AI-Powered
PETAR
2024
Case Study
An AI-powered virtual pet app that enhances emotional
connection through immersive AR interactions.
Problem Statement
Loneliness & the challenges of owning a real pet
(time, space, cost)
40%
adults report feeling lonely long-term,
indicating widespread emotional
disconnection in everyday life.
80%
72%
renters face difficulty finding truly
pet-friendly housing — a major
structural barrier to owning a real pet.
In today’s digital world, many feel disconnected despite constant online interactions. The pandemic has amplified this emotional void, and owning a pet is often not a feasible solution due to space, time, or resource constraints.
That inspired me to research how others face similar challenges and how I could create a user-friendly
solution.
Research Objectives
Conduct User Research
🕵️♂️ Identify the moments when users first feel emotional attachment or presence with a virtual pet (Aha moments).
💡 Understand what motivates users to return to a virtual companion over time rather than abandoning the experience after initial novelty.
Generate Hypotheses
🛠 Explore how lightweight, emotionally driven interactions can improve short-term and long-term engagement.
🌟 Test whether personalization (pet type, behavior, and interaction style) increases emotional connection and retention.
Goals
Strengthen Emotional Perception
Position Petar as a comforting, emotionally present companion rather than a task-based digital product.
Design interactions that feel supportive and alive, without creating pressure or responsibility for the user.
Create Natural, Low-Friction Interaction
Enable intuitive AR interactions such as feeding, grooming, and playing that feel natural rather than button-driven.
Reduce cognitive load so users can engage with Petar effortlessly during short, everyday moments.
Increase Long-Term Engagement
Encourage users to build habitual but flexible relationships with their virtual pets through subtle variation and responsive behavior.
Support sustained engagement without relying on notifications, rewards, or gamified pressure.
Double Diamond
& Timeline
I followed the Double Diamond framework to guide the design process, moving through Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver.
This approach ensured that design decisions were grounded in user research, clearly framed emotional needs, and iteratively validated through prototyping and testing.
Rather than treating the framework as a linear checklist, each phase informed the next—allowing insights about user emotion, behavior, and engagement to directly shape the final AR experience.
Understand
Define
Deliver
Develop
Discover
Kickoff
Meeting
Competitor Analysis
Heuristics & UI Patterns of Competitors and DIM.RIA
SWOT Analysis
User Interview
Guide and Script
Define
Competitor Analysis 2.0
User Persona
CJM
Jobs To Be Done
Idea Generation
Prototyping
Design Validation
(Maze Usability Testing)
Create Presentation
Present Solutions
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Hypotheses
Before conducting user interviews, I formulated the following hypotheses to guide my research. These assumptions focused on emotional connection, engagement patterns, and the role of AR in shaping companionship.
The goal was to validate or challenge these hypotheses through qualitative user insights.
1. Emotional Presence Drives Attachment
Users are more likely to return when a virtual pet feels emotionally present rather than functionally useful.
→ Design implication: Prioritize responsive behaviors and subtle emotional feedback over task-based features.
✅
👍
Low-Pressure Interaction Sustains Engagement
Users prefer interactions that feel optional and lightweight, rather than responsibilities that demand consistency.
→ Design implication: Avoid schedules, streaks, or punishment mechanics in daily interactions.
📊
3. Personalization Increases Emotional Bond
Allowing users to choose and customize their pet’s appearance and behavior strengthens emotional attachment.
→ Design implication: Design pet personalities that differ through behavior and interaction style, not just visuals.
AR Enhances Perceived “Realness”
Placing the virtual pet into the user’s physical space increases emotional immersion and perceived companionship.
→ Design implication: Focus on spatial AR interactions that feel grounded in the user’s environment.
In-depth Interview Questions
I have prepared for the interview by writing down relevant questions and creating a script. My goal is to confirm or refute my hypotheses through these interviews.
In-depth Interview
To better understand how people perceive companionship, emotional comfort, and virtual pets, I conducted in-depth interviews with participants living alone or experiencing emotional distance in their daily routines.
