2020 saw a spike in pet adoptions. As more people worked from home, many of them sought companionship from animals. I’ve designed a web flow for users to meet and adopt a pet from an animal shelter. Users set up their profile and background information ahead of time for the shelter to approve. Users are able to view extensive information about the dog or cat’s behavior, personality, and health and are even shown a video prior to scheduling a visit. The goal is to match humans to their new best friends.
Many ordering apps take a commision fee of 20-30% and is not sustainable (source, source). In this day and age of quick and easy ordering and the desire to perform tasks as efficiently as possible, small businesses need a way to compete. I wanted to design an attractive and easy-to-use app that appeals to the typical customer and rewards their loyalty.
I did a competitive analysis with bakeries local to my area. I went to these bakeries in person and quickly observed clientele researched their approach to online ordering and reaching their customer base.
I conducted user research through a small sample survey to discover demographics of pet adopters and their experience in adopting an animal.
“We were able to go into the kitten room and play with the kittens before picking one. However, they didn’t have quite as many kittens as expected. There were lots more advertised on their website that had been already adopted by the time we visited.”
I created a user persona based on the findings above, encompassing the demographics, frustrations, and goals of the survey respondents I believe this persona could help me focus on who to design for. Having a persona is useful to tie decisions on a real person one can empathize with instead of just creating a website.
I created a sitemap to create a full overview of usability. It helped to brainstorm which pages led to which, and how these pages would connect to complete the user goal: to adopt an animal they will love.
Through user research, creating a persona, and creating a site map, I conducted a 15 minute sketching session to quickly produce design ideas which I then translated to Adobe XD as a digital wireframe.
I added a hero image that would capture the user’s attention and emotion. The adopt and donate buttons are front and center but are also located on the menu. The home page includes a featured success story, articles with tips, and a footer with contact information, their address and hours, a newsletter signup, and social links.
The high fidelity prototype includes a search filter, favorite button. and leads the user through the process of scheduling a meet with the pet. The hope is that the user would have a profile prefilled and approved by the shelter so when a user sees an animal available on the website and schedules to meet with them, application delays would not be the cause the animal to be adopted by another family, which was a common frustration during user research.
I also created a sticker sheet to easily reference my design choices and themes all in one organized space.
I conducted unmoderated usability studies with five participants. Two men and three women between the ages of 26-40. I gave them several tasks to complete and vocalize any thoughts and frustrations they may have.
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Creating a survey on animal adoption opinions and demographics was useful to know problems I would not have thought of on my own. As for the website itself, I have three adopted animals and animal shelters are quite amazing, it’s a place for people to find a new member of their family, and a place for animals to get a second chance at a happy and healthy home life. Were I to continue to work on this case study I would conduct more rigorous user testing and develop the user flow with more detail, including filtering animals by more specific parameters, seeing if users get stuck, and possibly create a user flow of what happens when a user has met the animal and wants to continue with the adoption.
I have a passion for design and I cannot wait for my next project. You can email me directly at mcheco.tung@gmail.com or find me on one of the sites below.
