Patch App

The date: February 2018

Millions of animals are waiting to be adopted from shelters and foster homes and people who are looking to bring a pet in to their family may not be considering adopting a shelter animal for a number of reasons. This means some people are lead to purchase their pet from a store or a breeder, resulting in over crowding in shelters and the unfortunate reality of euthanizing animals that are unable to find a home.

In order to increase the number of pets adopted from shelters, there needs to be a solution that provides prospective pet owners with their perfect match in a way that is intuitive and simple, mitigating concerns and de-bunking myths that may exist regarding shelter pets.

That's where Patch comes in - helping users find their pet match.

diagram

The Goal

Create an app that pairs users with their perfect pet match, building confidence in the adoption process by clarifying pet traits and providing quick communication in order to:

  • Increase the number of pets adopted each year
  • Decrease the number of animals euthanized annually

In order to accomplish this, I used the information gathered in the research phase to tailor the app content to banish user's concerns about adopting a pet. (BestFriends)

Constraints

Time

Since this was just for fun, I decided to limit my work to one week and chose to focus the design on searching for, and connecting with, dogs or cats through an app.

Reach

Although I did not have the reach of a dedicated research team, I did a great deal of online searches and reading to familiarize myself with the problem and competing products.

Testing

Due to the time and reach constraints, I was unable to preform user testing on a large audience; however, I created a number of versions and considered potential users as I iterated my designs.

Step 1: Research

6.5 M

animals enter American
shelters every year.

3.2 M

animals adopted from
shelters each year.

1.5 M

shelter animals euthanized
annually nationwide.

Where are people getting their pets?

Those who are not adopting shelter pets are purchasing from breeders, buying through a private party, or acquiring animals from friends and family. Around 40% of the time, people are learning about their pets from word of mouth. (ASPCA)

Why aren't more pets being adopted?

People have reservations about adopting a pet because they're afraid they wont be able to find the pet they want, or that the pet they end up with will have problematic behaviors. Many people feel they don't have enough background information to trust the pet is right for them. (Petfinder)

Step 2: Ideation


Persona

Persona: Theresa Alvarez, 26

She is looking for a dog to keep her company since she is about to live on her own for the first time. The pup must be under 30 lbs and can’t be too vocal and disturb her neighbors. Since she will be at work a majority of her day, she is looking for a dog that won't need too much training and not have too much energy. She is concerned about shelter pets being misbehaved or too old.

Brainstorming initial ideas:

  • Promote engagement - I need to keep users involved in the search, so a mobile app is best since notifications can be pushed to drive action and make an adoption more likely.
  • Build confidence - I want to focus on matching the user with pets that align best with their wants and needs, rather than having them search endlessly through animals with no indication of fit.
  • Mitigate concerns - Not every animal will be a 100% match for the user, so I want to provide information on all pet traits to educate the user and promote compromise if a few characteristics are unmatched.

Notes

Flow

User Flow:

The user would go through the screens outlined on the left as they use the app to connect with their pet.

The first step is to log in or sign up. Signing up involves filling out a preferences questionnaire in order to be matched with pets that are a best fit.

Once in the app, the user can navigate to the following main areas:

  • Pet Match
  • Chat
  • Favorites
  • User Profile

Sketches:

Sketch

Sketch

Sketch

Different ideas for preference Q&A inputs and progress tracking

Screen options for browsing all pets and individual pet detail pages

User profile designs with screens for pet favorites and messages

Step 3: Prototypes

As I began creating prototypes, I altered a number of features from my initial sketches and continued to iterate as I discovered alternate solutions.

  • Top vs. Bottom Nav - Ultimately, I decided to go with a bottom navigation to have chats and favorites be more prominent features of the app so the user would not have to make more than one tap to engage with their prospective pets.
  • Preferences Q&A - I created an interactive Q&A that reacts to the user's inputs by creating an avatar of their pet to keep the user engaged throughout the process, encouraging completion. Please note the visuals are for concept only, I'd love for a more realistic illustration!
  • Pet Matches List - This list displays the dogs one on top of the other rather than side to side to create a screen that is easier to scan and interact with as all the actions are aligned.


Try it yourself

Screens

Designs that didn't make the cut

Takeaways & Opportunities

In the end, I created a solution to match users to a shelter pet that is a perfect fit for them. This app differentiates itself from others on the market by providing the users with a rating for each pet based on the traits the user specifies during an interactive Q&A experience. The user is also able to feel confident the pets they are considering for adoption are right for them through direct communication with a representative from the shelter. This quick chat allows the user to clarify traits and set up a time to meet in person, bringing them one step closer to adoption.

Screens

I believe this app would lead to increased pet adoption and has potential to be responsive across devices. This app could easily be translated to a desktop site and other animals can be included for adoption aside from dogs and cats. As for emerging technology, this app also has potential to be implemented with home/voice technology where the preference Q&A could be conversational and the pet matches would be pushed to the app on mobile.