboards and Challenges

Goal

In 2014, 53% of all dogs were considered obese. There are over 42 million dogs in the world meaning over 21 million dogs are obese. This is an issue that needs to be addressed. 

Companion is a fitness brand that aims to eliminate obesity in dogs by encouraging fitness in both owner and pet. Using a smart wristband and smart collar combined with a fitness app, companion aims to promote healthy lifestyles for dogs and their owners everywhere.

Logo and Brand exploration

During the concept phase i had a number of different ideas that i felt were strong enough to bring forward, yet i needed a way to tie them together. This is when i decided to brand the concept. Through many different iterations i came to the following designs. I want the logo to encompass the symbiosis that this project will show between man and beast.

Inspirations and Competitors

Mood Board

Through research i have learned and understand what details are necessary for a fitness app to ave. Heart rate , steps counted and calories burned as well as how they should be displayed. Through research i also learned that there are no smart devices when it comes to fitness in pets. 

Down to one

With the 3 concepts to be narrowed down, the design process rolled on. I felt there was a lot of interesting features i touched on within the initial three concepts that i didn't want to lose so i had to put a lot of thought into keeping them. The main aim for this project is to keep the dog healthy and finding the best way to do that is my goal. With this in mind i am going forward with the smart collar/ wristband and app combination. I chose these because i feel people only give when they get and by encouraging them to stay healthy, with their dog, then in turn the dog will also stay healthy.

3 Concepts

The three concepts that i decided on are as follows:

1) Smart Collar and Wrisband


The smart collar and wristband work like a fit bit and keeps both parties healthy.

2) Walk My Dog app.


An app designed for the elderly or disabled to call someone to walk their dog.

3) A fitness app.


A fitness app that tracts the user and their dog.

Obesity In Dogs Pt.2

So now that i face the problem of obese dogs, i must look at the causes of obesity and find out who and where are the highest number of at risk cases. From this information i will then develop 3 concepts to explore different routes to take. The thing i want to take through is that a close family member is overweight and so are her two dogs. Her last dog died of heart problems directly related to the food she fed him. This is not fair on the dog but yet without the dogs she would be lonely. I aim to find a balance for both owners and dogs to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Obesity in Dogs

Following the interview with Laura Cooke i decided to look a little more into obesity and what that meant for dogs. Now Laura gave her opinion that with this modern fitness craze people are more focused on personal fitness that they don't bring their dogs on long runs and such. I feel  the same and decided to abandon the autism side and now focus on obese dogs and their owners.

Laura Cooke Interview

Laura Cooke is a veterinary student at UCD who was kind enough to give a very detailed interview. A transcript can be found below but the main points were:

1) Feed twice daily
2)Walk small dogs 25-30 mins
3) Large dogs 60mins
4)2014 53% of dogs were classed as obease
5)A target 1-2% weight loss a week




Full Interview:

Dog Project

1. Categories of dog?

2 different ways to categorise dog breeds. First way is through the Kennel Club classification. Its more specific than the general day to day way we categorise dogs. Kennel club classification is split into groups based on what the breed was originally used for.  They are as follows:

Gundog-Trained to hunt game. Example: Retrivers, spaniels, pointers, setters.

Hound-Used for hunting by scent/sight. Example: Whippet, greyhound

Pastoral-Herding dogs. Example: Collie (Border, Rough), Samoyeds.

Terrier-Hunting vermin. Example: Fox terrier, Airedale, Bedlington

Toy-Companions/lap dogs. Example: King Charles, maltese, bichon fries

Utility-Miscellaneous breeds, very varied and non-specific. Example: Dalmation, poodle, chow chow.

Working-Search and rescue, guard dogs. Example: St. Bernard, Newfoundland.  

Many dogs are interchangeable between groups. Example: Shih Tzu technically falls under utility in KC classification but could be seen as a toy breed due to size/disposition.

Second more general way of classifying dogs is by their size. 4 caterogies.

