Petopia
Give a dog a home
CASE STUDY
project overview
DYR is an association of animal shelters. Millions of animals are currently in shelters and foster homes awaiting adoption. They partner with shelters all over the country to raise awareness and foster the discoverability of pets waiting for a home. Design an experience that will help connect people looking for a new pet with the right companion for them. Help adopters find a pet that matches their lifestyle, considering factors including breed, gender, age, size, care, and behavior.
- Focus : UX/Visual Design
- Duration : 5 Weeks
- Role : Sole Designer
- Project Type : Student Project
- Tools : Figma, Miro, Adobe XD
Research
Research began by understanding the current support and challenges with the pet adoption/fostering process. The process is complex and time-consuming. Getting the right pet based on personal lifestyle and breed choice can be daunting.
Goals
- Understand how people get the required information to adopt pets
- Provide easy-to-use core search functionality to find the right pet
- Educate users to find pets that match their lifestyle
- Simplify the process of pet adopting
- Understand the method involved in volunteering and fostering pets
- Determine if the features are relevant to services offered
- Identify the pain points of the users while adopting pets and the service they are looking for
Many websites provide a limited list of services online. These sites work in siloes and do not provide a one-stop shop for adoption or fostering needs. Reviewing top trending competitors based on Google Search and additionally conducting a competitive analysis of similar services based on further information discovered.
Methodologies
User Interviews
Pets are regularly rescued and adopted in your neighborhood. People who want to adopt pets may have questions that need extensive research, planning, and preparation. The process can be time-consuming and stressful. All information in a centralized location can help users decide which pets to adopt.
Focus Group
Collect data from users who love pets or like to rescue pets. They can be first-time pet owners or existing parents or family members of a pet. Review current websites for information about pets to adopt, rescue and train. The participants may also include those who like to know and learn about pets.
Survey
The survey will be a collective analysis of different pet adoption websites and the features given. Based on pet lovers and users who adopt pets, it will be great to collect information about their adoption process. Secondary research can support further analysis for evaluating the user criteria and experience.
Participants
- People who love pets and or have pets
- People who prefer to give shelter pets and volunteer
- People who do regular animal rescues
- People who want to adopt pets and look for information
- People who want more information about how to take care of pets and follow steps for adoption
- People who want information regarding pre and post-adoption of pets
Assumptions/Risks
- Does the current website give enough information about the pet?
- How do they find pets that fit into their lifestyle/daily routine?
- Is the process of adoption or rescue easy for any user?
- Do they provide information about the previous owners?
- What steps are to be taken to manage pets post-adoption?
- Is there a waitlist to adopt a pet of a specific breed, size, or age?
- Can the pets be adopted for a short period?
Competitors Research
The secondary research is based on the competitive brands that include pet shelters, rescue and adoption/foster services, capability, technology, overall success, feasibility, reading articles relevant to the industry, and comparing features between the leading platforms as well as services rendered.
- Petfinder filters your search query based on the city, state, dogs, cats, rabbits, Horses, birds, fishes, barnyards, and small & furry.
- The website gives more options like care for the pet, adopt a pet, shelter & rescue, and help pets and these are very useful for every user, especially for a new pet adopter.
- The Petfinder has an interactive quiz that asks questions and bread preferences to guide the user towards the right match that they are looking for.
- The site allows users to sign up for the latest updates on pet adoption and pet care.
STRENGTHS
The Petfinder site is updated continuously giving a wide range of animals available based on a variety of characteristics. They also do rescues and have shelters all over the USA, listing an incredible number of pets for adoption.
WEAKNESSES
As the animals currently available are in various shelters and rescues the terms of adoption will vary from pet to pet including the fees.
- Adopt a pet allows shelters and rescues to provide users with a search based on current location, age, and breed.
- They have a wide range of pets including dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, horses, small animals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and farm-type animals.
- The website helps the user with basic care and tips to take care of their pets
- Adoption requirements vary based on the organization and location.
STRENGTHS
The web interface is simple and easy to navigate the site. When the user selects a particular pet it shows the steps involved to adopt with the price and other information clearly about the pet.
WEAKNESSES
- ASPCA services are currently available in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, and Asheville.
- The ASPCA shelter allows the user to search for their desired pets based on age, sex, and size
- The selected pet information have related details and price for adoption.
- They raise funds for pets for their safety and to save lives.
- They conduct social events to bring awareness about pets and put stop to animal cruelty.
STRENGTHS
ASPCA is a leading organization in pet welfare by supporting and bringing awareness to save pets’ lives and safety. While selecting a particular pet the user has clear information and details for them to decide on adoption.
WEAKNESSES
As ASPCA is a leading company that is only available in a few locations. The range of adoption is limited with ASPCA.
Define
Drawing from the research created a user persona encompassing everything that was heard from real users in interviews and survey responses. Referring to this persona during the design process can help to stay focused on user goals not limited to adoption or fostering needs along with add-on services.
