Design Toolkit

Design Process

1. User Interviews & Desk Research

Conducted interviews with novice cat owners to gather real needs and pain points. Meanwhile, analyzed competitors and industry data to understand market status and user behavior.

2. Conceptualization & Prototyping

Created user flow diagrams and low-fidelity wireframes based on insights to quickly test design ideas. Then developed high-fidelity interfaces, applying design principles to refine visual and interaction experience.

Background & Research

In recent years, the number of pet cats in China has rapidly increased. According to the "China Pet Industry White Paper 2024," the urban pet cat population reached 71.53 million in 2024, a 2.5% increase year-over-year, with a large and growing group of new cat owners. As the proportion of young first-time cat owners rises, novices face challenges such as information overload, lack of professional knowledge, and insufficient emotional support.

Existing pet-related platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Weibo offer cat care content and community interactions but generally suffer from fragmented information, lack of professionalism, and unfriendly community atmospheres. Through user interviews and secondary research, we identified that novice cat owners need a comprehensive platform integrating authoritative knowledge, emotional support, and social interaction.

Based on these research insights, this project aims to design a digital community platform tailored to Chinese novice cat owners, meeting their diverse needs and alleviating anxiety and confusion during the cat-raising journey.

User Interview

Through five semi-structured interviews, I gained in-depth insights into novice cat owners’ needs. All interviewees were young first-time cat owners in China, aged between 20 and 25. The interviews focused on their cat-raising experiences, challenges faced, information sources, and expectations for a community platform.

I interviewed 5 new cat owners and explored:

• What difficulties did they encounter?

• How do they obtain information?

• What are the demands and expectations of the community platform from its users?

  
  

User Stories

User Persona

Persona 1: Lily, 23 years old, recent graduate

Lily recently graduated from university and started raising two Ragdoll cats. She lacks experience, especially struggling with cat food choices and health care. She hopes to quickly access authoritative, structured cat care knowledge and desires a warm, friendly community where she can ask questions without hesitation.

Persona 2: Jason, 25 years old, freelance photographer

Jason is a freelance photographer who recently adopted a rescue cat. He enjoys documenting his cat’s life through photos and videos and wants a simple, intuitive platform to track his cat’s growth. He also looks forward to connecting with other cat owners and sharing experiences.

Problem Statement & Hmw?

User Flow

To improve novice cat owners’ efficiency and experience, i designed a clear and simple user flow to help users quickly find needed information and smoothly engage in community interactions.

Users first enter through the homepage, where they can browse recommended professional knowledge or search for specific topics directly. Next, users can join categorized group chats for instant questions and experience sharing. The platform provides multiple pathways for users to explore community feeds and share their own cat life stories. Clear navigation and prompts are designed at key points to ensure users quickly locate functions when searching for knowledge, participating in discussions, or posting content, reducing learning costs and increasing satisfaction.

Wireframe

Main Features & Solutions

Color and Typography

The overall interface adopts a warm, soft beige palette combined with rounded typography to create a safe and comfortable atmosphere that alleviates novice anxiety. Illustrated elements decorate chat and onboarding pages, enhancing playfulness and approachability.

Layouts are clean and clear with well-defined modules, helping users quickly locate information. Interaction design emphasizes timely feedback such as button responsiveness and message notifications, boosting user confidence.

The design combines functionality with emotional needs, providing novice cat owners with a digital space that is both professional and warmly supportive.

Test Objectives

The user testing aimed to evaluate the usability of the high-fidelity prototype, the rationality of the functional flow, and whether the visual design meets the emotional expectations of target users. The focus was on users’ ability to quickly find needed information, understand feature logic, and experience community interactions.

Test Methods

Participants matching the target personas were invited for one-on-one remote testing.

The test included:

• Observing user navigation and encountered issues

• Interviewing users for feedback on interface layout, color scheme, and interactions

Key Findings

Functional Flow: Most users completed tasks smoothly; however, some requested smarter search features including keyword suggestions and filters.

Interface Design: Users generally liked the warm color palette and clear modular layout, finding the interface friendly and easy to use.

Community Interaction: Categorized group chats were well-received for facilitating communication, though some users worried about being ignored or judged when asking beginner questions.

Onboarding: Some users suggested adding first-time tutorials and operation tips to help quick familiarization.

Project Outcomes

This project successfully designed a UI/UX solution for a digital community platform aimed at novice cat owners in China, integrating authoritative professional knowledge and emotional support mechanisms. The design not only improved users’ information retrieval efficiency but also enhanced community belonging and emotional connection among users, providing tangible support to novice cat owners.

During the project, challenges included high information complexity, diversified user needs, and difficulty in fostering community atmosphere. Through in-depth user research and multiple design iterations, core needs were accurately identified. By employing modular content categorization, authoritative information verification, warm visual design, and friendly interactions, users’ anxiety and doubts were effectively alleviated.

This project deepened my understanding of user-centered design, especially balancing professionalism and emotional needs. During research, I learned to uncover user pain points through multi-channel research and translate complex requirements into simple and effective interactive experiences using design language.

Simultaneously, the project highlighted the crucial role of content moderation and community atmosphere in digital platforms, suggesting that future design goes beyond functional implementation to focus on fostering user trust and belonging.

Future pet communities or similar digital product designs should continue to strengthen the integration of authoritative information and user emotional connection, adopting dynamic feedback mechanisms to continuously optimize user experience. It is recommended to incorporate more intelligent technologies (e.g., AI recommendations) and multimedia content to enhance platform interactivity and personalized service.