Fur-ever: Pet Adoption for an Animal Shelter

Overview

The pet adoption website for an animal shelter aims to connect potential adopters with animals in need of loving homes. The website's primary purpose is to facilitate the adoption process, making it easier for users to find and adopt pets.

Project Duration

July 2023 to August 2023

My Role

Lead UI/UX Designer, UX Researcher

Responsibilities

User research, paper and digital wireframing, low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, design iterations.

Problem

Many animals end up in shelters due to various circumstances, and finding suitable forever homes for them can be challenging. Traditional adoption processes might be cumbersome, leading to lower adoption rates.

Goals

The website aims to streamline the adoption process and increase the number of successful adoptions. Improve Animal Welfare by finding loving homes and Enhance User Experience: The website should offer a user-friendly interface to attract more visitors and potential adopters.

In the user research conducted for the pet adoption website, a comprehensive evaluation of the user experience was performed to enhance usability and optimize the adoption process. The research involved a diverse group of participants, each engaging with the website's features and functionalities. The primary objectives were to identify pain points, gather insights, and make informed enhancements to create a more seamless and user-friendly adoption journey.

Pain Points

Limited Accessibility to Information

Users expressed frustration at the lack of easily accessible and comprehensive information about adoptable pets. They desired more details about each pet's behavior, compatibility with other pets or children, and any special needs, which were not readily available in traditional adoption processes.

Time and Location Constraints

Users mentioned that traditional adoption processes often required physical visits to shelters during limited hours, which could be challenging for those with busy schedules or those living far from the shelter's location.

Experience

The overall experience of adopting a pet online is challenging and frustrating.

Personas

Luna is a career-focused professional who loves animals. She wants to easily find an apartment-friendly pet, so that she can have a loving companion in her new city.

Andrew is a father of 2 kids, he wants to find a family-friendly pet so that he can teach his children about responsibility and create beautiful memories together.

Sitemap

Difficulty with website navigation was one of the primary pain point for users thus creation of a sitemap is essential.Having a strategic information architecture for the overall navigation of this website will be improved. The goal was to make the navigation easy for each users.

Paper Wireframes

These paper wireframes are four different versions of the homepage versions and an image of the refined version. Each user pain points about navigation, contents, browsing and the adoption flow was kept in mind during this process.

Paper Wireframes (screen size variations)

One of the goal is to make the website accessible so different screen size variations were design to ensure that website will be fully responsive.

Digital Wireframes

Thoughtful information hierarchy was implemented to ensure that essential details about each pet, such as compatibility, and health, were prominently displayed. This hierarchy aimed to address the pain point of limited accessibility to information in traditional methods.

Digital Wireframes (screen size variations)

Designing the website to be responsive ensures that it adapts to different screen sizes, making it usable on a variety of devices, including smartphones and tablets.

Low-fidelity Prototype

This show the flow of searching for a pet through filling up the adoption application form up until submission of the form.

View low-fidelity prototype

Usability Study: Parameters

Study Type

Unmoderated usability study

Participants

5 Participants

Location

Philippines, remote

Length

20-30 minutes

Usability Study: Findings

Application Form

Users found application form overwhelming and long

Recently Adopted

Users want to see pets that are recently adopted

Confirmation

Users wants to have a confirmation that the adoption application form was submitted successfully

Mockups

Based on the insights from the usability study users wants to also primarily see pets that are recently adopted. This give them the more excitement of having a successful adoption.

Application form is overwhelming and long, it was subdivided into different parts and provided labels, status and a confirmation message after the form has been submitted.

Mockups
(screensize variations)

Designing the website to be responsive ensures that it adapts to different screen sizes, making it usable on a variety of devices, including smartphones and tablets.

High-fidelity Prototype

Flow of the high-fidelity prototype followed the same flow as the lo-fi prototype, results from the usability study was put into consideration while designing the prototype.

View high-fidelity prototype

Accessibility Considerations

Accessible color and contrast

Using sufficient color contrast between text and background enhances readability for users with low vision or color blindness. Text could be easily distinguishable from the background.

Hierarchical headings

Used headings to show hierarchy in my designs to help users easily navigate the page.

Accessible Forms

Structuring forms properly, using clear labels and placeholders

"Using your website has been a delightful experience, and I can confidently say that I'll be using it to adopt a pet in the near future. The convenience and thoughtful design really stand out. I'll also be sure to share my positive journey with others, inspiring them to choose your platform for their pet adoption needs."

Takeaways

Impact

Improved User Experience: The website's user-centric design, functional filters, and clear adoption process guidance significantly improved the overall user experience, making it easier for potential adopters to navigate and find their perfect furry companion.

What I learned

User-Centered Approach: Prioritizing user needs and pain points led to a more effective and successful platform. Addressing user concerns directly enhanced the adoption journey.
Importance of Accessibility: Incorporating accessibility features made the website inclusive, ensuring that individuals with disabilities could also benefit from the adoption process.
Visual Storytelling Matters: Compelling visuals, particularly high-quality pet photos, played a crucial role in creating an emotional connection and motivating users to adopt.

Next Steps

To identify any additional areas of need and ideate on new features.

Conduct a follow-up usability testing.

Thank you for your time reviewing my work on Fur-ever!
If you’d like to see more or get in touch, my contact information is provided below.

Email: hello@charmerazo.design

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