PROBLEM

Users feels uninformed and uninterested in animal adoption

SOLUTION

Design an app that informs and engages users through an easy adoption process.

BACKGROUND

For this course, we were task to design for social good, taking problems going on in our own community and address them. As I started brain storming ideas, one memory stuck out to me in particular, animal adoptions concerning endangered animals. The constant plea between the adverts of my TV shows growing up, stuck with me and I believed I couldn’t be the only one. This is how this project was born.

PROJECT PROCESS

I adopted a 5 step design process.

EMPATHISE

UNDERSTANDING THE USER

It made sense to start by doing white paper research on my initial idea, to dive deeper into the social problem at hand, the environment. I found through thorough research that supporting and donating to charities and organisations that work with businesses, communities and government organisations to implement climate change combating legislation and environmentally friendly decisions is key. I found that organisations such as WWF currently take this approach.

As I started brain storming ideas, one memory stuck out to me in particular, animal adoptions concerning endangered animals. The constant plea between the adverts of my TV shows growing up, stuck with me and I believed I couldn’t be the only one.

I wanted to explore this further and learn more about potential user’s interactions and opinion of panda adoptions. I conducted guerilla-style user research, speaking with 5 participants, between the ages of 18 - 25. I believed it was best to target a Gen Z, environmental enthusiasts.

Insights and finding:

1. 4 out of 5 participants don’t currently consider panda adoption as an option, those same 4 participants don’t fully understand the environmental benefits.

2. 3 out of 5 participants are students and are sceptical about the amount they can contribute to when is comes to charity donations

3. 4 out of 5 participants feel a disconnect with the process of adopting an animal.

4. 4 out of 5 participants feel a sense of nostalgia towards animal adoptions

5. 5 out of 5 participants love animals, 3 of those 5 own pets

Pain Points:

DEFINE

PERSONAS

To better define the problem I was trying to solve, I developed two primary personas demonstrating our target users.

Problem statement

Zoe is a university student who needs an easy way to support the climate change movement so she no longer feels guilty at her lack of participation.

USER JOURNEY MAP

I wanted to visualise the journey a user would go on when picking a movie. This revealed opportunities for improvements

Opportunities for improvement:

IDEATE

I started the ideation session by creating a list of ‘How might we…’ questions

The Unique Value Proposition - A feature that shows all the online streaming platforms the movie is showing on and all the cinemas nearby.

COMPETITIVE RESEARCH

I continued with a competitive audit of trailer apps currently on the market. I found 4 apps to audit: Movies, Trailers, Movie Trailers, IMDB

I analysed both indirect and direct competitors, looking at their general information, unique value propositions and overall UI; interaction, visual design and content.​ I found inspired areas and improvement areas.

Opportunity areas for Bonds:

1. Playlist and recommend feature

2. A share feature or direct message feature

3. Negative spaces so options don't appear overwhelming

DESIGN

PAPER WIREFRAMES

To start my design process, I implemented the good ideas from my brainstorming and sketches into paper wireframes. They were rough but presented interesting ideas for the layout. After a lot of iterations, I picked out a paper wireframe I could start building on and scanned it into Figma.

WIREFLOW

After sketching out some paper wireframes, it was important to look over what was necessary, an unwanted distraction and what areas needed improvements. I spent important time focused on the preliminary flow before moving onto the UI.

TEST

ITERATION

After developing my lo - fi wireframes into a working prototype I conducted a moderated usability test with 6 participants. I planned questions where they had to complete a number of tasks. As this was my first prototype there were a few bugs I had direct participants pass and fix in between users. Through their feedback and thorough observations, I was able to garner enough feedback for effective iterations.

Round 1 findings

As this was my first time designing an app, along the design process, there were areas in the UI I noticed needed rethinking, therefore redesigning.

Round 2 findings

The final product

GOING FORWARD

This was my first-ever UX project (Hooray)! 🎉. More than the actual output, however- I’m immensely grateful to have been through an entire UX process so I can see what it’s actually like. On that note, a few things I’ve learned:

1. Iterate as much as you can. Initially, I thought I had to stick with my first original set of ideas (p&p wireframes) and when I started creating mock-ups and disliked the layout, even after the modifications of the usability test insights, I struggled with allowing myself to completely disregard the first design. Moving forward I want to allow myself the freedom to change my mind as long as user needs are still at the centre of my designs.

2. Be insight- not process-driven. Even after weeks of research + development, my first version of the app was still limited and I have since found many areas for improvement. I think I had a scarcity mindset that was afraid of developing unrealistic ideas, ultimately losing sight of the goal of the app, however, going forward I aim to entertain even the most ridiculous ideas because they may have the potential to assist users in even unconventional ways.

3. You didn’t fail- you just found 100 ways that didn’t work. From noticing mistakes in my UI to uncovering more foundational UX problems in my app, I’m thankful for feedback from my peers and my mentor. I pushed to have the app representing my current capabilities and I’m excited to see my progression as I design and hone my focus on what is truly best for the user.