Problem

Many potential adopters struggle to find pets that match their lifestyle, preferences, and home environment. The adoption process can feel overwhelming, with limited tools to filter options and navigate next steps seamlessly.

Objective

To design an intuitive adoption platform that helps users find their ideal pet match through guided filters, personality-based recommendations, and a streamlined adoption process.

Solution

Introducing an enhanced adoption experience! The new and improved Helen Woodward platform simplifies pet adoption by allowing users to filter for specific traits, take a pet-matching quiz, view detailed pet profiles with videos, and seamlessly complete the adoption process—all in one place.

To understand the behaviors, needs, and challenges that potential pet adopters face when searching for, selecting, and adopting a pet through the Helen Woodward platform.

Based on the research findings, Helen Woodward could strengthen its position in the pet adoption space by offering a seamless digital adoption experience that enhances pet discovery, provides transparent pet history and care details, integrates adoption support services, enables appointment scheduling for meet-and-greets, and fosters a more accessible, community-driven adoption process.

I used affinity mapping to organize and analyze data from user interviews, grouping insights into key themes and patterns to understand adopter preferences, challenges, and expectations throughout the pet adoption process.

The customer journey map was created using insights from secondary research, five interviews, an affinity map, and an empathy map. It outlines the key actions, goals, emotions, and challenges users experience throughout each stage of the bartering process.

I created two user personas to represent key segments of my target audience, helping to ensure that the design solutions for SoundCloud’s live-streaming feature were tailored to meet the specific needs, expectations, and goals of real users.

I created POV (Point of View) and HMW (How Might We) statements to clearly define the user's needs and challenges.

Based on my research, I formulated the following goals to guide the direction of the design.

• Simplify pet discovery with better filtering and matching tools to help adopters find the right pets
  
• Ease adoption concerns by providing clear details on pet history, care needs, and costs
• Boost user confidence with transparent adoption steps, detailed profiles, and real testimonials
• Streamline adoption by improving application workflows and adding progress indicators
• Support special-needs and senior pets by showcasing their traits and educating adopters
• Promote long-term success with post-adoption resources, training tips, and care essentials
• Foster community by connecting adopters with shelters, support networks, and other owners

I had to narrow down the list of features for this project due to time constraints, focusing on those that would deliver the most immediate value to users. To achieve this, I created a feature matrix, ranking features as high, medium, or low priority.

Based on user insights and research, I identified the most impactful features to enhance the Helen Woodward adoption experience, focusing on pet matching, adoption process clarity, and post-adoption resources.

I created a sitemap based on results of the open card sort to establish the information architecture, ensuring a logical and intuitive structure for the platform that allows users to easily navigate and access key features.

This user flow illustrates how adopters navigate the pet adoption process, covering key interactions from discovering available pets to submitting an adoption application. By mapping out these flows, I ensured a seamless experience that helps users efficiently find a pet that meets their needs, complete the necessary steps, and finalize their adoption with clarity and ease.

I created low-fidelity wireframes to outline the basic layout and structure, allowing me to quickly visualize and refine the overall design before moving into more detailed iterations.

• Participants: 5 individuals (2 women, 3 men)
  
• Age Range: 31 to 70 years old
• Methodology: Conducted usability testing with the low-fidelity prototype to evaluate the ease of use, functionality, and overall user experience of key features. The goal was to identify usability issues, gather feedback, and suggest improvements based on user interactions with the platform.

• Participants found the design intuitive and easy to navigate
  
• Some participants found the design intuitive and easy to navigate
• One participant suggested denoting whether a pet is good with other pets and/or children
• Some participants wanted additional background on the pet’s origin
• Participants felt the pet-match quiz was the right length and addressed their concerns
• Some participants wanted the ability to specify preferences for senior or special-needs pets separately
• Participants expected clearer confirmation that the pet is reserved after submitting the application
• Some participants suggested strengthening the language to clearly indicate when a pet has been reserved
• Participants felt the platform made the adoption process easier and more efficient

• Streamline navigation to make "Watch Later" easier to find
  
• Rename "Past" section to reduce confusion
• Conduct further usability testing for improved intuitiveness
• Add something to pet profiles to denote whether a pet is good with other pets and/or children
• Provide additional background as to where the pet came from within the pet profile
• Add an additional question to the pet-match quiz regarding pet allergies
• Separate the preferences for senior or special needs pets into two distinct pages
• Add stronger language to provide clearer confirmation that the pet is reserved

I developed high-fidelity wireframes to provide more detailed visual elements and interactions, ensuring the design was ready for prototyping and user testing.

• Participants: 5 individuals (2 women, 3 men)
  
• Age Range: 31 to 70 years old
• Methodology: Conducted usability testing with the high-fidelity prototype to assess the visual design, interaction flow, and overall user experience of key features. The goal was to validate design decisions, refine functionality, and gather user feedback to enhance clarity, efficiency, and engagement before final implementation.

• Participants found the platform intuitive and easy to navigate
  
• Participants felt that the filters were easy to locate and use
  
• Some participants found it difficult to locate the “Watch Video” button
• Some participants wanted more pet history details (e.g., stray, surrendered)
• Participants felt that the adoption process was clear, but some wanted a progress bar and a meeting option
• Adoption kits were easy to find, and their placement in the flow felt logical
• Participants felt the application gave the impression that purchasing an adoption kit was required

• Consider adding new filter options (spayed/neutered, potty-trained, additional colors)
  
• Make the pet video button clearer with a tag like "Watch Video" or "Get to Know Me"
  
• Include pet history on profiles to create a stronger emotional connection
• Add a progress bar to the mobile adoption application for better user guidance
• Provide an option to opt out of adoption kits to avoid feeling obligated to purchase
• Add a clear adoption completion confirmation page after the user signs
• Adjust the “previous pet experience” page so fields only appear if a user has owned pets before