Madra’s Playground
2 min read
UX research & product direction — website and training app for a dog adventure park
Overview
Madra’s Playground is a start-up creating a secure outdoor adventure space where dogs can explore, socialise and learn new skills, alongside training classes and supporting digital tools. The website and mobile app were intended to handle information, bookings and ongoing training tips for owners between classes.
This was my largest project at the time. I led the UX research and contributed idea generation to help shape both the physical offering and the digital products, working closely with a designer/developer.
The challenge
The team needed clearer evidence of what dog owners actually wanted before investing further in features and development.
Key questions included:
What kind of space and activities would feel genuinely useful?
Was there real demand for training classes and digital follow-up support?
Was a dog-walking service worth including?
How should the website and app be structured so owners could find what they needed easily?
There was a risk of building around assumptions rather than real owner behaviour.
What I did
I ran a focused research and early product definition phase that included:
User interviews in local parks with dog owners (offering a free drink or complimentary training class in exchange for their time)
An in-depth discussion with the in-house dog trainer
Creation of two personas representing the main user groups that emerged
A competitive audit of similar services, including Dogwood Adventure Park and local training providers
Support defining information architecture and site maps for both the website and app
Remote tree testing with 30 participants recruited through dog-related social media groups, using Maze
Key interview findings:
90% wanted a space similar to a children’s soft-play centre, with structures to stimulate minds, muscles and noses
55% were interested in a small on-site café for owners
80% responded positively to obedience classes combined with an app offering training tips for home use
Only 30% were interested in a dog-walking service; 70% said the local market was already saturated
Tree testing showed the website structure was clear, while the app structure was more complex and needed simplification.
Outcome
The research directly shaped product direction. Adventure play, training classes and digital support tools were prioritised. The walking service was de-emphasised.
Personas kept decisions grounded in real owner needs. The competitive review highlighted limited accessibility across similar services and identified Dogwood Adventure Park as the main competitive threat. Information architecture and tree testing gave the developer a clearer structure to build from, with specific guidance on where the app needed to be simplified.
The project continued beyond this phase, with ongoing UX guidance as the website and app developed.
What I learned
Putting research in front of feature decisions prevented effort being spent on a walking service the local market did not need, and strengthened the case for training support and an on-site social space for owners.
Involving the developer directly in the interviews made the findings more tangible and improved collaboration through later design and build decisions. It was a clear reminder that even a promising idea becomes sharper when tested against real behaviour early.
