Designers
Hanting Zhao, Muhua Qin, Yijin Zhang, Yitong Mo, Yushi Sun, Yu Hu
Year
2025
Category
New Talent
Country
United Kingdom
School
Goldsmiths, University of London
Teacher
Rabail Tahir
Three questions to the project team
What was the particular challenge of the project from a UX point of view?
One of the main UX challenges we faced was designing a system that balanced technical complexity with everyday usability. Our users include both pet owners and shelter staff—groups that often lack medical training—so we needed to present medically relevant insights in a way that was clear, non-intimidating, and easy to act on. This meant simplifying workflows, designing intuitive alert displays, and ensuring that users could quickly understand what behaviors were flagged and why. Building user trust through transparency and responsible feedback was a central design priority.
What was your personal highlight in the development process? Was there an aha!-moment, was there a low point?
One of the biggest low points for us was realizing that our team lacked professional veterinary expertise and relevant medical background, which initially made it difficult to define what behaviors were truly meaningful. We were concerned that our assumptions might not align with real clinical indicators. The “aha!” moment came when we conducted interviews with veterinarians and combined their insights with targeted literature reviews. This helped us validate our design direction and gave us the confidence to prioritize certain behavior markers. It was a turning point that grounded our system in real-world needs and transformed it from a speculative prototype into a more credible, user-informed solution.
Where do you see yourself and the project in the next five years?
VitaPaw currently offers real-time, non-invasive monitoring, early illness detection, and an intuitive interface tailored for non-professional users in multi-cat settings. It helps caregivers make timely, informed decisions with minimal effort. In the next five years, we see VitaPaw becoming part of a broader preventive care ecosystem—integrated with veterinary services, smart homes, and pet insurance platforms. We aim to develop a more professional-grade version to support diverse use cases, from shelters to clinics, and bring greater benefits to animal welfare.
