Overview
Dogg.e is a national association that has partnered with shelters all over the country to raise awareness and discoverability for dogs searching for a home. With high hopes to expand internationally. the dogg.e platform seeks to streamline the experience for all parties involved: from the shelters and humane societies, families looking to adopt, and even the dogs themselves.
As a new associate, dogg.e was looking to create a strong brand identity to offset the current stigmas and negative notions associated with shelter dogs. Their target demographic is younger adult families and millennials, but also want to make it as inclusive for all age and background groups. The platform should be intuitive and easy to navigate.
Details
Program
UX Academy, Designlab
Role
User experience designer, Product designer
Timeline
2 weeks sprint, August 2017
Tools
Sketch, Craft, Invision
Key activities
Interviews, personas, research finding reports, user and task flows, responsive wireframes, brand style guides, responsive UI wireframes, UI Kit, high-fidelity prototype (sketch, invision)
Challenge
Create a digital solution streamlining the pet adoption search, aggregating available pets onto one, easy to view website. The design of the site should evoke energetic and happy emotions to make searching shelters for the perfect new four-legged family member an informative and exciting experience.
Solution
A lively website that addresses the major pain points of searching for a new pet from the shelter. This site will include background information, the pet’s “story”, as well as simple ways to navigate and favorite certain pets.
Process
The dogg.e project followed this process:
Research
Over the span of a week, I interacted with 8 research subjects: 4 individual sessions and 2 mini focus groups of 2 people each. I used these interactions to determine general sentiments of animal shelters, the adoption process, and any obstacles or points of interest. tHe participants had a varying range of backgrounds and exposure to dog ownership and the dog adoption process.
One-on-one interviews
The one-on-one interviews provided primary insight on the sentiments and any relevant experiences the subject had with dog adoptions. Interviews occurred both in person and via video conference.
Participants
- Subject 1: Did not grow up with a dog in the household, currently has a dog
- Subject 2: Grew up with dog in household, currently has a dog
- Subject 3: Did not grow up with a dog, does not currently have a dog
- Subject 4: Grew up with dog in household, currently does not have a dog
Focus Groups
The micro-focus groups conducted provided information on objectives and intentions of adopting a dog. Each mini-focus group emulated a family unity and how they view the subject of adoption.
- Group 1: Dog owners who have rescued and gone through the process of adoption
“Some shelters are much different than others. You can tell which ones really care about their dogs. Other shelters are cold and unwelcoming - they make you feel like you’re not qualified enough to love a dog.”
- Group 2: Professional adults who have not owned a dog and have not gone through the adoption process
“People don’t want to go through shelters because’ it’s just so sad to go them! You see all these dogs that need help and you can’t help them. So it’s easier to just buy one.”
Competitive Research
The following dog shelters and pet-homing agency sites were researched for this projects:
- Baldwin Park Shelter
- Petango
- Petfinder
- Animal Foundation
- Multnomah County Animal Services
- San Jose Animals
National pet homing agencies
These online resources do a thorough job of aggregating available dogs and make them easy to access in one area. Results are abundant and filtering options are readily available for a variety of characteristics. These sites pull information from different site, and look cluttered.
Local shelters & Humane societies
Local pet shelters are more basic, and tend to display older graphic trends. Likely because of budget and resources. functionality is limited - usually in terms of filtering and viewing information on specific dogs may be hit or miss. These sites are usually cluttered with different links. It’s hard to immediately locate what you are looking for.
Research Overview
Current dog owners
- 100% prefer adopting/rescuing
- 20% would consider shopping for a dog
Not dog owners
100% would prefer buying
All subjects
- 100% of subjects expressed a sense of sadness when talking about adopting
- ALL addressed ‘Arms of an Angel’ donation commercials
- All felt a sense of guilt but did not like the experience
- 100% of subjects expressed concerns about health/temperament of shelter dogs
- 66% addressed concerns of shelter cleanliness
Takeaways
- The dogg.e experience must elicit happy, supportive, and convenient emotions through branding
- The dogg.e platform should be easy to navigate and use
Preference
Dog ownership
Ideation
PERSONA
Site map
User flow
Wireframing
CONCLUSION
Through testing, we would like to test the overall effectiveness of the design elements chosen in regards to how receptive users are to the site, and how willing they are to remain on the site. Current adoption sites are cluttered and difficult to navigate. User will be given a ‘refreshed’ experience with clear and simple functionality.
The following are objectives for the dogg.e testing phase:
- Test Dogg.e site design for ease of navigation and flow
- Observe reaction to design and colors, and how design impacts the experience
- Identify areas users encounter an unexpected outcome or get stuck
- Identify missing information users are looking for that are not present on the existing screens
- Test effectiveness of calls-to-action
Testing subjects
Three subjects were selected for usability testing. Ages ranged from 28-33 with various professional backgrounds and degrees of dog ownership.
Scenario + Tasks
- Analyze site design
- Explore search filters
- Learn more about the featured shelter
- Search for a dog to adopt
- Begin online application
Testing results
Users were able to navigate through the prototype with relative ease. Overall users expressed positive feedback in regards to completing tasks. Suggestions
- All users responded positively to site design and colors
- All users found filters intuitive
- All users were able to complete searches on dogs