Concept Reference Diagram
🐶Canine First Aid Kit
For our semester design project, we designed a canine first aid kit which provides a set of curated equipment to help dog parents of tier 1 and 2 cities in India aid their sick or injured dog at home and elsewhere until full medical treatment is available.
Type
Tangible Design
Timeline
January - May 2022
Role
Product Designer
This project was executed in collaboration with Shirsha Biswas, under the guidance of Prof. Shakuntala Acharya.
Initial Market Study
We conducted a market study to look into potential problem areas with respect to pets and/or pet parents in the absence of a caretaker in the household.
The Indian Pet care market is expected to reach INR 5457 crore by the end of the year 2025.
It will be registering a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 19%.
The market is led by the dog segment accounting for more than half of the market share.
The estimated number of pet dogs in the year 2023 is predicted to be around 3.14cr.
Demographic Survey
We conducted an online survey by sending it out to participants from dog owning households keeping the following objectives in mind:
Identify different dog parent archetypes to construct journey maps
Understanding dog parent demographics
Understanding pet dog demographics
Obtaining participants for further research
104 Responses
48 from Tier 1 cities
42 from tier 2 cities
46 interested in further research
Resulting Family Persona
The data collected via the demographic survey was affinitised to create a persona for a typical Indian family parenting a dog.
Journey Maps to Life Map
To identify further opportunity areas, journey maps were crafted in such a manner that the activities of the dog have been considered to find problems in experience and in turn, opportunities.
Crafted on the basis of persona drawn from survey.
Life Map
The framework map wherein selected dog activities are studied with respect to their scenarios.
21x journey maps
Each activity jotted down in the map was expanded into individual journey maps.
Fitted with an extra component to add dog behaviour.
Proved successful in opportunity generation.
Opportunity Tournament
On the basis of set parameters, ideas were eliminated. This process was repeated until only 1 idea was left.
Parameters for Selection
Rough market research, competitive analysis and answers to key questions were examined to act as parameter barriers for the Opportunity Tournament:
Growing market
Expandable product line
Big Gross margins
Strong recurring revenue streams
To be able to make multiple SKUs with minimum effort, time & expenditure
Have some digital component to it (if not now, then later) - forte
Resultant Opportunity Area
Canine first aid kit.
Initial Brief
To aid dog parents to help their dogs in case of inconvenience, minor injuries and sickness, as well as provide temporary relief during emergency situations, by providing necessary beneficial equipment and instructional information.
Secondary Research
We conducted desk research to answer the research questions listed below.
Injury
What kind of injuries do dogs face indoors & outdoors?
How do pet parents tackle injuries currently?
Medical Care
Reliable medicine brands if any
What medicines are recommended and used by users?
Do prescribed medicines differ according to breed/size? What are the common ones?
Training/Awareness
First aid & training for military/police dog
Pet first aid trainings/courses to understand various emergency situations
Scenario Remedy Chart
This research resulted in a scenario remedy chart created on the basis of common illnesses and injuries faced by pet dogs in India.
22 scenarios
2 human innjury scenarios
Remedies identified
Actionable Insights
Common injuries, sicknesses, emergency situations, etc. have been identified along with their remedies upto a point where the remedies ceased yielding further useful knowledge
Gloves and saline solution are highly repetitive in procedures
Use of muzzle to restain dog from biting during aid is also highly repetitive, pointing to the potential inclusion of limited human aid in case of bites or scratches
The life of the kit should be 15 years such that it is useful throughout a pet’s life
Identified Primary Research Questions
Can get insights for developing kits for camping/hiking where extreme situations may arise without immediate veteninary aid at hand.
Need to check what medicines pet parents keep handy. Understand the most bought OTC medicines & awareness level.
Everywhere it just says ‘contact your vet’. Should verify through these questions what the pet parents ‘actually’ do during such situations.
What reasons do people in tier 1 and tier 2 cities go to vets for and what do they ignore? - notice differences
Ask users to send pictures of the meds they are using and then we decipher.
On what basis is trust built and how do vets recommend certain brands?
Can we collaborate with upcoming, certified med brands to provide quality products at low cost in our kit?
Would tier 2 residents find this product useful?
Market Research
Market saturation: How many similar options are already available to consumers?
Pricing: What do potential customers pay for these alternatives?
What are the most successful pet first aids worldwide(competitor feature chart)? What is the company marketing strategy and business model?
What can we adopt from human first aid kits?
What are the alternatives to first aid kits(like health care plans)?
What are our strengths and weaknesses(SWOT)?
What are the different audiences and specifications(like for dogs and cats) being tackled?
What are the problems that the present kits are solving?
Competitive Analysis
Parameters:
USP
Items (find out why?)
Customer Review
Size/volume
Materials of kit
Price of kit
Sales channels
Advertising channels & methods
Site (and product on amazon)
Shipping process
What else does this company sell?
Strengths
Weaknessed
Opportunities
Threats
Actionable Insights
Vet certification, customer testimonials and FDA approval will go a long way in selling this product
Addition of muzzle to kit would be helpful, but must be correctly clearly communicated to customers and users
There is a need to quickly and efficiently provide instructions to users. Inclusion of instruction booklet delights users on first examining the product
Situational handicaps such as darkness, harsh weather, having only one free arm, etc. should be taken into consideration
People have a behavioural pattern of adding items to the bag and are positive about extra space in kits to add in their items
Several reviews point towards the importance and absence of activated charcoal or hydrogen peroxide
Care must be taken to make sure that the opening and closing mechanisms are efficient and non-disruptive
Several good international competitors but lack of any solid competitor in India
Business Model Canvas
Company Standpoints
Information collected during market research was leveraged to create a business model canvas putting forward company standpoints.
