With an increase in pet ownership across the pandemic, more families are opting to bring their four-legged friends on vacation. Over half of pet owners are planning to travel with their pets and roughly 2 million domestic animals board commercial flights each year. Also, finding a hotel, Airbnb or other rental that accepts animals is a demanding task on its own, but figuring out how different properties define “pet-friendly” is an additional challenge.
With over a third of owners saying they simply won’t travel without their pets, making traveling with pets as accessible as possible would be beneficial for both travelers and businesses.
I interviewed 5 users for this exercise, 4 out of 5 are not native New Yorkers but have lived in the city for more than 5 years.
Interests and Values
Emma is a freelance designer that travels frequently with her partner and her dog Birdie. She doesn’t visit the same place twice and is always on the lookout for new adventures. She is frustrated by the fact that she has to deal with limitations, paperwork and additional fees every time she travels with Birdie. Birdie is a Cocker Spaniel and is slightly too large to fit in some of the airline size standards. She expects to find a solution where she can have a seamless, dog-friendly booking experience with less friction and no hidden fees.
Needs
• Emma needs dog friendly transportation and accommodations.
• She needs to find the correct information in order to have Birdie’s documentation ready for a trip.
• She needs to make sure in advance Birdie will be able to board the plane.
