PAWS CLINIC

Helping animal adopters find the right match quicker and increasing
the chances of happy adoptions

Reducing cognitive load and the number of steps needed for people with disabilities to report an emergency to 911.

Project Overview

Project

Overview

PROBLEM

Pet adopters need an easy way to find the right pet in the shelter that matches their family lifestyle.

WHAT I LEARNED

On adoption journey, people often lack communication and crucial information about the possible compatibility that leads to mismatches and surrenders.

SOLUTION

A mobile app that will allow adopters to browse shelter animals by desired traits, see whether a chosen pet is a good fit for the family situation and to communicate with the shelter on their journey. 

TOOLS

RESPONSIBILITIES

UX Research, UX Design, UI Design

UX Research, UX Design,

UI Design

ROLE

Sole UX/UI designer

DURATION

Jan — Mar 2022

WHY DO WE NEED ANOTHER PET ADOPTION APP?

WHY DO WE NEED ANOTHER PET ADOPTION APP?

WHY DO WE NEED ANOTHER PET ADOPTION APP?

My friend pays thousands a year in medical bills for her allergic cat that she adopted through Petfinder. Another friend had to return an aggressive dog back to the shelter. Owning a pet is a serious commitment for 10 — 15 years and the concequences of a mismatch can be catastrophic. Existing pet adoption apps don't help users make informed choices. 

USER RESEARCH

USER

RESEARCH

OBJECTIVES

To understand:

  1. how people currently use technology in adoption process; 

  2. what pain points they have along the way;

  3. what users need to increase chances of happy adoptions.

METHODOLOGIES

Secondary research

User interviews

Contextual inquiries

Competitive analysis

KEY LEARNINGS

  1. Users don't realize that both adopters and pets must meet certain criteria for successful adoption.

  2. Users who look for a perfect match can't find pet information that is crucial for decision making.

  3. There's no way users can make sure their liked pet is still available at the shelter when they go there.

  4. Users don't receive guidance and support that leads to mismatches and abandoned pets. 

WHY ARE ADOPTED PETS RETURNED?

WHY ARE ADOPTED PETS RETURNED?

According to a recent study, 1 out of 5 adopted pets are surrendered every year, because people do not have clear expectations of pet ownership and do not have access to supportive resources at the time of adoption and after. 

REASONS FOR RETURNS

Personal

Personal reasons include owner’s reasons like human health, allergies, housing issues, money issues, not enough time, moving, wrong selection etc.

Behavioral

Behavioral reasons are related to pet aggression, hyperactivity, vocalization, destruction, escaping, shyness and others.

Animal-related

Animal-related reasons include animal health, issues with kids and other pets, unexpected size when grown.

INTERVIEW TAKEAWAYS: HOW ADOPTION GOES WRONG

INTERVIEW TAKEAWAYS: HOW ADOPTION GOES WRONG

INTERVIEW TAKEAWAYS: HOW ADOPTION GOES WRONG

  1. At search stage users have limited criteria and information and are not properly guided.

  2. To avoid wasting too much time, users adopt pets that don't fully meet their criteria.

  3. Users don't get help with their new pets.

INTERVIEW TAKEAWAYS: PAIN POINT THEMES

INTERVIEW TAKEAWAYS: PAIN POINT THEMES

INTERVIEW TAKEAWAYS: PAIN POINT THEMES

COMPETITORS LIST IRRELEVANT INFORMATION

COMPETITORS LIST IRRELEVANT INFORMATION

While existing pet adoption apps allow users to browse animals online, pet profiles are limited to physical appearance and don't give users an understanding of a possible match: there's no info about behaviors, underlying health conditions, amount of attention and housing required etc. Competitors don't teach about dealing with problem pets.

Competitors don't answer important questions

Competitors don't answer important questions

Competitors lack in desired functionality

Competitors lack in desired functionality

USER PAIN POINTS: RESULTS OF RESEARCH PHASE

USER PAIN POINTS: RESULTS OF RESEARCH PHASE

USER PAIN POINTS: RESULTS OF RESEARCH PHASE

Poor content

  1. Users have to browse through hundreds of irrelevant search results

  2. Users can’t filter out irelevant pets

  3. A lot of crucial information is not provided

No personalization

  1. Users’ activity not saved

  2. Users can’t set up notifications

  3. Users keep seeing the same pets again and again

Poor communication

  1. Existing apps are not timely updated

  2. No user-shelter communication

  3. Rejections after months of search

  4. No post-adoption support

MEET JASON

Jason is a persona representative of a big group of conscientious people who prefer to adopt rather than buy from a breeder. Like many, he doesn't know what to expect from adoption process.

User journey map

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Jason needs a quick and easy way to find the right pet in the shelter that matches his family lifestyle.

HOW MIGHT WE?

How might we help Jason understand what to expect from adoption? 

How might we help Jason save time on his adoption journey?

How might we help Jason and his newly adopted pet overcome after-adoption stress?

DESIGN PROCESS

DESIGN

PROCESS

MATCH ADOPTER AND PET NEEDS!

MATCH ADOPTER AND PET NEEDS!

