Using design thinking, storytelling and user experience design to develop a solution that helps individuals choose pets that fit their lifestyles to reduce dog relinquishment rates.
How might we increase pet adoptions from community pet shelters and rescue organizations using innovative technology to educate and inform pet owners prior to pet adoption?
The Pet Match Project was developed as an initiative to help inform individuals about pet responsibilities prior to adoption to help reduce relinquishment rates in Central Indiana. Through user-experience design, transmedia storytelling, and design thinking methodologies, the team created a website solution that helps educate users on pet qualities and responsibilities. The project also aims to deter individuals from purchasing pets from puppy mills or pet stores.
The website provides users with an interactive quiz that provides potential pet owners suggestions for adoptable pets based on their lifestyles, as well as detailed sections on pet responsibilities, pet types, and things to know before adoption.
The final design for the Pet Match project was developed after an extensive process that included design thinking sessions with eight participants in total, observational research at two animal shelters and two pet stores, expert interviews with three leaders and managers of animal rescues, and iterative usability and user experience tests with low fidelity and medium fidelity prototypes.
The Pet Match project is informed by a user-centered approach that explicitly addresses audience and stakeholder requirements.
Animal Rescue Fund (ARF) is a no-kill animal shelter located in Muncie, Indiana. ARF provides shelter, medical care, and education resources for the good of animals within the community.
