tomofun | nanny report
Innovative daily report and summaries to benefit pet owners on the Furbo camera app
overview
Furbo Dog Camera, under the company Tomofun, is a home camera that specializes in supervising and protecting dogs. Furbo cameras pairs with a mobile app that gives the owner the ability to watch their pet in HD, speak to their pet through two-way audio, and record and save important videos. What sets Furbo apart from other pet camera brands is its unique remote treat-tossing function, allowing users to interact with their pet even when they’re apart.
timeline: 6 months
role: ux researcher, ux writer
tools: figma, figjam, google slides, google sheets, zoom
As part of the UX research team, I assisted in building a brand-new page in our mobile app called Nanny Report. I was responsible for uncovering user needs and pain points through several research methods (e.g., surveys, interviews, usability tests), and presented user feedback and research recommendations to the product team. I participated in this project up until Nanny Report’s first limited release, where it received overall positive feedback from the product team and target users.
1. getting started
Tomofun had long been seeking the next market competitive advantage to increase sales as well as increase user retention on the Furbo app. Previous research revealed that user engagement of the Furbo app decreased within a few months of upon download due to decreased need or deemed value of the mobile app and its functions. After several multidisciplinary meetings, the product team arrived at an overarching yet flexible goal of creating a new user-centered mobile feature utilizing Chat-GPT. They believed that with the current accessibility of AI and Chat-GPT, the Furbo app could better meet specific user needs and solve various pain points.
My UX team was tasked with combining the following the company’s expectations in a way that truly benefited the lives of pet owners and maximized the value of our Furbo app. This is how we created our “How Might We”…
How might we utilize Chat-GPT to benefit pet owners in order to increase user retention as well as new user of the Furbo app?
Distributing User Surveys
For the first step toward this goal, I collaborated with our UX research team to co-create a user survey we distributed to 126 existing Furbo users through Survey Monkey. We specifically asked questions about their current experience of Furbo, of alternative pet mobile apps, of joy and pain points they had as a pet parents, as well as their opinions on potential ideas such as pet calendars, chatbots for pet Q&A, summaries of pet activities, etc.
User survey feedback
Users like to watch video clips of their pets
Furbo camera currently records in 15-second increments
Users stated that they enjoy watching these videos at the end of their day
At times, users will share special pet videos with their family or friends
Users are sometimes overwhelmed by the number of video clips in a day, and don’t know which ones are important
Users are frequently overwhelmed by the amount of Furbo alerts
Users currently receive push notifications for movement alerts, barking alerts, vomiting alerts, etc.
Depending on their pets’ movements, users may receive what they believe are too many notifications in a day (e.g., 10-30 notifications per day)
Users are not able to immediately differentiate if an alert is significant or not (e.g., important to the well-being of their pet or home security)
Users were most interested in learning more in depth about their pet’s activities and behaviors
Users were curious to know if their pet’s behavior that day was usual or out of ordinary— this could signify pets’ mental and emotional health
Users were not interested in a Q&A or chatbot function
Users would rather Google their questions or search for answers from an already trusted resource
Utilizing the above survey feedback and understanding the needs of our users, the UX research team collaborated with our product manager and UX designer to create sketches and low-fidelity prototypes to put our initial visions to paper.
This first draft idea featured a page within the Furbo app with distinct sections that represented how users wanted to better understand and care for their pets. The following sections of our “Nanny Report” were created:
Nanny Report preliminary features:
Summary: paragraph-long recap highlighting the pet’s activities based on their movements and Furbo using AI tracking and Chat-GPT
Summarizes the pet’s day within a concise and informative format, with a format that includes…
an overall adjective of the day (e.g., fun-filled day, relaxing day, etc.)
list of activities (e.g., playing, sitting on the couch, running, etc.)
a notable activity comparison with a time stamp to inform users of any day-by-day differences
Video Highlights: randomly-chosen compilation videos of the pet that day, about ~15 sec each
Includes a carousel of minimum two and maximum five videos, depending on the amount of activity alerts
Users have option to save and/or share these video clips
Activity and Barking reports: visual graphs based on Furbo smart alerts frequency and timing
Activity section tracks the amount of activity alerts (e.g., smart alerts about the pet’s movements) received that day
Similarly, Barking section tracks the amount of noise alerts received that day
Both reports include a statement of the pet’s average activity level over the last week
They also include a percentage comparison of the previous week’s reports
Lastly, they include a visual bar graph of the past week: the present day is highlighted, with a dashed vertical line signaling the week’s average
2. refining nanny report
Usability tests
I wrote and implemented a usability test for 5 Furbo users for the purpose of gauging initial impressions of our prototype. During these usability tests, I asked specific questions about users’ overall impression and assumptions of the page, digging into joy and paint points.