Small- 2-10kg-Chihauhah, king Charles, maltese

Medium- 10-15kg- Cocker spaniel

Large- 15-50kg- Labrador

Giant- 50kg+ Great Dane, Leonberger, Newfoundland

Less specific but more commonly used because it’s straight forward. Important in practice because weight is used all the time to determine amounts of medication required.

2. How often should you feed?

Twice daily is the rule of thumb. Puppies should be fed little and often so 3-4 times daily is suitable for young pups up to about 6 months old.

3. How often should you walk dogs?

Generally size/breed/age health status dependent. Active breeds like huskys, akitas. Labradors should be walked for at least 1 hour daily. Sometimes more if extremely active. Smaller less active breeds, 25-30 minutes would suffice. That being said if a large active breed such as a lab is old or suffering any musculoskeletal abnormalities (Arthritis) then obviously the time should be adjusted to suit the dog’s needs. On the other hand, a small dog such as a jack Russell may be very active and able to walk for an hour without tiring. It’s difficult to give a straight answer because there is so many variables but the rule of thumb says 60 mins/day.

4. What’s the most common health problem with dogs?

Again a lot of the time it comes down to the breed. Labradors are notorious for developing arthritis in later life. King Charles are famous for dodgy hearts and murmurs especially mitral valve regurgitation. Boxers and other dogs with brachycephalic skulls (king Charles, English bull dogs) are known for developing breathing issues associated with an elongated soft palette and stenotic nares (narrow nostril “holes”), called brachycephalic airway syndrome. Most commonly in practice it’s musculoskeletal issues (arthritis, luxations, breaks/fractures), gastrointestinal upsets (eating socks, breaking into a press full of food etc), cardiovascular (murmurs, disease), endocrine (diabetes mellitus), oncological issues (prostate/testicular neoplasia in unneutered males and mammary neoplasia in unneutered females). Again it’s very hard to pin down 1 specific thing, they’re the ones I’ve seen the most anyway in practice.

5. Is obesity a major problem?

In recent years it has become a major issue. In 2014 53% of dogs were classified as overweight or obese.  Obesity predisposes dogs to a whole load of medical issues and because of this should be treated as a form of malnutrition. Diabetes mellitus, pancreatitis, osteoarthritis, skeletal and respiratory difficulties such as tracheal collapse. These are some of the conditions that can be caused or worsened by obesity. A study shows that on average obese pets live 2 years less than dogs of desired weight.  

6. Other Info

There are special obesity diets available for overweight dogs, eg Royal Canin obesity. The food reacts with the stomach acid so it “inflates” in the stomach in the hope that the dog will feel more full and eat less. They also provide all the nutrients required along with fewer calories. It is better to use these instead of just feeding a dog less of it normal food.

Carrots, apples and chicken are a good substitute for standard dog treats that are high in fat and sugar.

There are special bowls that you can buy that make it difficult for the dog to eat, they are forced to eat more slowly. The idea is that the message of fullness will ne sent to the brain before the dog gorges itself.

Neutered dogs should be fed 10% less food than they were fed before neutering. The reproductive organs are highly metabolically active and use a lot of energy to produce hormones, gonads etc.

For a dog to lose weight it is recommended that you feed the dog based on its goal weight. Example, a dog weighing 15kg needs to lose 5 kg, therefore you feed it like it already weighs 10kg.

A target weight loss of 1-2% per week is ideal.

Degree over obesity/malnutrition is determined by its body condition score. The table comes up on google images. The ideal for any dog breed is 3- although the “3” will obviously be different depending on the breed.

More forms of exercise than just walking. Hydrotherapy is great for older, overweight dogs that might also be suffering from arthritis.

Many practices run free weight clinics for overweight pets.

A dog being walked off the lead may cover almost double the distance than when on the lead.

Some breeds are more predisposed to overeating than others. Small lap dogs such as bichons are known to be picky whereas Labradors will basically eat all day everyday. It is thought that they lack the capacity to ever feel full.

