Pawesome pet Rescue
Responsive pet adoption platform that connects you to shelters, rescues, and fosters
Goals:
Design a responsive pet adoption platform that connects hopeful pet parents to shelters, rescue centers, and foster homes.
Role:
Product Designer
Product Strategy, User Research, Interaction, Visual design, Prototyping & Testing
Duration:
1 month
Tools:
Figma
Miro
Adobe XD
Illustrator
Photoshop
Google Workspace
problem
Shelters and rescues are always dealing with overflow of dogs, cats, rabbits, and other desperate animals in need of a home. Aspiring pet parents are having a tough time finding the right fit for their family or living situation, due to overwhelm during the actual search. It is very difficult getting ahold of busy shelters, and a bit confusing knowing the difference between shelters, rescue centers, and foster homes.
Many pet rescue sites do not update in real-time, the following:
Availability status of pet
If pet has many pending inquiries or adoption applications from interested candidates
How long pet has been listed for
Opportunity
Pawesome is a seamless and responsive pet adoption platform that acts as a hub between the aspiring pet parent, shelters, rescue centers, and foster homes. It includes the following features:
Pet info is detailed and updated (personality, history, vaccines, neutered/spayed, etc).
Pet adoption status is continuously updated in real-time so the wishful pet parent is always in the loop on availability/adoption process of their desired pet(s).
Notifications if a personally favorited pet is in high demand or if a pet inquiry/adoption application that is in process, has been pending for 30 days or more.
phase 1: empathize
Time to enrich your life with the addition of an adorable furball! I will make it my goal to make saving a sweet doggie or kitty as easy as possible!
Let’s start with...
Competitor Analysis
I researched other similar pet adoption brands, and found 2 direct competitors that offer similar services, and 2 that were more focused on No Kill shelter educational resources, and animal rehabilitation - but both still offer pet adoption and rescue.
User Interviews
Next I conducted user interviews on 4 participants who have either used online pet adopted services, or adopted from a brick and mortar shelter/rescue.
Users identified a clear need for:
Full medical and behavioral history of animal
Up-to-date current status of pet (adopted, potential applications pending, etc)
Easy communication with pet lister/contact person
Trial period with pet to make sure it is a good fit
Empathy Map
I dove deeper into the user’s mind to figure out their motivations for adopting/rescuing a pet.
Companionship
Home protection
Extension of family
Saving animals from euthanasia
Love for animals
Emotional support
What are user pain points during the pet adoption process?
Difficulties communicating with shelters, rescue centers, etc.
Taking pet home only to discover it’s not a good fit.
Completing applications for pets without knowing pet has already been adopted.
Lack of medical and behavioral history of pet.
User Persona
I crafted a user persona based off user interviews, to represent the target users for this experience.
Now that we have gotten into the mind-set of an aspiring fur-parent, let’s proceed to the next step!
phase 2: Define
Site Map
Based on my interviews, empathy map, and similar businesses in the market, I mapped out the site map below. It is rather straightforward, with the pet search features at the forefront of the information architecture.
User Flows
To design a user-centric product, I need user flows that allow me to understand what our users need in order to accomplish their goals. I created 4 user flows that a user will mainly carry out.
phase 3: Ideate
How Might We
I wanted to think more out of the box, so I brainstormed with HMWs to come up with solutions to user problems.
I focused more on features that kept user updated on their favorite pets, since this was one of the areas where user friction could be improved considerably:
Pet adoption status
Pending inquiries or applications that have not been followed up on for 30 days or more (easy to track if contact person never responded to inquiry)
If a pet has many inquiries/applicants
Design System and Color Theme
Below is the design system of Pawesome, I wanted to give it a happy and whimsical vibe, since that is the general spirit of the pet adoption experience.
I used Orange and Blue as the main accent colors because, according to Color Psychology, orange evokes a friendly and warm feeling, while blue gives a sense of trust and calm. I wanted the overall aesthetic to be fun yet simple.
phase 4: Prototype
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes + Design Considerations
I was starting to feel confident in my ability to help someone save an animal through a good user experience. To make my designs interactive, I created mid-fidelity wireframes. While constructing the wireframes, I made sure that my design solutions could answer the following user-centric questions.
How can Pawesome provide trust and confidence for a first time pet adopter?
How can Pawesome help user accomplish goals in as little steps as possible?
How can Pawesome foster user trust in platform’s listed pet info/history/medical info/etc?
How can Pawesome guide users to choose a pet that best fits their preferences/home/lifestyle/etc?
phase 5: Test
Usability Study
Now onto user testing! I tested 4 participants through moderated Zoom video calls.
The goals of usability testing included:
To evaluate the usability and learnability of the Pawesome pet adoption site
To iterate on any problems that prevent users from accomplishing their tasks
I selected 6 tasks for users to carry out, that covered the main flows of the site.
To evaluate the learnability of the site, I asked users to complete one task at a time, while thinking aloud. The site proved highly usable because every user successfully completed the six tasks on their first try.
Reiterations
I reiterated on my designs a couple of times based on user insights and feedback, until I arrived at the final product.
Polished High Fidelity Wireframes
Now we are really on our way to adding a sweet furry family member to our home! Here are a few screens of the high fidelity UI design
Responsive Design
Based on my initial user test research, users mentioned that they usually like to browse and favorite pets on mobile first and then send out inquiries and applications on desktop. Based on this insight, I made sure that the adoption experience worked seamlessly and ensure that features remained consistent across each device.
High Fidelity Prototype
Key Takeaways
Impact
3/4 participants that tested have stated that the site was easy to navigate and intuitive.
2/4 participants prefer a more subdued color scheme.
All participants liked the whimsical and fun aesthetic.
All participants liked that “My Favorite Pets” under member account, had pet adoption status update, member application status, and info on how many interests pet had.
Limitations
Due to time constraints, was unable to user test final prototype, as originally intended.
What I learned
If user is using a service or product that has a long list of options, they always gravitate towards the search bar/filter option, instead of the header titles or dropdown menu, if there is one.
If a process takes more than a few minutes, the user wants to know ahead of time before even starting the process. If it is lengthy, they prefer a guide on how much progress they are making.
Overall usability meets the goals of all users.
Stimulating visuals keep users engaged through the search process.
Next Steps
Conduct more testing on final prototype for further improvements on user experience.
Add a Help Chat Bot feature.
Include a No Kill section to educate users.
Link to animal rehabilitation centers.
Closing thoughts
I really enjoyed working on this case study because I myself, have experience adopting my beloved cats through an online platform. Although most of the process was an exciting and enjoyable experience, I had some issues with consistent communication with some contact persons. It was frustrating not knowing why I wasn’t receiving a response, or why I did receive one but with no follow-up. I really wanted to design a product that addressed problems like these, and was very excited to interview and test users to confirm my hypotheses!
Having fur babies is incredibly enriching and adds warmth and unconditional love to any home. You take care of them as they take care of you. Shelters and rescues are all overflowing with the sweetest hearts that need love and a home, or else they will eventually be put down - this is an issue that definitely needs improvement and advocacy!