Users were also asked to rate the clarity (How clear is the function and purpose of this page?), ease of use (How usable is this page, especially for first-time users?), and aesthetic of the page on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the least and 10 being the most.
Usability test feedback
Average ratings
Summary
Clarity: 8/10
Ease of use: 10/10
Aesthetic: 8/10
Video Highlights
Clarity: 9/10
Ease of use: 9/10
Aesthetic: 9/10
Activity report
Clarity: 6/10
Ease of use: 7/10
Aesthetic: 8/10
Barking report
Clarity: 6/10
Ease of use: 7/10
Aesthetic: 8/10
Users favorite sections, ranked:
Video Highlights (favorite)
Summary
Activity report
Barking report (least favorite)
User takeaways
Users want a short and concise summary
Users are known to skim over long blocks of text
Users get bored or frustrated with long summaries
Additionally, users wish for a more natural and conversational-sounding summary, not one that sounds robotic or like AI
Users especially love the option to watch short clips of their pets
Users highly appreciate pet-related visual content— especially videos that show cute or abnormal behavior (e.g., vomiting, barking continuously, etc.)
Users agree that ~15 seconds is a good length for video clips; it’s not too short as to not understand the context, but not too long that it becomes boring
Users like the option to share pet video clips with friends and family
Users were confused about Activity and Barking reports
They were unsure about the word and phrase meanings (e.g., What does average level mean? How do the numbers compare or relate to one another?)
The dashed line was not immediately understandable or sensical for most users
However, all users liked including a visual graph or chart within Nanny Report; they said it seemed more “professional” (like Apple Health or Google Fit) and liked having a variety of visuals in their report
Direct user quotes
“I like that the graphs remind me of my Apple Health app… it feels like I can trust it”
“My favorite videos are when [my dog] is being cute… sometimes I share them with my friends”
Additionally, the marketing and finance team opted to include Furbo’s existing Daily Diary into the Nanny Report. Daily Diary is a ~60 sec compilation video capturing little snippets of the pet’s entire day. Now, “Summary” would be combined with this “Daily Diary” section, as it made sense to provide the user with a visual and written summary of their pet’s day.
“The visuals from the graph nice give me a break from reading”
“I really just want to know the most important information of the day… so I don’t have to go through and watch all of today’s videos”
Each usability test feedback and reflection was documented, categorized, and analyzed by me and the rest of the UX research team. Our focus was to prioritize feedback about what was familiar, important to user needs, and most functional.
We gathered this information to collaborate with our UX design in creating an updated Nanny Report beta, one with a different AI algorithm for written summaries to be more conversational, prioritizing video clips with cute and abnormal pet behavior, and changing wording of Activity and Barking reports to be more understandable.
A push notification was created for when the user’s Nanny Report was available for that day, as a way to alert users, as well as provide a daily reminder of Nanny Report.
Further user testing
For our next period of research, we provided our updated Nanny Report beta to 5 eligible Furbo Dog Camera users for one week. They were given minimal information about our new Nanny Report, and were told to use the Furbo app and Nanny Report naturally, with no specific tasks, for 7 days.
At the end of that week, we interviewed each user for their experience and feedback. Specifically, we wanted to know about their level of curiosity, engagement, and retention with this new feature.
User feedback
Users were initially excited about Nanny Report, visiting the page at least 3 consecutive days
2/5 users didn’t visit Nanny Report the fourth day, stating they either forgot or they were uninterested (as their Nanny Report content had been similar most days)
Overall, users stated that the push notification was a helpful reminder in opening their Nanny Report for the day
Users generally did not mind the waiting time for Nanny Report to be available
Users appreciated the Video Highlights the most, as they enjoyed browsing videos of their pets. However, some users added that the video captions were not always accurate (e.g, “Sitting on table” when it should be “sitting on chair”). While, this did not stop users from watching the videos, continued errors did lower their expectation of video and caption qualities.
Users were more likely to only read the summary than watch the Video Diary. Some stated that they appreciated a concise rendering of their pet’s day, and felt that they could derive more information from this written form rather than video form.