Participants: 3
Interview Duration: 30 – 45 mins
Goal: To learn and understand how asthma affects day to day lifestyle
Research Debrief
Observations | Participant 1 Gender: Female Age: 33 Occupation: Home maker | Participant 2 Gender: Female Age: 29 Occupation: Marketer, Adv. | Participant 3 Gender: Male Age: 35 Occupation: Tech |
About pet | Have a 3 month old pug, 1 year old corgi. Encouraged friends to adopt a pet as well | Have a 6 weeks old poodle. Still learning about the pet and its habbits | Had a couple of different breeds of foster dogs - 2 yrs old husky, 3yrs old golden retriever, 6 months old chihuahua. Now have two 16 months old collie |
Knowledge about pet food | Have enough knowledge to take care of their pets | Still learning the dietary needs of their pet | Very knowledgeable as they foster multiple pets |
Pet Training | Pets are trained by professsional trainers. Previously completed puppy training last year | Exploring the behavior modification training | Pets are regularly trained by professionals every 6 months |
Vet Visits | Go to nearby vet clinic based on wellness routine | Visits vet for wellness care, but not for dental care yet | Visited vet for health diagnosis. Consults family friend who is a vet during emergencies |
Pet's daily routine | Routine includes nutritional meals, physical activities such as walking, potty break and occasional visit to dog park | Healthy vegetarian meals and medications, twice a day potty break and walking | Apart from healthy meals and 2 mile run daily, pets also visit once a week to dog park for 3 hours |
Pets' health measures | Weekly showers, Flea and tick prevention | Preventive healthcare measures and weight management | Pet hygiene, check for flea, ticks and other pests |
Smart tags or other devices | Using smartag to monitor pets' activity track location | Bought a few toys, food feeder but haven't configured it yet | Using camera and smart feeder to take care of pet when away from home |
Pet sitting or Day care | Tried pet day care a few times. Attended pet birthday parties twice before at pet hotel | Started using pet sitter and dog walker when busy with work and family events | Haven't used pet services but willing to try |
Research Insights
- All participants shared the ways they adopted their current pets
- All of them are aware of the food and medical needs of their pets
- Having a pet helps them to have an active lifestyle
- Understanding their lifestyle, everyone has taken the responsibility for their pets
- They use dog tags and food feeders which is very helpful when they are away from home
- Each one of them can fulfill the pet’s daily routine
They take their pets for regular checkups and keep up to date with vaccinations
- One of the participants is fostering pets which is very helpful with her lifestyle
- Having pets reduce their stress and provide emotional support
- During long travels, they require a pet sitter
- Sometimes they ask for help from friends and family for the caretaking of their pets
- When pets fall sick it’s difficult to see what they go through
- Pet technology like video cam, food feeders, and dog smart tags are extremely useful
Persona Bio
Based on the empathy research, here is the featured persona’s bio from the user interview.
Empathy Map
This empathy map showcases the feelings and thoughts of our featured persona.
Feature Roadmap
Must Have
- Profile/Personal Information
- Breed Information
- Search
- Information about pets
- Add pets information
- Support
- Tips and care
Nice to have
- Pets videos
- Nutrition
- Technology
Surprising and delightful
- Testimonial
- Upcoming Event
Can come later
- Subscription
Site Map
According to our featured persona and empathy map, the blueprint of Petopia’s website navigation is validated to find an ideal pet for adoption/fostering.
Interaction Design
Based on the site map and persona the Task Flow, User Flow and Product Requirements were built as the guideline for future design.
Task Flow
A user journey to search, review pets available for adoption, confirm all the details and finalize adoption date.
User Flow
Steps to find pets available for adoption based on search filters and continue with the adoption process.
Design
To proceed with the UI design a comprehensive UI kit was created for the website, including typography, color palette, icons, button styles, and design patterns. A high-fidelity design of the wireframes in Adobe Figma was designed with a logo, relevant graphics, icons, and text.
Responsive Wireframe
Once I began sketching various styles, I narrowed it down to these digitized wireframes for desktop and mobile versions of the web pages.
High Fidelity Prototype
Once the initial wireframes were finalized, I worked on multiple iterations based on sizing, proportions, and visual hierarchy for a responsive design. I kept user experience in mind to design an eye-catching interface.
Search a pet
Pet Details
Add a pet profile (admin)
Test
Once the prototype was created, the next step was to perform user testing to validate if the new website design made sense to users. Further witnessed if users can complete various tasks on the website without any issues.
Usability Test
The participants are those who love pets or like to own/adopt/foster pets. These may also include regular animal rescues.
Test Objectives
Ensure all the features make sense to the participants and are simple to use. The users must complete the required tasks without facing confusion or frustration during the process. Validate the information on pet details page is enough for pet adoption.
Test Subject
High-fidelity website prototype from the home page to search for a favorite pet for adoption or foster. Allow admin to add specific pet information to their website. Detailed information about the process of adoption/foster including age, breed, fur length etc.
Test Methodology
Setup a one-on-one user testing session by allowing participants to navigate on their own going through tasks using the website prototype and study the usability testing through a virtual or in-person meeting at a convenient time for the participants for testing.
Test Goals:
The goal is to understand the main functionality of Petopia, features like searching for a pet based on breed, color, age, gender, etc. Observe if the user is clear or confused while performing the tasks. Record any frustration with the flow while navigating through the features.
Task completion rate
100%
Task error-free rate
94%
Tasks Completed
Search a pet
Review pet information
Proceed with adoption
Add a pet profile as an admin
Affinity Map
Key Findings
Observations
Participants are curious yet excited about adopting or fostering a new pet. They were pleased to see all required information about the pet. They were able to filter down to an ideal pet based on various search filters available to them. The ability to add a pet profile as admin makes it easy to manage the availability of pets quickly.
Insights
The website is user friendly. The overall branding including colors are unique and cool. The complex adoption process is illustrated well and simplified to avoid intimidation. Search filters are very useful when finding pet availability. The list of services rendered by Petopia is impressive and important for those planning to own a pet.
Opportunities
Participants were interested to sign-up for updates and events. They were also interested to share pet information with their family and friends. The breed name of pets was missing in pet cards on the home page. A few participants were interested to get recommendation of toys, food, smart devices based on pet breed and age.
Priority Revision
Based on the key findings, users were interested to learn more about food, toys and smart technology recommendations inline with their pet search journey for adoption.
