Regina Yang
UX designer | UX reseacher
Toronto Humane Society
UX/UI Design | Mobile App
Toronto Humane Society is an animal shelter offering a variety of services including pet adoption, veterinary services, pet training, and foster care.
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This personal ongoing project aims to create a comprehensive mobile platform that integrates services offered by Toronto Humane Society. Currently, the project focuses on providing users an easy and time-saving adoption experience.
​* Note: this is an uncommissioned project.
​Role
​Tools
​Time
​Location
​UX/UI Designer
​UX Researcher
​Figma
Miro
​Google Docs
October, 2021 - Present
​Toronto, ON
​IDENTIFY
​What are the problems with current pet adoption at Toronto Humane Society?
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During the Covid-19 pandemic, there were increased public interest in adopting and providing foster care to pets in animal shelters. However, people faced difficulties adopting pets due to:
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Staff shortage resulted in reduced services.
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Covid capacity restrictions led to limited walk-in visits.
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Insufficient time for adopters and the adoption counsellor to ​​decide whether the animal is a good match.
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​User Interview
I have conducted semi-structured interview sessions with 3 participants through Zoom to help me gather more in-depth qualitative information. 3 participants were either having a pet or planning to adopt a pet. They were asked to answer questions regarding pet adoption history, preferences, and expectations. I have discovered:
#1
Long wait time for adoption​ service
2/3 participants said shelters were their 1st choice of pet adoption but communicating with shelter was inefficient and adopters had to wait long period of time (1 year) to adopt the pet.
#2
Overwhelming Information
2/3 participants said that they felt overwhelmed by the information provided on the website, which results in confusion.
#3
​In-person shelter visit is necessary
3/3 participants believed that it is necessary to meet with the animal before adoption so that they can see if the animal is a good match. However, Shelter has limited space for visiting.
#4
​Adopters have preferences for the animals
3/3 participants stated that they have preferences for pet companions such as their breed, age, gender, color, weight, etc.
​DEFINE
​User Persona
​* Click to enlarge the image
​IDEATE
​Based on the above findings and analysis, I have brainstormed and discovered some ideas and opportunities that could be implemented in the design.
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Filters
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Appointment System
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Process Tracking Tool
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Notifications
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Pet Profile
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Cooling-off Period
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​Not just a pet adoption app but also offers after-care services
​DESIGN
​User Flow
​To translate the above ideas and concepts into prototypes, I first constructed a user flow chart to demonstrate the high-level information architecture and workflows. Because there was no existing product, I started with refining the adoption process by incorporating the current adoption process in Toronto Humane Society, the explored ideas and opportunities, and the usage of the mobile application.
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​Now, the adoption process has been refined into 4 steps, including:
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Book an adoption meeting
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Visit and meet
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Time to think
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Schedule a pickup
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The user flow follows a happy path that describes an ideal scenario for the use of the application without any exceptional conditions.
​* Click to enlarge the image
​Medium-Fidelity Prototype
Aiming to optimize the user flow, I created medium-fidelity prototypes and put together a sequential storyboard to demonstrate how users will interact with the Toronto Humane Society app to finish adoption.
​* Click to enlarge the image
​TEST & ITERATE
​Usability Testing
I conducted usability tests with 3 interviewed participants who can be the potential users of my app. All the activities were conducted through Zoom online meeting tool. Participants were asked to share their screens while using the medium-fidelity prototype to complete 3 tasks: 1) apply filters and find Josh; 2) adopt Josh; 3) check application status after the shelter visit.
​#1
Lack of sufficient information in the animal information cards
3/3 Participants said that the information presented in the animal information cards did not provide enough detail for them to gain a good understanding of the animal. Thus, I included the breed, age, gender to the pet information card.
​#2
​Allow users to save their favourite animals
2/3 Participants suggested that it is better to provide a "Like" button for users to save their favorite animals and easily check back later. Thus, I included the Favorites feature in the app.
​#3
Information architecture is not intuitive
2/3 Participants said that the category of the animal should be selected first. Thus, I moved the category section to the Filters page.
​Try High-fidelity Prototype!
​Takeaways
​Impacts
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​Through the usability testing, participants mentioned that the refined adoption process was clear to them and they loved the step-by-step instructions telling them what to do next.
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​The integrated platform could improve customer retention because the platform also offers after-care for pet owners to take care of their pets after adoption.
​Reflection
I practiced "User Centred Design" concept by involving users in the research process and iteration process. Therefore, one of the impacts would be increased user satisfaction and improved user experience in adopting animals. However, I realized that Toronto Humane Society Staff is also a group of stakeholders of the app. Thus, my next step will be inviting the Toronto Humane Society staff to provide feedback on the redefined adoption process and test the current high-fidelity prototypes.