One at a Time K9 Rescue
User interface design donated to a local dog adoption organization. Collaboration with front-end developer for a customized website.
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Skills and responsibilities:
competitor analysis, digital design, HTML, information architecture, interface design, journey mapping, mockups, navigation mapping, personas, project management, prototyping, responsive design, site mapping, typography, usability testing, user experience design, user interviews, user research, website design, wireframing, Wix
The problem
One at a Time K9 Rescue (OAATK9) is a small, family-run operation that fosters dogs of all ages and facilitates pet adoption. Despite their kind hearts, the OAATK9 adoption experience was preventing potential adopters from finding their K9 match.
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The organization was primarily using Facebook as a content platform, which did not provide the services they needed to communicate with and provide adoption services for their community.
User research
After conducting interviews with the shelter owners, foster volunteers and previous dog adopters, the pain points became apparent. The owners were missing emails due to an unknown issue with their email provider, potential dog adopters did not have an alternative way to contact the organization and foster volunteers were having a difficult time communicating with adopters about completing paperwork.
The user
To better empathize with the users, "Marcie" the persona was developed.
To better empathize with the users, "Marcie" the persona was developed.
Marcie is a retired person who needs to find a reputable local animal shelter because they want to adopt a senior dog as soon as possible.
Using the existing platform, the user's journey created a frustrating, multi-step process that left potential adopters without a K9 companion. The user journey map helped articulate the gaps and opportunities for the new website. It also helped demonstrate the necessary changes to stakeholders.
Identify new website goals to solve for user pain points
1
Create an effective workflow and establish communal email for shelter managers.
2
Host a custom, mobile-friendly web form to replace printed paperwork for adopters.
3
Include new site content for adoption success stories, FAQs, and adoption process.
The layout
To bridge the gap between ideation and reality, wireframes of the website design were constructed to identify how new content could be displayed. This informed the stakeholders what kind of content needed to be provided and allowed the developer to begin writing the skeleton of the website and forms after stakeholder approval.
The new website needed to be easy to navigate with information delivered directly and honestly for prospect adoption partners.
The outcome
Ultimately, the low-fidelity wireframes were approved, but the final design adapted to the provided content and changed the proposed layout of the website. Being a small (and busy!) business, the owners of the shelter were not able to provide the breadth of content they intended for the initial product release. In order to release the new website as intended, we collaborated on releasing a minimum viable product. This consisted of solving for the priority user pain points such as the inclusion of adoption success stories, a digital form to replace physical paperwork, a new email system to simplify adoption communications, and an adoption process page.
About us
Process & FAQs
Success stories