Two Creeks Veterinary
Design study for a vet clinic whose homepage answers the question "Is this an emergency?"
A design study. Two Creeks Veterinary is a made-up business, so the copy, prices and details are invented to show how the design works.
Overview
Project overview
A made-up clinic for dogs and cats in Wilmington. Owners usually land on a vet's site when something is wrong, so the first screen is a guide: tap what's happening and it says whether to call now, book a visit today, or wait for a regular visit.
Approach
How I approached it
This is a design study for a vet clinic I made up. People rarely visit a vet’s website for fun. The dog ate something off the counter, or the cat hasn’t touched her food since yesterday, and the owner has one question: do I call right now? So the first screen answers it.
The right half of that screen is a guide headed “Is this an emergency?” You tap what’s happening and a panel opens with a verdict and the reason for it. Call us now turns the panel yellow and sets the phone number large. Book a visit today and This can wait for a regular visit each come with a button that fills in the booking form for you. The page knows the clinic’s hours, so at night it tells you to go to a 24-hour emergency hospital instead of waiting until morning. The advice stays conservative, and “When in doubt, call.” sits right under the choices.
Below the guide the page gets quieter. It covers what the clinic treats, starting prices, the steps for a new client and the vets with their own pets, then ends with the booking form. Lilac, plum and one rounded typeface keep it friendly, and the photos sit in soft blob shapes so the page looks less like a stock template.
What was delivered
Deliverables
- An "Is this an emergency?" guide in the right half of the first screen: tap one of eight problems and get one of three plain answers, each with its reason
- A call-now answer that sets the phone number in large type and, using the clinic's own clock, says to go to a 24-hour emergency hospital when the clinic is closed
- Book-today and can-wait answers whose buttons fill in the booking form's reason and day
- Starting prices for exams, vaccines, dental cleanings and spay or neuter, and the steps a new client takes before the first visit
- The vets as text, each with the pets they have at home, and a booking form that turns down Sundays and past dates
Key decisions
- Lilac and deep plum, with sunny yellow kept for the guide's answers, so the most urgent answer is the brightest thing on the page
- One typeface, Lexend, which was designed for easy reading, set large for an owner reading on a phone in a hurry
- Dog and cat photos in soft blob shapes instead of rectangles, and a wavy creek line joining the new-client steps