UX/UI · MOBILE APP
Pawport
A dog friendly flight booking app that puts eligibility and trust ahead of price.
PROBLEM
Flying with a dog means chasing scattered, confusing rules, so owners give up and drive or leave the dog behind.
SOLUTION
One trusted flow that confirms eligibility and documents before price, with reassurance built in.
IMPACT
4/5 booked unaided · 6:28 avg · all 5 usability targets met
MY ROLE
UX/UI — research → prototype ·· ~100 hrs
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4/5
booked a flight with no help
6:28
avg booking time (target < 8:00)
5/5
usability targets met
15
hi-fi screens shipped
1
Discovery & Definition
DISCOVERY · EMPATHIZE · DEFINE
The rules for flying with a dog are scattered and scary.
Policies live across airline pages, airport sites and vet requirements — and shift by route, aircraft and weather. Owners of larger dogs feel it most: the cargo hold is the single biggest source of anxiety.
→ No single source of truth for eligibility
→ Price-first booking sets owners up to abandon
→ MVP scoped to one job: search → confirm → prepare
→ book
One shared fear.
"I couldn't picture where my dog would go, so I drove."
NICK · GOLDEN RETRIEVER, 72 LB
"The color made me think it was a straight no , it just meant cargo only."
MEGAN · AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD, 45 LB
5 interviews · dogs from 22 lb to 72 lb · larger-dog owners reported the most uncertainty.
The insight that shaped everything.
KEY INSIGHT
"
Owners need trust and eligibility clarity before they ever look at price.
Primary persona — the caring, stressed planner: owns a larger dog, fears the cargo hold, researches flights before pet rules. Needs clarity and reassurance, not a cheaper fare.
2
Design
IDEATION · WIREFRAMES · PROTOTYPE
Sequence eligibility and documents ahead of price.
The core bet: re-order the flow so confidence is built before money enters the picture. One word change set the tone.
Cargo
→
Travel detail
"Cargo" alarmed every owner. Reframed to describe where & how a dog travels.
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User flow (click to enlarge)
A calm, trustworthy system.
Steady Pawport Blue and a status system where meaning never rests on color alone — every status pairs color + icon + label (WCAG 1.4.1).
✓ Eligible
! Conditional
✕ Not eligible
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Type, color & UI component system
Wireframes
F1.1 Home
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F1.2 Trip Details
F1.3 Results
F1.4 Flight Detail
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F1.5 Not Eligible
Low fidelity wireframes
F1.1 Home
F1.2 Trip Details
F1.3 Results
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F1.4 Flight Detail
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F1.5 Not Eligible
Mid fidelity wireframes
The flows — hi-fi screens.
Search
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Set dog profile & search
Eligibility
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Self-explaining status
Booking
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Confirmation
Three targeted changes.
1
"Where your dog travels" panel
Cabin vs. hold, drop off & who handles the dog closes the big dog trust gap.
2
Status chip that explains itself
Tap to expand for more information for flight
and policies for reassurance.
3
Logistics on confirmation
Relief areas, arrival time & airline contact added for convenience.
BEFORE
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AFTER
"Where your dog travels" — before & after
3
Validation
TESTING · ITERATION · OUTCOME
The core flow held — with one clear gap.
All five reached a booking, four unaided. The wobble was always the same spot: big-dog owners booked, but still didn't know where their dog physically goes.
PROBLEM
DOG
COMPLETED
TIME
CONFIDENCE
Ana
Goldendoodle, 22 lb
Unaided
5:10
5/5
Austin
Frenchie, 22 lb
Unaided
6:00
4/5
John
Vizsla, 50 lb
Unaided
6:30
4/5
Nick
Golden, 72 lb
Assisted ×1
7:40
4/5
Method — 5 moderated task-based sessions modeled on my research participants to pressure test the flow.
OUTCOME
Trust lives in small wording and sequencing choices.
Sequencing eligibility before price, and naming things honestly, turned an anxious task into a confident one. Next: validate with live participants and design the international & multi-pet flows.
4/5
completed booking unaided
6:28
average booking time
4/5
usability targets met
ROADMAP
Where Pawport goes next.
COMPLETE
NEXT
ONGOING
1
2
3
✓ COMPLETE
Discover
Research, interviews and a clear problem to solve.
✓ COMPLETE
Design​
Wireframes to a hi-fi prototype of the core booking flow.
✓ COMPLETE
Validation
Five usability sessions and three targeted fixes.
4
→ UP NEXT
International & multi-pet flows
Support cross border travel rules and more than one pet per booking.
∞
ONGOING
Test, learn, iterate
Keep testing with real pet owners and refine as needs change.