The problem: 

The Fredericksburg SPCA has noticed that many people are having difficulty understanding their adoption process, which has resulted in consistently low adoption rates.

Understanding the User

For this project, I undertook the task of conducting user research for improving the adoption flow of an animal shelter. This research involved employing a variety of qualitative research methods such as interviews, system usability studies, a net promoter scale, and observations to gain insights into the current adoption journey. By engaging with shelter staff, prospective adopters, and even individuals who had previously adopted animals, I was able to gather a holistic understanding of pain points, motivations, and expectations at each stage of the process. With this invaluable knowledge, I was able to identify pain points in the adoption process such as users not understanding the steps that need to be taken to adopt, what the estimated total cost of the adoption will be, and what forms are necessary to complete.

Scheduling

Users noted in initial interviews frustrations on not being able to schedule a time to meet with animals. They were looking for a better way to establish their interest and begin the adoption process.

In the user journey map, I followed what steps a user would take on a normal adoption website. This allowed me to find pain points the users may experience within this process. 

Sitemap

In my research, I found one of the major pain points were that many were unable to easily locate where adoption information may be.

My goal was to ensure users were able to locate all adoption information within the adoption page of the website.

Paper Wireframes

Once the sitemap was established, I then began sketching out pages of paper wireframes. This allowed me to ensure I am accounting for how I can mitigate pain points and ensure all necessary information was on each page. 

Since many users are searching for their new pets on the go, I wanted to account for a variety of screen sizes that would accommodate for all settings including mobile, tablet and desktop.

To ensure users were able to best prepare for an adoption, my first plan of action was to ensure users had immediate access to an exhaustive list of resources. I also wanted to ensure the available animals were in an obvious area on the main page to entice the users to browse through. I wanted to also ensure users understood what events and volunteer opportunities were coming up in the case they wanted to attend/get involved.

Usability Study Paramaters

Study type:

Unmoderated usability study

Messaging

During the usability study, I found users were unlikely to read a message longer than a sentence or two.

Accessibility Considerations

Touch boundaries

To allow for increased accessibility, I ensured my touch boundaries were as large as they could be without impeding on the capabilities of other items on the pages.

Going Forward

Takeaways

Next Steps

Conduct another usability study to understand if there are any further points of contention or new features that would be beneficial to the process.

Project duration:

April 2023- May 2023

The goal: 

Design a pet adoption flow where users are able to understand how the process works and begin the initial steps in the adoption. 

My role: 

• Lead UX Designer

• Lead UI Designer

• Lead UX Researcher 

Information Availability

Users were consistently reporting confusion on how the adoption process works, what the total costs would look like, and what information they would need to provide to complete the adoption.

Impact: 

Users were able to easily begin the adoption process from the comfort of their own environment and were equipped with a wealth of knowledge on the adoption process. This allows for a more streamlined adoption event, increasing the likelihood of more adoptions. 

Adoption Status

Users felt like they were in the dark when they filled out initial information on other adoption sites and did not trust the information being gathered was secure. 

Since the information on the homepage was so integral to how a user will interact with the website, I wanted to ensure it followed a similar pattern and design of the desktop version. 

Location:

United States, remote

Search

Users were able to find the spaces they wanted in a straightforward way. They did not resort to using a search function during the adoption process.

Responsibilities:

• User research

• Market research

• Conducting usability studies 

• Low & high fidelity mockups 

• Low & high fidelity prototyping

• Iterating on designs & responsiveness

• Paper and digital wireframing

Participants:

5 participants

Major integral pages of the website are available at the top of all screens

Immediate call to action of available animals 

In my initial iteration of the designs, I wanted to ensure the user was able to understand how the final product would function. I wanted the user to be able to practice how they would schedule an appointment and begin the adoption flow. 

Length:

15-20 minutes

Liked Animals

Users reported they appreciated a feature to allow for them to look back and see who they liked to assist in the decision-making process. 

Based on the feedback given during the usability study, I made a few changes. The first was to place the search feature at the top of the page to allow for easy access on any page of the website. I also made sure the view all button was different than the other shapes of animals profiles to increase attention to this aspect of the site.

Making a decision on adopting an animal is an important process. In my mockups, I wanted to ensure users were able to filter through animals in a seamless manner. I added a screen allowing users to complete an initial filter on the type of animal, followed by adding a list of filters to further narrow down the animal you are looking for. 

Headers & Subheaders

I have clearly labeled each page using headers and subheaders to allow for screen reader accessibility.

A list of resources to ensure users are prepared for owning animals

Once the mockups were complete, I continued to prototype in a similar pattern as the low-fidelity prototype with some necessary changes noted in the usability study such as having more filter options.

Landmarks

The landmarks allow for those using assistive technologies to efficiently navigate through the site.

What I learned:

In my initial interviews, I noticed there were few snags in beginning the adoption process online, however there were still a few places where the user got held up. In making small changes to things such as messaging and filtering, it made the process much more seamless and user-friendly.

Further ideate on how to best streamline completion of forms.

Further ideate on how to manage calendar information and other flows not included in the adoption flow