CityPups
A dog adoption website that helps people living in the city find their pawfect companion. CityPups matches people’s lifestyles to find the perfect dog to adopt.
Role
UI/UX Designer
UX Researcher
Tools
Figma
Miro
Timeline
5 day GV Design Sprint
PROJECT
This was a solo 5-day modified Google Venture Sprint project. Through user research and interviews, CityPups discovered that people living in the city were having a hard time finding the right dog to adopt to match their lifestyle and the needs of their future canine companion.
DESIGN CONTRAINTS
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Design solution websites must fit larger screens such as desktops and laptops.
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CityPups aggregates adoption dogs from local organizations and shelters. Once a user decides to adopt, the user’s inquiry will be sent to a third-party contact to start the adoption process.
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Focus on helping users find the right dog to adopt.
SOLUTION
Personalized Quiz
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Helps adopters find the perfect dog based on their lifestyle & the pet's needs
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Gives them more confidence in their decisions
360 VR Video
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Allows users to feel as if they are inside the dog shelter
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An immersive experience helps to create a positive engagement with the dog before adopting
Live Stories
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Lets users follow the dog shelter's broadcast video in real-time
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Help users feel more connected to the dog and the shelter
MAP
Citypups provided user research and interviews. Here are some of the key insights:
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Dog’s Background Story - Understanding the dog’s history to see if they’re the right fit for them
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Photos and Videos - Ensure that the rescue is reputable and can see the true size and personality of the dog
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Narrow Search Criteria - Helps identify more specific requirements and lifestyle
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Behavioral and Housebroken - Good with other animals, kids, or is housebroken
With the user research that was collected from CityPups, I created a persona based on the key insights and pain points of frustrations of potential adopters looking to add a new addition to their family. Next, I created a user map to demonstrate the end-to-end user experience process for pet adopters who looking to adopt their perfect dog using the CityPups website.
SKETCH
A Lightning Demo was completed to examine similar adoption websites with competitive research to get inspiration for my design sprint. I analyzed the following websites: Petfinder, NorthShore Animal League, KoreanK9, and NYC Animal Care Center.
Research Insights:
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Personalized quiz to find the perfect dog match
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Filters to narrow search results by location, size, breed, and more
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‘Favorite’ to save the dog profile
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Offer multiple pictures and videos of the dog
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Contact information in the dog biography
I used Crazy 8’s method to sketch a few solution ideas for the design sprint project. Next I selected the following sketch solutions to build for my critical screens - Quiz, Search Results, and Dog Profile.
Two variations screens: Homepage, Search Results, Personalized Quiz, & the Profile screen
Critical Screens: Personalized Quiz, Search Results, & Dog Profile
Two variations screens: Homepage, Search Results, Personalized Quiz, & the Profile screen
DECIDE
During this process, I created 7 screens for the storyboarding to help visualize the user’s journey from the Homepage to the Submission of the Dog Adoption Process. I decided to add interactive features such as ‘Live Stories’ and ‘Live 360 Virtual Reality’ screens for users to get a better idea of the dog’s personality before adopting their future companion.
Storyboarding Screens: Personalized Quiz, Search Results, Dog Profile, 360 VR and Live Stories
PROTOTYPE
Using the sketches, I created a high-fidelity prototype showcasing these special features to help potential adopters find their perfect dog to adopt.
Design Features:
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Personalized Quiz - Narrows the results of the user’s unique requirements and lifestyle
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360 VR Images - 360 VR images will be featured in the dog’s profile to allow users to make better connections with the dog and reputable rescue
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Live Stories - Allows users to view ‘Live Stories’ videos to build a better understanding of the dog and rescue to move forward with the adoption process
TEST
A total of 10 participants were interviewed via Zoom to test the prototype. All participants lived in metropolitan areas with limited space. They were familiar with PetFinder and other pet adoption sites to adopt or find a potential companion.
Usability Test Script - Each participant was asked to complete a series of tasks:
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Explore the homepage
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Take a personalized quiz
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See search results and select dog
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View dog profile
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Follow rescue and/or save dog profile
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View ‘Live Stories’ of the rescue and dog
Usability Insights
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60% said unaware of the ‘Follow’ button functionality in the selected dog profile
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80% said realized after selecting the ‘Follow’ button the ‘Live Stories’ feature was presented on the Homepage
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60% said wanted to see Donate, Sponsor, and Start Adoption Process buttons in the ‘Live Stories’
FINAL DESIGN + TAKEAWAYS
This was my first solo design sprint and it was a very exciting 5-day adventure. At first, I was nervous about how to approach this project being that it was my first design sprint however, it was such an amazing experience to be able to quickly build a short project given the limited amount of time that I had. I enjoyed using the crazy 8’s method to create sketches in 8 minutes to quickly help me visualize a couple of project solutions. After today, I look forward to my next design sprint!
