Foster
A Mobile App UX Case Study
A hassle free & convenient platform for pet lovers who can connect with animal welfare organisations to foster & heal pets
Why Foster?
Many a times due to hectic work schedule, it is difficult for young working individuals, to own and nurture a pet, because of unpredictable circumstances.
Foster is for those like minded people, who would like to like to fulfil their wish of taking care of pets, without having to commit long time. This app can give them a short term companionship that they long for.
My Role
UX Designer
Skills
UX Research
Duration
6 Weeks
Tools
Adobe XD, Figma, Miro
The Process
Discover
Discovering The Problem
Nurturing and taking care of a pet is an issue faced by many individuals who live alone, away from their families. They are unable to take care of a pet due to the dedication it requires.
Challenges
- One cannot leave pet alone for a long period of time. They also cannot find pets and foster them.
- Having a pet comes with great responsibility even on a daily basis. This might not suit all individuals.
- One needs a help to take care of pets while one is away.
- Lack of Financial resources to afford a vet and a pet.
- Emotional attachment towards departed pets.
Solutions
- Provides the users the ability to look after pets for a short while. Ability to find and foster pets.
- Gives the users option to not necessarily foster but provide medical help to those in need.
- Users have the flexibility to choose their timeline
- Cost friendly way to foster a pet.
- Giving the users the option to keep the pet for a shorter time to fill that void.
Discover
Qualitative Research
I conducted a total of 10 interviews. These were done by keeping a specific target audience; those who have had experience taking care of a pet and those who would like to but cannot due to various reasons.
Gaining insight of into user experiences
Out of the 10, I have mentioned the ones who face similar challenges of keeping and taking care of a pet. The premise of the questions were the same but many were improvised due to the different thoughts and feelings of the users.
Discover
Quantitative Research
I wanted to validate whether or not the idea of Foster would be a solution that people are looking for. I prepared a questionnaire who have had either some or no experience with owning or living with pets. The purpose was to understand their thinking towards fostering healing pets better.
Whether or not fostering is a solution that people are looking for?
Would working individuals like to own a pet?
What are the reasons people cannot own a pet?
Does fostering for shorter period of time resolve the issue ?
67% of Working individuals would like to own a pet.
62% would like to foster pets
& 76% would prefer to use an app on fostering pets for a short period of time.
Discover
Competitor Analysis
Define
User Stories
User stories gave me a perspective from the user’s end. How they would like to use and what they would liked to accomplish from the said service. The four interviews mentioned, tackle different situations and experiences and give insight into the user’s thought process.
They were under his care until they were healthy or ready to go to their forever homes. He hopes that there can be an improvement in the methods. According to him dedication and patience is a must in dealing with dogs with an unpleasant history. He believes that fostering a dog (adopted or given a home) is better, as it plans a future for the animal. It becomes difficult to do so from the streets as it can lead to abandonment issues.
OpenSymmetry, Senior Incentive Compensation Management Consultant,
27 years old
The companionship a pet offers is unmatched. He believes that pets offer great emotional support and enforces a sense of responsibility which helps you grow as a person. He would love to take care of one but does not how to go about it. In his busy schedule, he wished that there were more convenient methods to obtain a pet. The things keeping him from doing so are time commitment and stability but would love to experience the unconditional love they offer.
Engineering Student,
21 years old
Independent choreographer, 27 years old
She strongly believes that it is important to understand how much time you can dedicate to yourself and pets. She agrees that fostering is a great way to fill the void one experiences in these situations. Raising a dog is great commitment and taking up such responsibility requires a great support system which fortunately she had.However, she strongly advices to plan out expenses, living situation, space, time, dedication to anyone who wishes to raise pets.
Prospective Masters Student,
24 years old
Define
Research Outcome
Define
User Persona
The persona was created based on the interviews conducted and whom I thought would be a potential user.
In this case, Avantika Gupta’s persona was created who has fostered cats before. Thus, synthesizing further, gave me insight to her struggles, goals, motivation and frustrations.
On the other hand, Meghna Ashok’s persona was created to understand the struggles of a previously departed pet and what can be done to fill the void. If fostering and healing is the right way to go about it or a preferred option.
Define
Empathy Mapping
Both the personas differ with respect to their experiences but are in line with the challenges identified. They say that they want convenience, They feel fostering involves less time commitment, They think that fostering gives the companionship they long for and they go through the cumbersome process of looking for availability of pets.
Ideate
Ideation
User and App pains & goals are derived from the conclusions drawn from both qualitative and quantitative research. The intersection between these Pains and Goals further establishes an umbrella objective, thus enhancing the user experience of the Foster App.
Ideate
Customer Journey Map
Avantika Gupta, faces the most struggle while finding a pet to foster and waiting for it’s arrival. She is the happiest when she finally gets to foster the cat. So to be able to have a better User Experience at Foster, one should be able to resolve availability and waiting time in the most efficient way.
Ideate
User Flow
We tackled contacting NGO’s and animal welfare organizations for availability of pets and waiting for them to arrive with minimum navigation.
Design
Information Architecture
Design
Mid Fidelity Wireframes & Prototyping
Design
UI Style Guide
Colour Palette
Typography
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Iconography
Design
High Fidelity
Next Steps
The Journey Ahead
Finding the Right Resources
With the right guidance and mentoring, I intend to carry forward this project. This project gave me a perspective of the user's thoughts and feelings with respect to fostering and healing. However, the other important perspective is of the welfare organizations and what are the some of the inconveniences they go through. In order for the Foster App to flourish, A database of vets, NGO's, Permission from Municipal Corporation and Animal Welfare Organizations would be required as well.
Carrying on the User Testing
Fostering is a responsibility where informed decisions are required. In order to immerse myself in future opportunities, I would like to test the user's experience whether it is feasible to put fostering and healing as features in the app or not.
Introducing New Features
Adoption and Pet Sitting would be new features that can be introduced after User Testing. We can eventually test if users are willing to adopt or sit pets for others while trying to achieve the same goal.