Found My Human

Overview

Found My Human seeks to raise shelter pet adoption rates, particularly for pets held back by stereotypes and misconceptions. The primary way this is accomplished is via veterinarian-sourced educational resources. These are offered within the app for easy access, removing the need for new or existing pet owners to scour the internet for training tips, nutrition information, and health insights.

Role: Team Lead, UX Researcher, UI Designer

Tools: Figma & Figjam

Duration: 4 months

View Prototype

Problems

Current educational resources are scattered across the internet, requiring pet owners to search for credible information.
The weight of deciding to adopt a pet - and the subsequent responsibility - is often unknown to prospective pet adopters.
Shelter transparency regarding animal behavior, health, and needs is often lacking, leading prospective pet owners to not realize what will be required of them.
Shelter websites are scattered and dated. As a result, sites such as Adopt-A-Pet, which serves as a middle-man between adopters and shelters, have increased in importance.
Found My Human follows in this vein, but in app form for easier access and navigation.
I wanted to learn the Lean UX method through being the team lead (or project manager/Scrum Master) for this project.

Solutions

Facilitated user interviews with current and previous pet owners to solidify their needs and the gaps in facing them.
Conducted usability studies with the think aloud protocol (TAP), distributed surveys, and tracked time to task weekly to validate our design decisions.
Provided a one-stop-shop for educational resources tailored to the feedback our users shared regarding their own experiences and needs.

Provided detailed information about pet ages, breeds, temperaments, health issues, and needs based on user feedback from preliminary interviews.

Provided a way for prospective pet owners to schedule a time to meet with the pets they are interested in, gauging their compatibility.

Lessons Learned

For each sprint we interviewed the same participants, rotating them. While this reduced the time spent looking for people to recruit, it also reduced the amount of unique feedback we received. With more time I would have liked to expand our participant pool.
The fast pace of the Lean UX methodology reduces decision fatigue. Because we had to aggressively prioritize which features to build each week, we couldn't waste time in philosophical discussions. The scope of the app had to remain reasonable and the workload achievable in time for our user testing. This meant concrete decisions made with the evidence we had at hand.
The constant iteration of Lean UX presented ample oppurtunity for improvement. However, due to the time crunch, some features did not get built out as completely as I would have liked. Given more time I would have expanded functionality - such as building a calendar or date selector for the meet up feature.
We received mixed feedback on the typography. Some users reported that it seemed too small, while others appreciated that it fit the mobile screen while remaining easy to read. With more time I would have looked into this issue more, gaining more feedback, so we could ensure our app was properly accessible.