Paw adoption center
Paw is a pet adoption center located in Mountain View, California. As an adoption center and animal rescuers, its main objective is to promote the adoption of pets as well as awareness through rescue days and donations. Paw's target audience is anyone who loves animals and is interested in adopting, donating, and/or rescuing a pet.
Project overview
The Problem:
People interested in adopting do not have a web page where they can find the available pets, so they only have the option of attending in-person to have information about the pets
The Goal:
Create a web page where the user can view the pets in the adoption center and fill out the adoption application.
My Role:
As a general UI/UX designer, I was involved in a one-on-one project where I designed a virtual tour app. In this project, I used Design Thinking, so I started working on conducting interviews and define through exercises like user personas and emphatic maps. Then I ideated using Crazy Eight and how might we, for later start to design high and low fidelity prototypes, paper and digital wireframes, UI kit, navigation schematics, design interaction, voice guidance, and product tone, finally I tested the app through usability test.
Understanding the user
User research - Personas - User journey maps
User research: summary
Conduct joint research studies to create empathy maps to understand the needs of users. Most were people who wanted to adopt at some point but could not do it online since most pet adoption centers did not have a web page and, in turn, those that did have one lacked veterinary information on the animals.
This confirms the initial assumptions about Paw users, but the investigation also found that other causes that made adoption difficult were that they did not have the option to fill out an adoption form online, so when looking for an interesting pet, it was no longer available.
User research: pain points
Lack of information:
Users lacked veterinary information
Accessibility:
Users did not have the option to fill out an online application for adoption
Accessibility:
The pet adoption pages were only compatible with computers
AI:
Users found it difficult to navigate adoption web pages due to a lack of signage
Persona: Adam Parra
Problem statement:
Adam is an English teacher, father, and husband at the same time, he has always liked animals, in recent months he has tried to find the ideal pet to be the new member of the family, but with a full-time job and The care your child requires has made it very difficult for you to take the time to find the ideal pet.
User journey map
The user's journey map showed how necessary it is for users to have an application like Paw, where they can easily and easily adopt pets.
Starting the design
Sitemap - Paper wireframes - Digital wireframes - Low-fidelity prototype - Usability studies
The sitemap's main objective is to be able to generate a previous selection of pets, where they can find photos, veterinary information, requirements, and more, to achieve better adoption by the user.
Paper wireframes
I took the time to sketch the different pages of the app on paper, prioritizing accessibility, and easy and understandable handling to combat the weak points of the users.
Digital wireframes
Following the results of the user's research, I decided to add a favorites section on the adoption page, so that the user can register the previously seen pets and thus be able to easily locate them from their account page.
I took the time to design a responsive and accessible website for any user who wants to use Paw from any platform.
Low-fidelity prototype
Make a low fidelity prototype to perform usability tests and determine the flow within the web application.
Usability study: findings
Two research studies were carried out, during the first round I was able to determine the accessibility and persistent navigation in the adoption application, in the second round I used a high-fidelity prototype and as a result, it is suspected that some aspects such as access to the information of donations made through a payment summary.
Round 1 Findings
Users want a section where they can help in other ways besides donations.
Users want to be able to access the home page just by touching the logo.
Round 2 Findings
Donor users wanted access to a donation registry.
Refining the design
Mockups - High fidelity prototype - Accessibility
Mockups
Users wanted to contribute more than just donations, so we implemented a volunteer section on the donate page.
I wanted to make an application where I could convey feelings and cause emotions in users through the tone and voice of the product.
Consider including an adaptive version on mobile phones, this variation includes accessibility parameters just like the web version.
Mockups
High-fidelity prototype
Make a high fidelity prototype to perform a final usability test and determine the accessibility of the web application.
Accessibility considerations
1
Add a search button to speed up navigation within Paw
2
Add customizable versions for different devices
3
Add large texts to make it easier for users to read
Going forward
Takeaways - Next steps
Takeaways
Impact:
The application makes users feel moved and excited to adopt and promotes the adoption and rescue of animals; one of the users mentioned feeling happy and satisfied with the easy way in which he adopted his dog through Paw's digital platforms.
What I learned:
While working on this project, I learned that the ideas phase is something that happens throughout the design, the users are the primary part to achieve an intuitive and inclusive result.
Next steps
I will make accessibility improvements to make Paw a more inclusive platform.
I will make customizable designs for more devices.
Perform usability tests to corroborate the improvements in the application.