Paw-sibilities

A mobile app designed to make the adoption process easier for both the owner and the adopter.

Client
Kennesaw State University
Service
UX Design
Year
2021

Role: UX Researcher & Designer

Team: Chrisy Celestin, David Cranfill, Ryan Martin, Jackson Rickman

Tools: Discord, Miro, Figma

Method: Goal-Directed Design (GDD)

Duration: February - May 2021

Prototype 1

Prototype 2

Presentation Video

Background

Paw-sibilities is a dog adoption app that simplifies the adoption process through a swipe-based interface inspired by Tinder and Bumble. This project followed Alan Cooper's Goal-Directed Design methodology, emphasizing user behavior, goals, and needs.

We began with a kickoff meeting where we acted as our own stakeholders. We identified assumptions and potential challenges adopters and surrendering owners might face. Research included:

  • Literature Review: Explored adoption processes, user needs, re-homing challenges, and swipe-based app mechanics.
  • Competitive Audit: Analyzed features from pet adoption platforms and dating apps for user expectations and business strategy.
  • User Interviews: Conducted with peers to identify motivations and pain points in adoption.
  • Affinity Mapping: Organized data to identify patterns, which informed the creation of two user personas.
    • Daniel: Persona to represent an adopter.
    • Amy: Persona to represent a surrendering owner.
Persona 1: Daniel (Click Image to Expand)
Persona 2: Amy (Click Image to Expand)

‍

Design Decisions

Using our personas, we crafted detailed context scenarios to understand how each user might interact with the app. This led to a list of prioritized features, such as:

  • Profile customization for dogs and adopters
  • Swipe-based match system
  • In-app access to adoption forms and surrender documentation

We developed key path and validation scenarios to guide the flow and functionality of the app. Initial low-fidelity wireframes were built in Miro, then transitioned into a high-fidelity interactive prototype using Figma.

Results

  • Created two user personas and full user flows
  • Delivered a polished high-fidelity prototype
  • Successfully applied the full GDD methodology
  • Conducted remote collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic, building teamwork and digital communication skills

The final design offers an engaging, user friendly way to match dogs with the right homes while considering the needs of both adopters and surrendering owners. View the full project documentation below:

Findings Report

Live Site

Next Project