ROLE · User Experience Designer | CATEGORY · Animal Welfare | TIMELINE · 8 Weeks
The Problem: High Intent, High Friction
Adoption isn't browsing. Potential adopters need enough context to picture an animal in their home and feel confident before applying, but the ASPCA's site put that entire burden on the user. Profiles offered a single photo and brief notes. Search had no filters for real-life constraints. Applications redirected to third-party shelter sites, forcing adopters to restart the process for every animal they considered.
Three breakdowns defined the failure:
Vague Profiles. Listings lacked trustworthy detail on health, behavior, and care needs.
Generic Search. Results ignored constraints like apartment rules or work schedules.
Fragmented Applications. External redirects punished anyone considering more than one pet.
Sketching for Confidence
We translated these findings into three early concepts: richer profiles, lifestyle-based search, and a unified application. Low-fidelity exploration helped us compare structures before committing to a direction.
Pet profile exploration
Search and filtering
Unified application
The Solution: Designing for Decision Confidence
A Profile That Answers Real Questions
Many listings showed a single outdated photo, often from when the animal was a baby. We added multi-photo galleries, current vaccination histories with next-due dates, and behavioral notes so adopters could spot a mismatch early instead of after bringing the animal home.
Improved Searching
We added filters for compatibility with kids and other pets, behavioral traits, and size. Participants said this made it easier to find animals that actually matched their situation.
Pivoting Through Usability Testing
We tested the original site against the redesigned prototype with 10 participants (6 returning, 4 new), recruited through friends of friends and online communities.
Original. 8 of 10 abandoned the process due to external redirects.
Redesigned. 10 of 10 completed the flow, with 2 pausing to verify shared profile details.
Some improvement likely reflects familiarity, and the recruitment pool skews toward people already comfortable with digital applications. Even so, participants consistently pointed to structured details and saved profiles as what made the flow easier.
Validation: From Drop-Off to Completion
Our first version let users submit to multiple shelters with a single click. Testing revealed a flaw: participants assumed the ASPCA reviewed and forwarded applications centrally, rather than individual shelters receiving them directly. We added an explicit confirmation step for each shelter. The extra click was worth it because aligning the interface with the participant helps reduce confusion.
Reflection
We assumed the barrier to adoption was hesitation around commitment. Research showed it was informational: people were ready to commit but lacked the clarity to decide. If we expanded this project, we'd focus on comparing multiple pets side-by-side and optimizing the backend workflow for shelter staff.
© 2026 Jeffrey Liang