Primary Research
Expert Interviews
A database of veterinarians in Guwahati was created to select our preference on the basis of website, images, ratings, reviews and convenience in communication and travel. One participant was also selected from Gurgaon, further interviews in tier 1 cities are yet to be conducted.
6 interviews
5 offline interviews (4 clinics in Guwahati)
1 phone call interview
Actionable Insights
Common minor issues faced by pet dogs include wounds, scratches, stings and ticks - can be taken care of with right equipment without consultation.
A very common major issue is the ingesting of harmful substances, in this situation activated charcoal or hydrogen peroxide can be administered on receiving vet advice to induce vomiting. This is a case where time is of the essence and first aid can prove to be crucial.
Cats and dogs have similar physiology so the vast majority of first aid items prove effective for both.
Medicines are prescribed on the basis of availability, location and socio-economic status and outlook of patient.
Motion sickness medication is recommended for travelling
While providing first aid instructions to patients during emergency situations, vets understand their scenario including location, availability of items and consequently provide information
Restraining pets while attempting to aid during emergency situations is very difficult for inexperienced parents
Recieve numerous calls regarding dog bites (on humans)
There are no first aid kits actively existing in the Indian market.
Veterinarians are positive that pet parents would be interested in purchasing a first aid kit.
User Interviews
6 interviews were collected with the foll. objectives:
To empathise with the customers/users
To understand the difficult/inconvenient medical related situations in day to day life
To understand their throught process and actions during an emergency situation
To understand their individual first aid solutions used for different problems, including transportation to vet
To understand pet parent’s perspective on seriousness of a medical situation
To discover potential items and equipment to be added into the kit
To understand their medicinal behavioural patterns
To understand what medical tasks (dog related) are difficult for inexperienced caretakers.
To understand the virtue of online medical equipment store and training experience.
Actionable Insights
Common issues include ear infection, skin infection and diarrhea
Dog parents blindly follow the medications and instructions given by their vets unless the condition of the dog deteriorates immensely.
Dog parents purchase medicines from their vet, pharmacies, pet stores and rarely online. Specific medications are very difficult to acquire as they are only available in certain regions
Dog parents are unaware of the types of medical issues and injuries a dog can face in their lifetime and only intend to educate themselves when these situations arise.
Online medicine purchase is often attempted but avoided due to availability of medicines locally, long delivery time and need to upload prescriptions.
Generally, new parents or less aware and less experienced dog parents find it difficult to aid their dog and require training with easily retrievable information and instructions for the same.
Mother’s worry: Dog parents are actively worried about the safety and health of their dog.
More experienced parents have certain medical items and medicines stored together (that is, a make-shift first aid kit).
User Personas
Crafted on the basis of prior collected data.
User Requirements
Prior insights throughout the project were gathered and converted into requirements.
Instructions
Providing motivation to gain awareness and instruction regarding medical issues and injuries of a dog.
Providing aid in discovering course of action in emergency situations.
Contents
Provide aid in common issues including: wounds, scratches, stings, ear infection, skin infection, diarrhea, ticks and ingesting harmful substances.
Provide aid in restraint of dog to help user concentrate on providing first aid.
Provide aid in case of dog biting human.
Physical Form
Providing affordance to add and organise their own items within the kit.
Non-disruptive opening and closing mechanism
Aid in discoverability of equipment within the kit
Cater to the different behavioural patterns, outlook and usage of medicines.
Provide durability, compactness and portability of kit.
Waterproof kit
Redefined Brief
To design an efficient first aid kit which provides a set of curated equipment to help dog parents of tier 1 and 2 cities in India aid their sick or injured dog at home and elsewhere until full medical treatment is available.
Conceptualisation & Prototyping
Inspiration
Inpiration was gathered across specific tangents to guide ideation:
Similar items
Segregation of items
Opening/Closing mechanisms
Misc. packaging design
Conceptualisation & Prototyping
We segregated the ideation into topics and ideated while referring to the above moodboards:
Portable kit
Compact kit
Durable Material
Waterproof kit
Simple opening/closing mechanism
Modular compartments
Extra space for custom items
Restraining dog
Efficient understanding of what/how to do
Labelling of supplies
Ways of organising/grouping supplies
Easily discoverable supplies
Ideation - Session 2
A brainstorming session was conducted with 8 other design students (3 of which were dog parents) with the same topics without moodboard references to generate more ideas.
Morphological Chart
Created to select optimal ideas and aid in combination to generate concepts in a systematic manner.
Concept Generation
Selected ideas from each category of the morphological chart and combined them in various manner to generate concepts.
Kit Items
Decided on the basis of prior collected data.
Item Flows
Item flow charts were created for common scenarios.
Flash Cards
Compact flash cards have been added as an item for speedy memorisation and education on first aid provision during common scenarios.
Prototype Development
Prototypes went through a multi-stage development process from simple paper prototypes to the updated, hand-stitched prototype with the selected items. We role-played scenarios to make sure we’re designing for real-life use cases that solve the identified user requirements.
This resulted in a ‘+’ shaped kit with quickly digestible instructions, chronological item layout based on order of use and an intuitive design where similar items are grouped together.
The Canine First Aid Kit
Project Outcome
6/6 veterinarians believe in the utliity of the product, all of them were interested in stocking the product in their clinics.
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