I'm a pet lover, and I have had a couple of opportunities to help animal shelters as a volunteer. I also have experience trying to find a pet for adoption. While I was volunteering, I saw people coming into the shelter wanting to adopt a pet. They had a lot of questions about the pet's behavior and lifestyle, which the animal shelter was lacking in providing that information. As a result, potential owners had uncertainties about the dog or cat they wanted to adopt. Worstly, the owner surrenders the pet back to the shelter after days or weeks.

• The animal shelter was lacking in providing that information.

• According to the interview, animal shelter employees are busy with their daily routines. How do they have time to create posts every week?

• Create an app that enables employees to review posts from volunteers and fosters, saving them time in creating content. Most importantly, the messages from volunteers and fosters are more concrete as they spend considerable time with the pets. This app will not only streamline the content creation process but also provide valuable insights and firsthand experiences from those closely involved in caring for the animals.

• To maintain control over the quality of posts, only designated employees have the authority to decide whether to publish the content. By adding an 'Approval' button, volunteers and fosters can share their created posts with these designated employees. This feature ensures that only the most suitable and relevant content gets published, allowing for better content management and maintaining the overall standard of posts.

The primary goal of this project is to create an app that provides an optimized user experience for animal shelter employees. The app will achieve this by updating information on pet life in a structured and easily accessible format, allowing potential pet owners to find their perfect furry friend with current information. Additionally, the app will enable volunteers and fosters to provide detailed information about pets' behavior and lifestyle. Designated employees will then review and approve posts before publishing, streamlining content creation, saving time, and ensuring potential pet owners have concrete information for making better adoption decisions.

Ownership side:
The pet information they focus on

Pet shelter operation:
Social media plays a vital role in helping pet shelters gain exposure for the animals, reaching a wider audience. However, despite posting on social media, the information from surrendering owners and rescue teams proves insufficient in facilitating pet adoptions. Instead, they receive numerous inquiries about the pets. Moreover, due to the limited information available, creating tailored content for each dog and cat becomes a challenging task.

User persona

I worked on a site map to help manage the way we deliver different product information to users/customers. This site map was created with input from multiple stakeholders. I mapped out all the site content for both the old website as well as the redesigned one. The maps allowed our team to track what we needed to remove or change. Also, when we meet with the content strategists we can use the site map to discuss and plan changes.

User Test

Click here to see the testing process.

Reflections

After my volunteer experience at a pet shelter, I observed that the shelter staff dedicates time and effort to ensure all animals can find homes. Inspired by their dedication, I recognized the need for an app that streamlines the process of organizing pet information for shelter workers, allowing them to efficiently manage and update details about each animal in their care.