User feedback for Barking and Activity reports were generally positive; clarity of each section increased from previous testing, and users saw this as a functional daily or weekly tool
3. ux writing
Additional features with UX writing focus
Below, you can find additional features I led in writing research and creation as the only UX writer on the team. The following screens reveal an empty state, loading state, and a bottom sheet of section descriptions. My UX writing research delved in Furbo’s current models, but primarily in competitor and comparator mobile applications. Using Jakob’s Law, I knew that users would have certain expectations, and wrote and revised the wordings for each of these pages. I followed UX writing principles from Dr. Katharina Grimm’s Introduction to UX class: necessary, clear, concise, useful, conversational, and branded. of Each portion was then analyzed in usability tests for clarity and ease of use.
This bottom sheet contains descriptions of each section of Nanny Report. These explanations are compiled information from the development team, but also answered questions for previous users during user interviews.
At the bottom of Nanny Report, there is a clickable link that brings the user a bottom sheet. This sheet has the ability to be dragged up for more information if needed. I wrote each section according to what information was necessary to provide, but also in a way that was concise (following the word limits given), easy to read, clear, and friendly.
During the usability tests for this bottom sheet, 4 users rated this page’s clarity with an average of 8/10 points.
empty state - waiting period
This empty state page shows up when users search for their Nanny Report of that day, but it is has not yet been created from the day.
Since Nanny Report compiles all of the pet’s information of that day, the product team decided that the complete Nanny Report should be accessed around the time that users are off of work (since many users work in-office and use Furbo to keep an eye on their pets at home).
The software development team discussed with our team that it was not possible to grant a specific availability time for Nanny Report, but rather a span of time (e.g., 7-8pm).
I wrote “Nanny Report is in the works!” as a clear, concise, and on brand heading. It allows users to know exactly what to expect, with a clear call to action as the subtitle.
During the usability tests for this empty state, 4 users rated this page’s clarity with an average of 9.5/10 points.
empty state - loading period
This loading state page shows up when Nanny Report for that day is ready to view, but Chat-GPT requires loading time to generate and compile all the data.
Each section should take approximately 1-3 seconds to properly load. The reason for not providing one loading statement for the entire page is because some sections may become available for others (e.g., Daily Diary may generate first, while Video Highlights may take a few more seconds to load).
With the Labor Theory in mind, I specifically used the wording “analyzing” to instill into users the there is intensive software at work, but also that the the wait will be worth it. Though users typically do not appreciate wait times, the hope is that they would appreciate the time and care that it takes to provide the best results for their furbaby.
During the usability tests for this loading state, 4 users rated this page’s clarity with an average of 9.3/10 points.
bottom sheet - section explanations
4. ready for limited release!
After thoroughly analyzing user feedback and competitor research, our team created and released the beta version of Nanny Report, available in limited regions for existing Furbo Dog Camera users.
Take a look at for a closer look at our brand new Nanny Report page in action! You’ll find the updated features and designs in the high-fidelity Figma prototype video below.
The design was meant to stay on stay on brand not only using yellow and white brand colors, but to appear fun and friendly, yet informative and trustworthy. New user testing would be formed in the next phase of user research, once current Nanny Report users have recognized and utilized this page for a longer period of time.
5. what’s next?
Thanks for joining me on this journey! This project in Nanny Report was only a 6-month venture, and if given more time, I would have explored deeper into existing and potential features. Here are some thoughts of how I’d change my process or what I would work on next if I continued on this project:
Implement long-term usability tests with in-depth user interviews
Further research would helps us to better understand the extended experience in usability, accessibility, and engagement of Nanny Report
Connect the activities in the Summary section to the Highlights videos
The goal of this would be to provide users with more visual context on their pet’s behavior
An idea may be to link specific phrases in Summary directly to video clips with time stamps; this could be important if there were a health or security issue that the owner needed more information on
Create separate pages for Reports
This was an idea that the product team wanted to implement in the next phase for Nanny Report
Similar to Apple Health, I would want the Activity Report and Barking Report sections to be clickable, bringing users to a new page with in-depth readings and graphs of their pet’s movements and noises hour-by-hour, with comparisons across the week or even the past month
General phrases of behavior comparison would included, such as “Hani has been less vocal than previous weeks,” providing pet owners with behavioral context that could benefit their understanding of the pet’s health
Change bottom navigation bar name
Unfortunately, the development and product teams had constraints when it came to altering the bottom navigation bar. It currently states “Furbo Nanny,” as this page originally belonged to advertising the premium features of Furbo Nanny subscription.
As to prevent confusion, and increase trust in the company’s UX and development team, I would alter the naming as soon as possible for the sake of user’s ease and clarity of the product
Another project in the feature would be to make Nanny Report more accessible to other pet owners. In a next phase, Nanny Report would be available to Furbo Cat Camera users, and not just Furbo Dog Camera users!