• Problem: Finding the perfect rescue dog can be overwhelming. Traditional adoption methods often lack efficient matching processes.

• Solution: This case study explores the design of a mobile app to allow prospective dog owners to browse and match with local rescue dogs, and to set up an appointment for viewing.

• Approach: Leveraging existing user research, this project focuses on crafting an interaction design that fosters a seamless and successful matching experience for prospective dog adopters.

Start by building user stories from user personas

To get a sense of the diversity of user needs, I started by building a library of user stories. Based on existing user personas, I generated 50 user stories to give a broad dataset of possible users and use cases for the app.

Distilling conceptual model and object-action prioritization

By distilling the user stories, I identified the platform goals and priorities necessary to fulfill the business and user requirements.

The conceptual model surfaces key user goals (object-action pairs) to be faciliated by the app, by distilling key objects (left column) and actions (top row) based on their recurrence in the user stories. For instance here, "match person" and "match dog" are two possible user goals.

The prioritization matrix shows which user goals (object-action pairs) are prioritized on the screen based on frequency needed by each user, and volume of individual user activity. Object-action pairs near the top left are highest priority, and bottom right are lowest priority. This gives a sense where to place these objects as navigation elements on the screen.

Some objects surfaced in the user stories are deemed secondary and assigned as attributes to the main objects (dog, person, organization, money), identifying data that could be attributed to each and accounted for in the database. For instance, a person could have associated age, photo, name, new/returning status, address, etc.

Defining information architecture and archetypes

To build intuitive and efficient navigation toward prioritized user goals, I structured how information would appear on the app.

Mapping integral user flows and adding gamification

Furthermore, user flows were made, identifying the screens necessary to carry out key actions. Gamification was added for increased engagement.

Sketching lo-fi wireframes

Once the integral screens were identified, I made very quick wireframes to guide the build.

Next steps

Build out fully clickable prototype and conduct usability testing for feedback and validation.