Conducting comprehensive UX research and UI design, including interviews, paper and digital wire-framing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs.

I performed secondary research to find important findings to guide my initial research. I conducted interviews and created empathy maps, personas, user stories, user journey maps, and problem statements to understand the users I am designing for and their needs. I discovered that many target users shared frustration about the cluttered designs, inefficient systems for browsing necessary information, and confusing adoption process of available online adoption websites. In addition, many adoption websites are overwhelming and confusing to navigate, which also frustrated many target users. This caused what should be a normally enjoyable experience to become challenging for them, defeating the purpose of finding relevant information to help them decide which pet best suits them and eventually avoid cases of pet abandonment.

For the scope of this assignment, we will focus on working adults with busy schedules who want to adopt pets.

I created a user journey map of Emma's experience using the site to help identify possible pain points and improvement opportunities. Mapping Emma's user journey revealed how helpful it would be for users to have access to a dedicated pet adoption website.

Difficulty with website navigation was a primary pain point for users, so I used that knowledge to create a sitemap. My goal here was to make strategic information architecture decisions that would improve overall website navigation. The structure I chose was designed to make things simple and easy.

Next, I sketched out paper wireframes for each screen in the website, keeping the user pain points about navigation, browsing, and finding pets in mind. Taking the time to draft iterations of each screen of the app on paper ensured that the elements that made it to digital wireframes would be well-suited to address user pain points. For the home screen, I prioritized a quick and easy pet-finding process to help users save time and find the most suitable pet for them.

Moving from paper to digital wireframes made it easy to understand how the redesign could help address user pain points and improve the user experience. I made sure to base screen designs on feedback and findings from the user research. Prioritizing useful button locations and visual element placement on the home page was a key part of my strategy. This also kept the design clean and clear for the user to navigate.

Using the completed set of digital wireframes, I created a low-fidelity prototype. In order to help users find the best pet for them, I connected a primary user flow in shape of form.

I conducted two rounds of usability studies. Findings from the first study helped guide the designs from wireframes to mockups. The second study used a high-fidelity prototype and revealed which aspects of the mockups needed refining.

Based on the insights from the usability study, I made changes to improve the pet-finding form flow. One of the changes I made was adding a sequential structure to the form to simplify the steps that the user needs to take to find the best match. I made iterations on the form design to achieve a lower drop rate. The sequential website model follows a simple and basic interlinking approach, therefore it helps solve our main users' pain points.