CityPups Design Sprint

The Challenge

CityPups is a startup that wants to help people who live in cities adopt the perfect dog for them. Through research and interviews provided by CityPups, I found that people living in cities struggle to find dogs that will fit their unique needs. This includes considerations regarding their living space, schedule and transportation, and access to outdoor space among several other considerations. The goal is to increase adoption rates, find forever homes for the dogs and create happy owners. We will accomplish this by focusing on helping users find the right dog for them to adopt. 

Current design constraints include the need for a web based site or app that can be used on a desktop or laptop computer. Since CityPups is not an adoption agency, once a customer decides to adopt a dog they must be connected with a third-party adoption agency to complete the adoption process. 

Thematic analysis of research and interviews yielded enlightening results regarding factors that are important to people when deciding if a dog is a good fit for them. We saw that people looked through dogs profile to find info on age, sex, size, energy levels, behavior and training, temperament, and if they are good with cats, other dogs, and people/crowds. Photos were good, but videos were best when looking at the dogs. All this info is used to decide if a dog will fit into their space and lifestyle; will they, as owners, be happy and able to provide a good life for the dog. 

Day 1

Mapping

I started ideation by identifying the user and mapping out their journey ending with them finding the right dog for them. Below is the map I felt best, and most simply represented that journey.

Day 2

Lightning Demos

 I spent about a half hour searching through pet adoption websites and going through the adoption process, taking note of the features and aspects that really felt like they meshed with the feedback from interviews. Features like search filters will be very important for our users to be able to find their perfect pet along with in depth bios on pet profiles. I took screenshots of some of my favorite search processes and profiles for inspiration.

Crazy 8’s

After creating my map and before starting on sketches I identified the pet profile as the critical moment because it is the point where the user will decide to adopt a dog or to keep searching. This page has all the information essential to deciding whether or not this dog will be a good fit for the owner and is therefore designated as the critical moment. After identifying this critical moment I performed the Crazy 8’s exercise to brainstorm ideas for how this would look and function by rapid fire sketching out eight instances of this screen as shown below.

Solution Sketch

I chose this sketch from the others because several interviewees mentioned the importance of pictures and videos. This section will hook the user with adorable pictures and fun videos of the dog. Once they decide they like the look of the dog they can scroll down for info and an in depth bio. The screen before shows the user their search results with the option to edit and view filters on the side. The page following brings the user to the local adoption agency to fill out an application and set up a meeting. I added a feature on the dogs profile page that outlines the steps of meeting and having a home visit to address the concerns users reported that the dog would be a 100% right fit.

Day 3

Storyboarding

I chose the solution outlined below because I felt it was the best way to address the most pain point that potential adopters were facing. Many voiced concerns that it was difficult to get information/deal with local adoptions agencies as well as to find a dog right for their space. Instead of just listing dogs and then sending them to the agency to apply for the dog, I incorporated a onboarding process that serves as both an application and a search filter to find dogs that will be a good fit for them. People are able to create their own search filter as well. 

Day 4

Prototyping

Prototyping is a detailed and involved process. Making sure everything directs the user to where it's supposed to can be detail oriented and tedious. It is crucial to the testing process to provide an accurate, indicative facade of what the customer will be using. Through testing this prototype I hope to learn whether or not the search parameters are exhaustive enough to help people find the perfect dog for their situation, if they will entertain an application process at the beginning, and if there are any points where users get stuck.

Day 5

Testing

For user testing I recruited five people to come to my home to test the CityPups prototype. I set them up in a way that they could comfortably use the prototype and that I could oversee what they were doing. I gave them a brief introduction to the challenge and the project and asked them to find a dog to adopt. I encouraged them to be as vocally observant as possible; to tell me what they saw and thought of each page and the process as a whole. After they completed the task of finding a dog to adopt, I debriefed them on their experience; probing deeper for more insight. 

Testing and debriefing yielded varied results from user to user. Each had several unique  insights to offer, but there were several commonalities that drew my focus. These included:

  • A filter for hypoallergenic dogs.

  • The first thing they want to see is the dogs. 

  • Some reported they were likely to leave the site if they had to enter a lot of info up front. 

  • Need a way to navigate back. 

  • Way to show how compatible a dog is with your profile.

  • Want to be able to save/favorite dogs.

Overall users were able to complete the application flow easily and intuitively. Most of the feedback was for features they would like to see added rather than usability issues that prevented them from completing their task. 

Conclusions

Next steps for this project would be to implement design feedback from the first round of usability testing and continue iterating and testing those iterations until I felt the website was in a good place. I need to go back a bit as well to ideate a solution to the users reports that they may abandon the site if they are forced to enter info up front and balance it with the need for user info to find the right dogs for them.