A Dog in the Bizzaro Garden of Eden
Get it? Because it's about Apple.
Here are two important things to know for context before I start:
My best friend is a Siberian Husky named Sura,
I live in the Apple ecosystem.
Okay. Now let me give you a few qualifiers about the above statements. While I live in the Apple ecosystem, I would not call myself an evangelist. I have a MacBook because it’s the machine my last employer gave me before I went back to school. I have an iPad because my research told me that they have longevity and can manage heavy illustration software (6 years later, my research has held true). And I have an iPhone because my partner has an iPhone. Let me add additional context to that last statement. My partner does not have an iPhone because I have an iPhone. So yes, I live in the Apple ecosystem the same way an agnostic person raised in a religious family goes to a place of worship — the product, community, and values are great, but I just don’t have the same relationship with it as everyone else.
The biggest frustration I have with living in this “reverse Garden of Eden” (how I refer to Apple’s ecosystem) is because of my best friend. The analysis of the advantages of Apple’s ecosystem has been done to death. For more on this, read the Tech Journeyman’s blog or watch MKBHD’s video. The TL/DR is that Apple is great at creating a “greater than the sum of its parts UX” with its ecosystem. That is all well and good, but my best friend is still a Siberian Husky named Sura.
Okay, I should probably explain. Huskies are beautiful, playful, caring, and smart. They are also mischievous, energetic, stubborn, and daring. What do all of these things ladder up to? I am terrified of losing her and she just wants to explore new opportunities for play. When she’s off-leash, getting her back requires a series of tricks (me, not her), treats, and tranquilizers. Not actual tranquilizers. Just playing with her to the point where she’s tired enough to sneak the leash back on her. That being said, I may, eventually, need actual tranquilizers if this keeps up. But what happens when we’re not in a dog park and she can roam free? My biggest fear, that’s what.
Okay, I still haven’t explained anything. Here is what is frustrating for me. Apple’s biggest markets are in the Americas, Europe, Greater China, and Japan. The only country that falls under any of Apple’s biggest markets that is also in the top 100 countries for birth rate is Mexico at 99th out of 100. By contrast, household pet ownership has increased steadily with nearly 70% of U.S homes having a pet.
I’ve tried several GPS trackers on Sura. They’re bulky — both the physical device and the UI of the companion app. The results are consistent: she chews up the tracker and/or I chew out the app. They’re also often expensive with a cost associated with purchasing the device and a subscription fee for using it. As a result, I have resigned to return to my reverse Garden of Eden and stuck an AirTag on Sura’s collar. This has been a solution for my fear the same way vertical striped sweaters make me look taller. I’m still only 5’6” and 9/10 instances I would need a reliable tracker for Sura, the AirTag is useless.
My recommendation: Apple needs to start designing and building for pets and they should start with an Apple Watch-type product that flows seamlessly into their ecosystem. The market is primed for it and growing, the need is there, and they have existing products that they can draw on for UI/UX inspiration. The product would largely be an industrial design and engineering problem with limited need for an on-device UI. Apple could even get away with employing the exact same design as they have done for the AirTag shell and incorporating elements of the Apple Watch hardware that are necessary for GPS tracking.
This is also an opportunity for Apple to generate UX research insights into their mapping software. For existing GPS pet-tracking products, you are able to define “designated areas” where the pet can roam free without the owner being notified. Understanding user behaviour for this functionality can help Apple improve their “Find My” UI and give their users a better connection between themselves, their devices/objects, and the space they occupy.
Ultimately, a product like this is unlikely for an organization like Apple where the focus is so deeply in human-computer interaction. However, consumer electronics have already been working with ambient technology with products like the HomePod, Google Home, or Alexa. I think it’s time that Apple started building for ambient consumers of their technology — the household pets. A reliable pet-tracker that is integrated into the Apple ecosystem could finally be what pushes me over the edge to become an evangelist and encourage others to join me.
