PRODUCT DESIGN · MOBILE EXPERIENCE

Biscuit Beacon

Biscuit Beacon is a community-driven app that helps dog owners discover trusted, nearby walking resources such as water bowls, treat stations, dog parks, and safety alerts, making daily walks safer, more convenient, and more engaging.

To address low engagement and motivation, we introduced Routes and a goal and distance tracker to create structured, repeatable walking journeys.

Timeline: 4 Months

Role:

UX Research, UX/UI Design, Storytelling

Team:

Linh Ly - UX/UI Designer,

Christina Tran - UX/UI Designer,

Harshini Kandagaddala - UX/UI Designer

Tools:
Figma, Figjam

To address low engagement and motivation we introduced Routes

OUTCOMES

Built a component library that sped up design iterations by 25%

Boosted Routes adoption by 10%, driving higher engagement

Accelerated cross-functional delivery through rapid prototyping and testing

OVERVIEW

What is Biscuit Beacon?

ROUTES FINAL SCREEN1/2

At the start of the project, my UX team and I conducted user observations and surveys to gain a foundational understanding of existing app behaviors, engagement gaps, and opportunities for improvement.

DISCOVER

Once we validated our core concepts, we developed a high-fidelity prototype supported by detailed design rationale, ensuring every element was intentionally crafted to address user needs and engagement challenges.

DELIVER

To explore multiple solution paths before committing to high-fidelity designs, my team and I spent three weeks rapidly iterating low and mid fidelity sketches, allowing us to test ideas, refine flows, and align on the most effective user experience.

DEVELOP

When onboarding onto this project, my team and I recognized the need for deeper user context, which led us to conduct an in-depth interview with long-time dog owners in Austin, TX to better understand real walking habits, pain points, and motivations.

DEFINE

DESIGN PROCESS

The Story

Since we didn’t have much research before joining session 4, we immediately began our research process. We had about 8 weeks to finish to conduct our research before creating our low and high-fidelity prototypes

PROBLEM BREAKDOWN

Why Engagement Was Low?

The concept is great, I mean… walking your dog and collecting items sounds like a great way to bond with my dog, however that got boring pretty quickly.

Engagement was low not due to usablity issues but the app lacked a compelling core feature that made walking exciting or rewarding

The primary experience involving passively walking and scanning for beacons isn't enough motivation for users to stay on the app.

Without structure, progress, or incentives, everyday walks quickly became repetitive.

Discoveries felt random and effort-heavy, requiring users to explore without clear goals or guidance.

We received 20+ responses from various people on a survey asking their dog walking experience which led into what they would find useful in a pet walking app. Our insights were…

Collecting coins feels tedious without meaningful motivation.

Needs incentives/purpose for users to use the app

There isn't enough to motivate users to return to the app consistently

A user finds the app interface "simple"

Users have limited options when it comes to engaging with the social features of the app

To understand the problem, we began to use different research methods such as surveys, questionnaires, and user testing conduct some observations about the app to dive in deeper on the root cause.

Making General Observations

Research signals

67%

62%

Of users were looking to complete tasks and challenges

Of users wanted to reach milestones

How Might We?

After collecting both qualitative and quantitative research and understanding the statistics, the team began to come up with how might we statements. After some discussion, we landed on…

How might we enhance the walking experience to make it more enjoyable and motivating for users to walk their dogs regularly?

How might we encourage users to be motivated when going on walk to improve daily usage rate of the app?

FINAL HMW STATEMENT

How might we create engaging experiences for dog owners so that they are motivated to walk their dogs more frequently and consistently use the app?

DEFINE

Conducting Interviews

I conducted in-depth interviews with experienced dog owners who had been actively walking their dogs for over three years across different routes in Austin. These conversations uncovered deeper behavioral patterns, pain points, and motivations around discovering pet-friendly locations, which directly informed key design decisions and helped shape the Routes feature to better drive engagement and repeat usage.

Recognizing User Needs

“I want the app to feel fun and welcoming so I enjoy using it, not just when I’m in a rush.”

“I want a clear reason to come back to the app regularly, not just use it once when I need a place.”

“I want to quickly find pet-friendly places without having to search through too much information.”

“I want to discover nearby places instantly when I’m already out with my pet.”

“I want recommendations that feel personalized to my pet’s needs instead of generic results.”

“I want to trust that the places I’m seeing are actually pet-friendly and recommended by other users.”

After conducting my user interviews. I provided some insights on what he believed would be necessary to address the problem for Biscuit Beacon

Developing a new feature (Maybe multiple)?

The development of Routes began. The creation of Routes gives a users a purpose to use Biscuit Beacon.

✔ Turning exploration into a guided journey

✔ Giving users clear starting points and goals

✔ Creating momentum through progress

✔ Making discovery feel intentional and fun

ROUTES

As a secondary feature, we introduced a goal and distance tracker to add structure, progress, and motivation to each walk, encouraging repeat engagement, with improved dog health as a secondary benefit.

✔ Transforming walking from passive movement into measurable progress

✔ Introducing commitment through self-set goals

✔ Creating momentum with real-time distance and time tracking

✔ Encouraging repeat behavior through completion satisfaction

GOAL/DISTANCE TRACKER

Company Milestones

Over 100 Million users

Contributes to an estimate of $6-8 Billion in annual app-attributed revenue for Nike

Over 185 Million users across 185 countries

$500 Million in Annual recurring revenue in 2025

Over 100 Million users worldwide

Generated over $8 Billion since 2016

COMPETITVE ANALYSIS

I was inspired by the Nike Run app’s progress tracking and post-run summaries, we designed Routes to provide real-time walk feedback and meaningful activity insights, transforming dog walks into trackable, engaging experiences that promote consistency and healthier routines.

The Nike Run App

Strava’s social engagement model showed how shared progress fuels motivation, which inspired Routes to incorporate community-driven route discovery and activity sharing to encourage repeat usage and sustained engagement.

Strava

Pokémon Go is highly popular, but its success goes beyond brand recognition. Through guided exploration, progress milestones, and reward-based discovery, the app transforms walking into a motivating experience that drives repeat engagement.

Pokemon GO

GOAL TRACKER

SUMMMARY PAGE

ROUTES

There will be given directions for the route so you won't get lost with your dog.

Through iterative ideation and prototyping, we developed the Routes feature with built-in distance and time tracking to encourage consistent exploration and activity. This solution improved engagement and drove a 10% increase in feature adoption.

FINAL PRODUCT

Biscuit Beacon’s New Features

Biscuit Beacon opened my doors to deeper collaboration, teaching me how to work effectively within a team, communicate design intent, and grow through mentorship. With the support of my teammates and my mentor Linh, I developed stronger design skills and a collaborative mindset.

REFLECTION

My Time with Biscuit Beacon

NEXT STEPS

We want to implement a community feature to message your friends and fellow woofers on a walk. We want to conduct user usability testing with this feature soon. Potentially adding new beacons on walks to make it more fun for users. Another idea would be to market the company better through TikTok and Instagram to spread the word and show why it’s unique

DONE DESK