Christine, 25 years old
“I like the idea of having a pet, but I don’t really understand animal behavior. Sometimes I worry I wouldn’t take good care of a real one.”
Andrew, 32 years old
“What keeps me coming back is when something reacts to me in a meaningful way, not just repeating the same animation.”
Tommy, 28 years old
“I don’t want another app reminding me what to do. I want something that’s there when I want it.”
Emily, 25 years old
“I liked AR experiences because it felt like the pet was actually in my space, not just inside my phone.”
Julia, 28 years old
“I’ve tried a few wellness and pet apps, but they felt like tasks. If I miss a day, I feel guilty and stop using them.”
Kai, 28 years old
“When I come home late, I just want something comforting without having to think too much or commit to anything.”
Analysis of Respondents' Answers
After synthesizing interview data and observational insights, several consistent themes emerged. These insights directly informed the core interaction and feature decisions in Petar.
Insight 1:
Users Don’t Want Another Task
Many users expressed fatigue with apps that require daily maintenance or goal completion. Emotional comfort was associated with presence, not productivity.
→ Feature Connection:
Pet interactions (feed, groom, play) were designed as optional, moment-based rituals rather than mandatory tasks.
Insight 2:
Novelty Fades Without Emotional Feedback
Initial curiosity toward virtual pets wears off quickly if the pet does not respond meaningfully to user actions.
→ Feature Connection:
Petar’s pets react differently based on interaction frequency, timing, and context, creating subtle behavioral variation.
Insight 3:
Visual Customization Alone Is Not Enough
Users valued behavioral personality more than purely cosmetic customization.
→ Feature Connection:
Different pets exhibit unique interaction styles (e.g., playful, calm, curious), influencing how they respond in AR.
After interviewing respondents, I conducted an additional analysis of competitors 2.0 to gain a deeper understanding of the market landscape and identify opportunities for improvement.
User Personas
After conducting the analyses, I created user personas to better understand our target audience and tailor our services to their needs.
Problems & Solutions
Based on user research and interviews, several recurring challenges emerged around emotional engagement, interaction pressure, and long-term retention. The following problems and solutions guided key design decisions in Petar.
Problems
😔
Digital Companions Often Feel Shallow
⭐️
Interactions feel emotionally acknowledged rather than purely animated.
😔
Daily Commitment Creates Pressure
⭐️
Remove mandatory tasks and time-based penalties. Interactions such as feeding, grooming, and playing are optional and moment-based, allowing users to engage on their own terms.
😔
One-Size-Fits-All Pets Feel Generic
⭐️
Introduce personality variation through behavior rather than appearance alone. Different pets react uniquely to the same interaction, reinforcing individuality and emotional bonding.
😔
Screen-Based Interaction Limits Emotional Presence
⭐️
Use AR to place pets into the user’s physical environment, allowing them to exist within familiar spaces and reinforcing a sense of shared presence.
Solutions
Wireframes
Core Features
Based on user research and validated insights, the following core features were designed to support emotional connection, reduce interaction pressure, and encourage long-term engagement with Petar.
Solution 1
Personalized Pet Onboarding
Problem
Users struggle to form attachment when virtual pets feel generic or interchangeable.
Design Decision
Introduce a guided onboarding flow that allows users to customize their pet’s appearance, voice, and personality before the first interaction.
Why It Works
Personalization helps users project identity and emotion onto their pet, creating an immediate sense of ownership and emotional bonding.
Solution 2
AI-powered
real interaction
Problem
Many virtual pets feel repetitive and emotionally shallow, causing users to lose interest after initial interactions.
Design Decision
Design an AI-powered conversational system where pets respond with real-time voice, expressions, and contextual reactions.
I’ve just been tired lately...everything makes me burned out
Solution 3
Social Sharing &
Pet Friendship
Problem
Emotional experiences feel isolated when they cannot be shared or acknowledged by others.
Design Decision
Allow users to share their pet’s profile and invite friends to interact, creating lightweight social connections between pets and owners.
Solution 4
Immersive AR experience
Problem
Screen-based interactions limit emotional immersion and reduce the sense of real companionship.