3 types of food: Dry (3-11% moisture, 89-97% dry matter), Semi-moist (25-35% moisture, 65-75% dry matter), Moist (60-87%+ moisture, 13-40% dry matter).

Basal metabolic rate (BMR) - amount of energy expended by the animal at rest in a thermoneutral environment.

Resting metabolic rate (RER)- amount of energy required to maintain homeostasis (internal environment remains at a constant such as body temperature and ph) while at rest in calm, thermoneutral environment. Calculated with formula: RER=70 X (bodyweight in kg)0.75

Maintenance energy requirement (MER)- Energy requirement of moderately active adult in thermoneutral environment. Includes energy for digestion, absorption and spontaneous exercise.

Hope this helps, anything else you need don’t be afraid to give me a shout ☺

Research Presentation

During the research phase of this project, i looked into autism and the needs of autistic children and wanted to understand how pets were beneficial to these people. What i found was that autism affects 1 in 68 children and this number is growing. It is one of the fastest growing disorders in the U.S. and can cost a family an additional $60,000 a year on average. People with autism can find comfort in pets but where i found the problem is maintaining the safety and health of the animal. It can be hard enough catering for pets such as large dogs but when looking after a child with autism these two tasks combined are almost impossible.

My Next step is to find out what an average house dog gets up to during the day.

Ted Talk with Temple Grandin

A really great watch.

When your feeling down

Article from the Journal.ie

"

DOGS HAVE THE ability to combine information from a number of senses to recognise human emotion.

That ability has never been seen outside of humans.

Researchers have now shown that dogs can form abstract mental representations of positive and negative emotional states, and are not simply displaying learned behaviours when responding to the expressions of people and other dogs.

The findings from a team of animal behaviour experts and psychologists the University of Lincoln, UK, and University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, have been published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.

The researchers presented 17 domestic dogs with pairings of images and sounds conveying different combinations of positive (happy or playful) and negative (angry or aggressive) emotional expressions in humans and dogs.

The team found the dogs spent significantly longer looking at the facial expressions which matched the emotional state of the vocalisation, for both human and canine subjects.

Dr Kun Guo, from the University of Lincoln’s School of Psychology says that the study shows that dogs can recognise emotions, not just facial expressions.

Our study shows that dogs have the ability to integrate two different sources of sensory information into a coherent perception of emotion in both humans and dogs. To do so requires a system of internal categorisation of emotional states.

“This cognitive ability has until now only been evidenced in primates and the capacity to do this across species only seen in humans.”"

Source

Dogs On The Inside

Prison Life

This is a documentary about introducing stray dogs that were kept in the pound to prison inmates. It was a very interesting watch as you can really see both the inmate and the pet develop. They both develop trust in each other and build confidence. It is also said that the inmates learn patience while they give the pet a sense of security.

What I feel this documentary proves is that a dog shows unconditional love. No matter who you are.

Temple Grandin

Temple Grandin

Research has led me to Temple Grandin who a leader in autism research and has a unique way of understanding autism. Grandin believes that we can understand the characteristics of autism by understanding the behaviour of animals. Grandin states that autism can be attributed to our own animal instinct becoming more prominent in us.


When it comes to understanding autism we need to understand how these people think. Grandin says there are 3 types of thinkers:

1. Photo realistic thinkers, those who think in pictures and not words, these are the kids who are poor at algebra.
2. Pattern thinkers, those who enjoy music and math.
3. Verbal mind, who thinks in words and not images, usually poor at drawing.

Animals are sensory based thickeners which includes all of the previously mentioned methods of thinking. Grandin designs handling facilities for cattle and has also written a number of boots including 'Thinking In Pictures.' 

I plan on following up on more of Temple Grandin's research as it is extremely interesting.

My Goal

This project started off with a simple survey wanting to find out what pets everyone has. It was a simple idea, take a selfie with your pets and # NCADPets.  I received a great response which gave a great insight into what pets everyone has. I have set myself a list of tasks to be completed by the end of the month to complete my research including a day in the life, interviews and hopefully volunteering