City Pups: Design Sprint
A positive pet-finding experience guided by empathy rather than dog breeds.
Download full case study:
Here
Context
From 9/9/19 - 9/16/19, I participated in a modified Google Ventures Design Sprint. Since the Springboard UX Career Track is a self-guided, online program, the sprint was modified so it could be completed by one individual over a limited period of time.
Students were asked to solve one of the five available design challenges, I chose the City Pups prompt. City Pups aggregates information about dogs available for adoption at nearby shelters and once the user is ready to adopt, they are sent to a third party to complete the adoption process.
Research and user interviews were provided, the problem statement was already identified, and a persona was already created. Constraints were also communicated at the beginning. For this challenge, I was asked to create a website or web app that lets city dwellers find all available dogs in their area.
Dog images are stock images.
Problem
There are thousands of dogs in shelters who are in need of a forever home. How do people find the right dog to adopt online, based on criteria specific to each user? How can a user feel confident that that specific dog would fit within the constraints of their lifestyle? How can the product engage with and inform the user so they feel enough of a connection has been made for them to take their search to the next level? How are the pet requirements of a user living in a large city unique?
My Role
Sprint activities are typically conducted by a team, however all aspects of this modified sprint were conducted by myself. Leveraging the provided data, I determined the biggest pain point was:
How can a user feel confident that they are going to find the right dog?
Keeping this in mind, I brainstormed different solutions and ultimately decided that the user should be guided through a quiz that asked questions focused on lifestyle choices (how much exercise can you provide/what type of home do you live in) and personal preferences (coat length/desired skills) so the user would feel confident that they would be matched to the perfect dog.
Visual & UX Design
Testing & Iterating
Solution
Discovery & Research
Day 1: Map
To help me identify what city dwellers truly look for in a dog, I created an affinity map based on the survey responses and other provided research. This helped me realize that users in a big city are primarily concerned with size limitations and how their dog would act in crowded spaces/around other dogs. It was also obvious that my users were just as concerned with finding a good dog as they were with being a good fit for that dog.
I had an idea of creating a quiz which would match my users to their perfect dog. To help me visualize how this could work as a website, I created a user journey map.
Day 2: Sketch
On the second day, I participated in a solo lightning demo by conducting competitive research. I looked closely at how other sites and apps approached the pet finding process. I immediately realized most pet finding sites focused primarily on dog breeds. Recalling my affinity map, I remembered that my users cared more about the traits their dog had—whether they were good around other dogs—rather than a specific breed. I am also very familiar with the pet finding process as I adopted a dog three years ago and remembered how overwhelmed I felt at the beginning of my search. I had no idea what breed of dog I wanted (especially since there are so many), I just knew I wanted a dog that I could take care of.
Additionally, I looked at sites that were outside the industry of my competitors, like Zillow (real estate) and Carvana (cars). I was inspired by the way Carvana grouped vehicles based on categorized lifestyle traits. I also discovered that Carvana had a car finder quiz which populated a short list of compatible cars upon the user’s completion of a 4 question survey. This solidified my decision to employ a quiz as part of my product.
I then identified three big ideas:
A web app with robust search, filtering, and classification functionality listing everything from coat length to requires a home with fence.
When choosing dog sizes, compare the dog to the size of a human, similar to how Amazon shows how a watch fits on a person’s wrist.
Allow users to search for dogs based on grouped characteristics, the less effort the user has to put into filtering the faster they get to see results.
Let users hide dogs that they’re not interested in, this would keep users from being overwhelmed by the results and to maintain focus on the dogs they like.
Still employ like/save functionality.
Size comparison inspiration.
After reviewing my user journey map and my three big ideas, I determined that the most critical screen would be the dog match quiz screen. I then created my crazy 8 sketches, exploring the critical screen:
Crazy 8 sketches.
After reviewing my crazy 8 sketches, I chose the best sketch from the lot. I then expanded upon the dog match quiz idea by exploring the previous screen and the screen following my critical screen by creating a three-panel board:
Three-panel board.
Day 3: Decide
Keeping the sketches from day two in mind, I created a 12-frame storyboard of the dog match quiz process. Separately, I mapped out the types of qualifiers a user might want in their future pup. I kept the quiz questions focused on matching the user’s personality with a dog’s personality/needs rather than asking questions about specific breeds. At the end of the quiz, I wanted my user to feel confident and excited to view their results, instead of confused and overwhelmed.
12-frame storyboard.
Drawing inspiration from Pinterest, Zillow, and Petfinder, I created layouts that would allow messaging and imagery to shine. I also wanted to employ prev/next navigation so the user could easily cycle through their individual results without having to click off the pet page to view more pets.
Layout sketches.
Day 4: Prototype
InVision prototype:
https://invis.io/9BTXANHAQHE
Day four was completed over the course of two days. Based on my initial sketches, I had planned to employ illustrations on almost all screens. This was in an effort to accurately tie the imagery to the related text. However, due to time constraints, I had to use stock photos.
The original City Pups logo was an electric purple. There was something unsettling about this color. I felt users who may be overwhelmed by the dog finding process might not appreciate a color that conveyed subliminal anxiety. Without time to develop a complete style guide, I quickly researched “colors associated with dogs” and landed on a neutral palette of deep orange and muted greens to provide a more relevant color scheme while also communicating a sense of calm.
Before
After
Upon quickly finalizing my color scheme, I was able to execute a series of screens to create my prototype.
Day 5: User Testing & Validation
Upon finishing my prototype, I conducted usability testing over the course of three days. Typically only one day is dedicated to testing in a 5-day sprint. However, since I was participating in a modified sprint, I let my users’ availability drive the testing schedule.
I recruited three fellow Springboard students (Drew, Jeff, and Courtney) and two friends (Tyler and Shane). I made sure my users had some experience with the pet finding process in general. My users were either already a pet parent, adopted a pet recently, or wanted to adopt a pet in the near future. I conducted these tests via Skype and with their permission, recorded their interactions. I walked my users through the intent of the prototype and gave them a task to complete.
My goals for testing the prototype were to find out whether the messaging I used made sense and whether the categories were relevant in the dog finding process. I wanted my users to feel confident that they were going to find the right dog upon completing the quiz. I also wanted to test whether the form elements were engaging or overwhelming.
Upon reading the prompt, four users went directly to the quiz, while one user tried to search for available dogs nearby. All respondents felt the quiz was engaging and that they were able to gauge each dog’s personality from the images being used.
Users also appreciated and the types of questions I asked and recognized the level of detail and intent in the questioning.
One user stated:
“[My results] felt catered to me. I’m not looking at so many dogs that really don’t apply to me…[my results are] more relevant...I’m going to look through everything more closely rather than if there were a whole bunch of options and I’d feel a little bit overwhelmed.”
Another user stated:
“It was really comprehensive. I didn’t even think of things you brought up. [The quiz] really guided me through what I would want in a dog. It went by pretty quick, though it was thorough. By it being thorough, the end selection showed me what I wanted in a dog. It was worth the effort.”
While no users felt overwhelmed by the amount of questions, three users felt there should have been instructions that they were able to check multiple boxes (where applicable). One user suggested seeing a list of the options they chose in the quiz in case they forgot their selection or to confirm the selected dog met their criteria. One user suggested having the ability to modify their answers without having to retake the quiz.
All in all, I felt the product I created solved my main problem:
How can a user feel confident that they are going to find the right dog?
At the end of the sprint, I was able to see how employing the various UX methodologies allowed me to complete a product in such a short period of time. With a background in print design, I can absolutely see the potential in conducting design sprints for packaging or other consumer-facing deliverables.
