Pet Adoption

Google Design Exercise

Expertise: Mobile Design | User Interviews | Sketching

For the design exercise that was part of Google's interview process, I created the designs for a pet adoption app, which offered capabilities to find and acquire pets that were a good match between owner and animal based on the animal's characteristics and the owner's preferences and lifestyle.  I provided the full process of how I came up with a digital experience for pet adoption and the rationale behind each step in the process. 

MY ROLE

My role was UX designer in which I interviewed key stakeholders to understand points of view of shelter staff and those who've adopted pets from shelters, conducted competitive analysis of other pet adoption apps and developed wireframes and final designs of the pet adoption experience.  It took about 15 hours in a span of two weeks to complete the design exercise.  There is no NDA to share my process.  

THE CHALLENGE

The objective for this design exercise was:

“Millions of animals are currently in shelters and foster homes awaiting adoption. Design an experience that will help connect people looking for a new pet with the right companion for them. Help an adopter find a pet which matches their lifestyle, considering factors including breed, gender, age, temperament, and health status.”

The challenge was to create a real-world product that was based on a user-centered design process.  I conducted background research into what animal shelters are like, competitive analysis of competitor products and key stakeholder interviews of Silicon Valley Humane Society shelter staff and a friend who had adopted a dog through a shelter.

ASSUMPTIONS

  • The target audience are those interested in adopting but not sure what they want.  They want to find a pet that they will like and one that fits into their lifestyle.  

  • In this case study, I will focus only on dogs since they face the most challenges.  However, the designs shown here can be adapted to other species as well.

I started to do a brainstorm and jot down everything I knew about pet adoption based on the objective of finding a match between adopter and pet based on several factors, such as breed, gender, history, health, and size among others.

USABILITY STUDY

In order to fully understand the experiences of dog adoption; I did some background research into the pet adoption landscape, conducted competitive analysis of some pet adoption apps and interviewed key stakeholders; a pet owner who went through the adoption process and a supervisor at an animal shelter.

Background Research:

  • In the United States, approximately 1.6 million dogs are adopted each year.

  • 23% of dogs are obtained as pets thru shelters while 34% are obtained from breeders.

  • 1.2 million dogs are euthanized each year due to:

    • Overcrowding at the shelters

    • Unable to find a foster or permanent home quickly enough


Competitive Analysis:
I reviewed several pet adoption apps, including Pet Finder, and WeRescue. 

Most competitor products don't provide a personalized approach to matching pets with their human companions.  They expect the user to know what they're looking for.


Stakeholder Interviews:
I interviewed Cassy, a Design manager at a tech startup who adopted her pet, Jonesy, from a rescue called Stonecliffe in Dublin area and Lindsay, a Supervisor for adoption programs at Humane Society of Silicon Valley

Key questions asked during the interview of both adopter and shelter employee:

  • Can you describe your experiences with animal shelters?

  • What factors are important to you so that you find a pet that's a perfect match?

  • What are your experiences dealing with potential pet owners?

  • What have you noticed are the challenges of adopting pets

  • What would you like to see in order to improve pet adoption process thru digital channels?


Key Takeaways:
Through my interviews, I found that it was too difficult to know what dogs were available ahead of time.   Also, I discovered that people have negative impressions about animal shelters.

  1. Dirtier than pet shops

  2. Animals are unhealthy

  3. Animals are usually old

  4. They don’t get the proper medical care

  5. Behavioral problems


These points are actually myths and, in some cases,, the opposite is true.  In fact, shelter animals exceed most people’s expectations about how shelter animals should be like.

  • They're routinely checked by medical staff

  • Older dogs are already house-trained and some know basic tricks

  • Older dogs’ personalities are already well developed and they exhibit very little behavioral problem

  • Those who adopt tend to keep their pets​

SKETCHES

After conducting the interviews and competitive analyses; I created sketches of the flows that focus on 3 things:

  • Providing a good match between animal and their owner thru the use of a questionnaire

  • Ability to contact shelter and send messages and make appointments thru the app

  • Dispel myths people have about older dogs by identifying advantages of older dogs (e.g. no training needed, no behavioral issues)

WIREFRAMES

After conducting the interviews and competitive analyses; I created sketches of the flows that focus on these things:

  • Providing a good match between animal and their owner thru the use of a questionnaire

  • Ability to contact shelter and send messages and make appointments thru the app

  • Providing an engaging experience when user is looking at a specific animal

  • Dispel myths people have about older dogs by identifying advantages of older dogs (e.g. no training needed, no behavioral issues)

Key Screen Interactions

Questionnaire & Browse

The purpose of the questionnaire is to gather some understanding of the users’ needs and their lifestyle so we can pair them with the right pet.  

The Browse page provides users with a list view of the dogs based on either their answers from the questionnaire or if they opted to skip the questionnaire, then it's based on a default set of filters.  By default, the results are provided by closest proximity to the user.  The user is able to favorite a pet or multiple pets from the Explore page and tapping the name of the dog or the card will take user to the pet detail page.

There is a tab menu at the bottom that provides 3 main navigation items; Browse, Favorites and Messages.  This bottom tab menu appears on all the level 1 pages, (i.e. Browse, Favorites and Messages pages).​

Pet Details and Push Notifications

​Once the user taps on a listing in Browse page, they're taken to the Pet Details page.  Here, I wanted to make the page engaging and put personality to the dog who's details they're looking at.  In the competitive analysis study, I found that most apps just rattle off information about the dog that doesn't engage the user.  

By providing large pictures of the dog, they can fall in love with the animal.  The actions that are pertinent are Make an Appointment, Share and Navigate (in that order).  I believe these are the most critical actions that users can take since they are aligned with common use cases.

There is a Shelter Information section with pictures to show the living conditions of the shelter.  I found that one way to dispel the negative impressions people have about shelters is to show them what typical shelters look like.  

​Another aspect, which adds value to the pet adoption process is that users can sign up for push notifications.  This way, they will be notified right away if a new animal has entered the shelter.  By clicking on the notification; the user is taken directly to that animal's detail page.

FINAL DESIGNS

I created the high-fidelity mockups of some of the key screens.  As per Material Design guidelines, I incorporated the native patterns using Sketch and Figma. 

Questionnaire

List View of Results

List View of Results

Schedule an Appointment

Intro Page

INCORPORATING WITH EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES

One of the existing products that we could integrate this pet adoption experience is Google Chromecast.  We could take advantage of the pictures that come up when the device is idle by displaying a picture of a dog looking to be adopted.  A brief description can be provided about the breed, size and personality.  I think the fact that you can see a giant picture of the animal on your TV really makes it more engaging since pictures can form an emotional connection with a user.

CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS

Finally, this experience only takes the first step in the process.  I'd love to see the app in action and get users' feedback on how this app helped them find their perfect animal companion.  I think with ever-changing technology, we could apply the latest technology trends that would make this process more effective and enjoyable for the user.