Design Decision
Use AR to place pets directly into the user’s physical environment, allowing them to sit, move, and react within familiar spaces.
Different color status expression
Minimal menu
Why It Works
By sharing physical space with the user, the pet feels more real, grounded, and emotionally present—strengthening long-term attachment.
Design System
Petar’s design system was created to support emotional presence, reduce cognitive load, and maintain visual consistency across interactions.
Rather than drawing attention to the interface itself, the system is designed to quietly support moments of comfort, connection, and play.
Information Architecture
Petar’s information architecture was designed to support emotional continuity rather than task completion.
Instead of overwhelming users with dense menus or rigid hierarchies, the experience is organized into clear, lightweight sections that mirror how users naturally engage with companionship.
Appearance
Voice
Personality
All set done
Meat / cheese/ fish
Personal customaztion
Tug-of-war
Frisbe
Classic/ Unique/ Fantasy
History Review
Like/comment/share
Brush hair
Enhance cleanliness
Get points
Real time interation
Personal system
Pet’s Info
Other’s pet sharing
Groom
Upload yourself’s pet
Game
Explore time
Invite friends
Call to action
Setting your pet
Home
Community
AR Camera
Choose category
Voice talk
Customization
Change name
Log in / Sign Up
Feed
Iteration
Feedback-to-Design
Mapping
User feedback played a critical role in shaping Petar’s interaction model.
Rather than adding new features, iterations focused on clarifying emotional communication, reducing friction, and deepening perceived companionship.
🗣 Feedback 1: Voice interaction felt emotionally unclear
Andrew, 25 years old
I couldn’t really tell if my pet understood how I was feeling, or if it was just replying with a preset response.
Design Response
Added floating chat bubbles to visually anchor voice responses
Introduced scrollable conversation history for continuity
Enhanced emotional tone detection to reflect mood through voice and expression
🗣 Feedback 2: Early customization choices felt abstract
Anastasiya, 28 years old
I wasn’t sure what choosing a ‘calm’ or ‘playful’ personality actually meant until much later.
Design Response
Added preview animations and sample reactions during onboarding
Allowed users to experience voice tone and behavioral
differences before committing
🗣 Feedback 3: Interactions felt responsive, but not relational
Andrew, 25 years old
It reacts to me, but it doesn’t feel like it remembers me.
Design Response
Introduced a lightweight emotional memory system
Enabled pets to reference past interactions and emotional states subtly
Emotional Experience Validation
After prototyping the core interactions, I conducted qualitative usability testing to evaluate whether Petar felt emotionally approachable, easy to interact with, and naturally integrated into users’ spaces.
Test Scenarios
Participants were asked to:
1. Interact with the pet using voice for the first time
2. Customize appearance, voice, and personality during onboarding
3. Place the pet in their physical environment using AR
4. Describe how the experience made them feel
Key Qualitative Findings
“It’s fun to customize, but I want the pet to react more clearly to my mood.”
“I like seeing it in my room, but sometimes it doesn’t feel connected to the space.”
“I want the pet to remember what I said before—it would feel more real.”
Design Implications
Insights from testing directly informed later iterations:
Improved emotional tone detection for voice interactions
Added subtle environmental reactions in AR
Introduced lightweight emotional memory for continuity
Result
This validation confirmed that emotional clarity—not speed or efficiency—was the primary usability challenge.
Design decisions were therefore evaluated based on comfort, trust, and presence rather than task completion metrics.
Designing Petar reinforced the importance of prioritizing emotional clarity over feature completeness.Throughout the process, I learned that adding more functionality did not necessarily strengthen companionship—in many cases, it created pressure or distraction.
User feedback challenged several of my early assumptions, particularly around voice interaction and emotional presence. Iteration helped me shift from designing “reactive features” to designing relational behaviors.
If given more time, I would further explore how long-term emotional memory and adaptive AR behaviors could evolve naturally without increasing cognitive load.
This project strengthened my confidence in designing experiences that feel supportive, flexible, and emotionally intentional.
Thank You
Lomil Bessiss
Inspector RIA
Checked on March 25, 2024
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