OVERVIEW
Puppy mills are large commercial dog breeding facilities, prioritizing the owner’s profit over the dogs wellbeing. Lack of space, insufficient nutrition, and poor hygiene standards are common issues in puppy mills, leading to serious health issues that are never fully discovered or resolved. For pet adoption, the adoption fee can range from $50 to $150, covering the cost of the care the dog received while at the shelter, while also supporting a more humane way of obtaining a pet. Though being the better route, adoption from shelters has a certain stigma and people often don’t consider it their first method of adoption.
TASK
Create a product for potential pet owners to find and adopt a pet versus buying a puppy that came from a puppy mill.
SURVEYS
We sent our surveys, targeted towards pet owners, to look closer at their range of experiences and adoption methods. Some of the questions posed in the survey are listed below.
• What method did you use to find your dog?
• Why did you choose this method and what research did you do beforehand?
• What are qualities you consider when adopting a dog?
• What did you enjoy about your experience and would you recommend a different method in the future?
INTERVIEWS
After receiving feedback from the surveys, we decided to do 3-4 interviews with current or hopeful dog owners. We received this insight:
• Potential owners look for sellers who have the dogs they want despite the method used to acquire them.
• People want sufficient and detailed information about potential dog choices and the breeds themselves.
• Buyers are willing to travel a certain distance to find the right dog but not constantly.
• People feel more comfortable meeting the dog and the seller before moving forward with the adoption.
PERSONA
Based on the research, I then went on to create a persona of our target audience. This helped me understand the needs, desires, and goals of our users.
USER STORY MAP
Having gathered our information and with a clearer image of our target audience, we started the flow of the app through collaborating on a user story map.
LOW FIDELITY WIREFRAMES (SKETCHES)
Once we had a good idea of the basic functions of the app, I began to sketch out the screens and the different components.
MEDIUM/HIGH FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
After a revision of the initial sketches, I then sent on to converting them into medium fidelity wireframes. As I finished, I moved to prototyping the present screens and putting them in front of potential users for feedback. From those findings, I made some of these changes:
• Removing the search function in the navigation bar due to it redundancy .
• Having less search filters on first look but have an option for more instead.
• Create better flow and access of the adoption process stages
• Taking away information from the dog cards for cleaner look
The below screens are the result of these revisions.
TABLET SCREENS
DESKTOP SCREENS
CONCLUSION
Through maintaining a simple but understandable experience, I believe that I was able to create an effective website to meet the needs of users searching to adopt a dog.