Almost Home Foundation

The best bonds are built here.

  • The Product

    Almost Home Foundation is a pet shelter providing homes for all kinds of animals in the Chicagoland area. The typical user is at least 21 years old and is looking to adopt a pet into their home. The goal of Almost Home is to match the perfect pet to the perfect pet owner while making the adoption process safe and easy.

  • The Problem

    Available adoption websites have cluttered designs and can seem overwhelming, especially for first-time pet owners who don’t know where to start or the process of adopting an animal.

  • Skills

    Stakeholder Interviews, UI + UX Design, Adobe XD, Service Design, Field Research

    Duration: 3 months

Understanding the User

I conducted user interviews which I then conducted into empathy maps to better understand the target user and their needs. I discovered that many people adopting pets are first-time pet owners and are unsure of the adoption process at Almost Home Foundation. Since it is a big commitment it can seem intimidating to adopt a pet for the first time and can sometimes turn people away from making such a commitment. Additionally, many adoption websites are unorganized and try to push numerous pieces of information at once to the user, making them confused on where to start and go about contacting the organization.

Pain Points

  • Adoption websites are often busy, making it confusing for the user on where to start.

  • There can be many call to action buttons on the screen at once which leads the user astray from the intended route.

  • Adoption websites don’t engage the user often enough and only focus on displaying pets available and donation links.

  • These websites are not accessible friendly which limits the type of users who can adopt from the organization.

Site Map

Wireframes

User testing was done on wireframes as a low-fidelity prototype.

Elements included are

  • “Profile” page so the user can sign in to keep track of their appointments and favorite pets.

  • Navigation bar on top of the site.

  • “Applications” page for pet owners to look at criteria needed to match themselves up with other pets.

  • Use “Calendar” to keep track of all adoption events coming up.

  • Can create appointments with available pets so future owners can meet and play with them before processing an application, since not all available animals are always at the shelter (they are at the foster homes instead).

Low fidelity prototype: https://xd.adobe.com/view/ce02c5ae-1720-47af-a7d3-f7b2d41c308a-9b51/

Accessibility Considerations

  • Inserting universally understood icons next to text so a screen reader can be used.

  • Incorporating white space around sections of the website and typography for a clear hierarchy.

  • Using high contrasting colors with text, borders, and buttons.

Usability Study

10 users — user research combined with usability testing

Tried to cover different types of adopters ranging from people with no pets to people with many or different kinds of pets.

Length: 20-30 minutes

Study type: Unmoderated usability study

Findings

Profile

The profile had call-to-action buttons which took up the entire page and left less space for the user’s profile details.

Solution: Make buttons half the size.

Location

There were many points on the site where the user had to reference the location of the shelter which led them to repeatedly go into the “contact” menu.

Solution: Place location/contact info in the footer instead of creating a new page.

New Owners

There was still less guidance for new pet owners on what supplies are needed to adopt a pet.

Solution: Include a separate “Pet Starter Pack” page on the “Pets” page.

“The layout is much easier to follow and it makes me feel ready to start the adoption process.”

— User

HIGH-FIDELITY MOCKUP

HIGH-FIDELITY MOCKUP

https://xd.adobe.com/view/dfa90d33-071a-4da0-adfc-094e7604350a-8afa/

Takeaways

I discovered the significance of accommodating diverse screen sizes, ensuring adaptable designs for various devices. Users found our design intuitive, engaging, with a clear visual hierarchy. Their feedback suggests increased pet adoption appeal and potential to alleviate shelter crowding.

Next Steps

  1. Conduct another usability study to see if there are any edits that should be made before finalizing results.

  2. Experiment with adding more pages that can guide new pet owners.