A useful function such as Pet & Adopter Matching can save users a lot of time by predicting compatibility and adoption chances. Only one of the existing apps has a similar feature, but mostly focuses on personality matching. I decided to take it further and add a very practical component to this – adopter’s living conditions. Users will save time not opening unmatched pet profiles and not attempting to adopt, say, a big active dog into a condo. 

APP FUNCTIONALITIES

APP FUNCTIONALITIES

Search & filtering

See only relevant results from the vast database applying filters

Booking visits

Book a visit to meet a pet without calling the shelter

Pet Profile

Learn about pet history, personality and limitations to decide if it's the one

Help center

Exchange messages with the shelter and read articles about pet adoption

User account

Track your browsing history, interactions with the shelter, create an Adopter profile etc.

Saved pets

Save pets you're interested in for easy access later

Matching

Compare Adopter profile with Pet profile and predict adoption success

Saved search alerts

Get notification about a certain pet type as soon as they're added

PET/ADOPTER MATCHING: 1ST ATTEMPT

PET/ADOPTER MATCHING: 1ST ATTEMPT

Based on similar apps where matching feature is implemented, I decided that the best way would be to create an onboarding process where users create their profiles along with app installation.

Users filled out their information (living arrangements, time for pet, etc), as well as desired pet characteristics. As a result, only relevant results would show up in search results.

CAN USERS UNDERSTAND MATCHING?

CAN USERS UNDERSTAND MATCHING?

TASK

Pretend you want to adopt a dog. Create an account, choose one of the dogs in the recommended section and book a visit.

GOAL

Users were expected to complete this task within 5 minutes without any issues.

ALLOW TO OPT OUT OF MATCHING

ALLOW TO OPT OUT OF MATCHING

With millions of apps available, users want to quickly evaluate if a product is worth their time without lengthy onboarding. They should try using the app without the matching feature first. They can create profiles later.

Easy registration

Give users a choice to skip
registration and register later

Give users a choice to skip registration and register later

Give users a choice to skip registration and register later

Give users a choice to skip registration and register later

Match later

Let users decide if they want to use the feature and then to use it

Explain matching

Make matching criteria easily
understandable and discoverable

Make matching criteria easily understandable and discoverable

Make matching criteria easily Understandable and discoverable

Make matching criteria easily understandable and discoverable

Check activity

Let users see their recent
activity on profile page
(eg. bookings)

Let users see their recent activity on profile page
(eg. bookings)

Let users see their recent activity on profile page (eg. bookings)

Let users see their recent activity on profile page
(eg. bookings)

FINAL DESIGNS

NEW QUICK ONBOARDING

NEW QUICK ONBOARDING

I learned the lessons of my usability study and added an option to continue as guest or register by simply providing a phone number. I chose to use phone numbers for registration because users will later receive notifications on their phones. Those who skip will be prompted to create an account later.

SOLVING USER NEEDS ON HOMEPAGE

SOLVING USER NEEDS ON HOMEPAGE

SAVING TIME

I added notifications — about upcoming visits, when new specific pets are added, etc.; "new pets" and "based on last search" features.

MATCHING

Users are prompted to create accounts, where all users' information and browsing activity is saved; and to fill out Adopter profiles

RELEVANT FILTERS

RELEVANT FILTERS

I added most important filters like health, training, disability, etc.

INFORMATIVE PET PROFILES

INFORMATIVE PET PROFILES

MATCHING

Pet profiles made more informative and "matching for adoption" feature made them more useful; users equipped with functions to save pet, book visits, exchange messages with the shelter. Information added about pet profile updates.

Example of a good match

Example of a bad match

SAVING USERS' ACTIVITY

USER ACCOUNT

User account contains information about user activity like saved pets, saved searches, booked visits, previous adoptions, donations etc. Users can fill out their adopter profiles to allow the system compare their info with pet info for adoption success prediction.

GUIDING & PROVIDING HELP

GUIDING & PROVIDING HELP

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

Users can read about pre- and post-adoption nuances that can make their adoption journey more informed and thus successful.

HI-FI PROTOTYPE

HI-FI PROTOTYPE

Here's the full user flow for Jason.  As a reminder, Jason wants a medium-sized dog that doesn't require outdoor space and frequent walks, feels alright when left alone, is healthy and energetic. 

Here's the full user flow for Jason.  As a reminder, Jason wants a medium-sized dog that doesn't require outdoor space and frequent walks, feels alright when left alone, is healthy and energetic. 

View prototype

LEARNINGS & NEXT STEPS

FOCUS ON THE USER

Only experiencing my users' confusion during the first usability testing helped me comprehend what it realy means.

ITERANTION AND ITERATION

Iteration is key, but sometimes it is important to move forward in the process and give up on your perfectionism. 

NEXT STEPS

Another usability study with the prototype that looks close to final product to understand whether users see value in features like matching, visit booking and help center; whether the flow completion time is shorter than competitors' and whether my product is enjoyable.

VIEW MY OTHER CASE STUDIES

I'm available for work. Let's talk!

olyalwarren@gmail.com

I'm available for work. Let's talk!

olyalwarren@gmail.com

I'm available for work. Let's talk!

olyalwarren@gmail.com

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