Meow Project
Development
Context
According to data provided by the College of Veterinarians of the Province of Buenos Aires, there are more than 6,000,000 stray dogs and cats in Argentina.
In Mendoza, there are numerous animals in street situations, and even more born and raised in shelters, many of which never find homes. Often, people do not have the proper conditions to adopt a pet, while others simply do not intend to do so, due to various circumstances, with the most common one being their financial situation.
An equally harsh reality is that most shelters in Mendoza only admit dogs, leaving cats completely abandoned; their only hope is for a rescuer to find them and take them off the streets.
In the following article (blue link), three shelters are mentioned, which are overcrowded with animals, have enormous debts with veterinary clinics, and do not receive adoption requests. One of these three shelters accommodates cats.
Taking into account the current situation in Mendoza, veterinarian Nehuen took the initiative to help those with the least opportunities, which would be the felines, specifically the adult ones.
Surveys and interviews
I started the project with a survey that I shared in pet adoption groups on Facebook, and then I conducted interviews to support specific aspects and uncover new insights.
Survey Insights
From the research, I obtained the following findings:
1- The majority of individuals who adopt cats are women between the ages of 40-50.
2- 75% of the participants prefer to adopt small kittens rather than adult cats.
3- All the respondents agreed that they would consider adopting an adult cat if they knew its life story.
4- Lastly, 75% of the participants would consider adopting a feline through Facebook groups, while 25% would turn to animal associations.
Interview Insights
Taking into account the results of the surveys conducted with individuals interested in adopting kittens, I decided to interview rescuers and some adopters in order to obtain more information, and I gained the following insights:
It would be easier to showcase the cats in one single place.
It would be more practical to search for cats in one place because there are thousands of outdated ads on Facebook.
They find it bothersome to spend time in Facebook groups.
Next, I'll provide some excerpts from the interviews:
Interviews to rescuers
Alicia, a cat rescuer: She exclusively rescues cats, and she doesn't care about their age or any illnesses they may have. She has taken around 80 cats off the streets, out of which 30 were adult cats. She was only able to find homes for 8 of them, and the remaining 22 are with her at her home because no one wants to adopt adult cats.
She promotes her pets through a network of veterinarians or by word of mouth because she is skeptical of social media. She would also prefer to post the cats in one single place.
Both participants emphasized that they needed support to promote the cats they rescued from the streets, allowing them to continue helping other animals.
Laura, an animal rescuer: She has rescued both dogs and cats from the streets, with the majority being kitten rescues. However, she has also saved adult cats and faces challenges in finding them adoptive homes due to people's distrust of older animals. As a result, she takes them to animal shelters, where many of them continue to wait for adoption without success.
Interviews to adopters:
Gabriel, an adopter: He is a young person who has adopted pets before, but never an adult cat. He is interested in the idea of adopting an adult cat, although he is concerned about how the cat will interact with him. Therefore, he appreciates the idea of getting to know more about the animal before adopting it.
He added that it would be easier for him to search for pets in one place because there are thousands of outdated ads on Facebook. Furthermore, he mentioned that he doesn't have a PC and only uses a mobile device.
Rosa, an adopter: She is an adult woman who has had many pets in her life, and her most recent ones were adult cats and dogs. She chose them because she noticed that they had the least chance of being adopted. She emphasized multiple times that it was the best decision she could make because these pets have proven to be very loving and grateful to her. She would definitely choose adult pets again. She is frustrated by the time spent in Facebook groups.
These investigations resulted in:
That the rescuers prefer to post the rescued cats in one place rather than in multiple Facebook groups.
Adopters often distrust adult cats, so providing the cat's history could lead to a successful adoption in such cases.
Most people look to adopt through social media, but they encounter repetitive and outdated ads, so creating a trustworthy platform is crucial.
Providing information about successful cases of adult pet adoptions could serve as an encouragement for other adopters to consider giving adult cats a chance.
Personas
Con los datos recabados, procedí a la etapa de elaborar mis personas, generé dos de ellos: un rescatista y un adoptante.
María del Carmen
"There's always an older cat I can help."
Age: 55 years.
Occupation: Works in commerce.
Family: Has two adult daughters.
Location: Mendoza.
Objectives:
- Achieve the dissemination and adoption of all the cats she rescues.
Frustrations and obstacles:
- She faces difficulties in finding adoptive homes for rescued cats, especially the adults. - She uses social media to promote the cats but spends too much time posting in multiple Facebook groups.
Biography: Alicia loves rescuing pets, although it comes with the pain of seeing many kittens in very sad situations. But animals are not her only focus; she has two daughters with whom she lives, and they help her take care of the little pets. She has a small house where she welcomes the cats she finds, and once they are in good condition, she posts them for adoption. In her neighborhood, she is known for her kindness towards the most vulnerable.
Camilo
"Pets are like my family, my children."
Age: 37 years.
Occupation: Mathematics teacher.
Family: Lives with his partner and has Lulu, his dog.
Location: Mendoza Capital.
Objectives:
- To adopt an adult cat to give it the opportunity to experience the love of a family.
Frustrations and obstacles:
- He has tried to adopt through social media but usually finds kittens and not adult cats.
Biography: Camilo is a mathematics teacher who resides in Mendoza with his partner. He has always wanted to have children, but the adoption process is complicated, so he has poured all his love into animals. Currently, he lives with his dog and his partner. He wishes to expand the family by adopting an adult cat. Camilo is confident that Lulu, his dog, will behave better and differently with the new addition, as he fears that if it were a small kitten, she might want to eat it.
Briefing
Most adult cats do not find a home where they are appreciated, as many people perceive them as wild and incapable of adapting to coexistence with humans.
Motivation
· Many rescuers find it difficult to find adoptive homes for the adult cats they rescue from the streets, which hinders their ability to continue helping other animals.
· A significant portion of the population perceives adult cats that were not raised from a young age as "feral."
· There are few examples of successful adoptions of adult cats.
Criterion
· We want people to know more about the lives of cats available for adoption, so they can feel empathy towards them.
· We hope that these individuals get to know successful examples of adult cat adoptions, encouraging them to make the decision to adopt one.
· We want rescuers to have the opportunity to post all the details of the adult cats they rescue, including the veterinarian's medical records.
Limits
· 100% digital solution, Android application
· Deadline: end of 2022
· Budget: donations
Today, adult cats are the least preferred pets when it comes to adoption, mainly due to the lack of information about their behaviors and their prior history on the streets. Most people believe they are aggressive and have a hard time adjusting to a household environment.
With our initiative, we aim to encourage people to adopt adult cats by providing successful testimonials and medical records verified by veterinarians. We are confident in our ability to support and increase the total number of adoptions.
The final deadline for this project is set for the end of December 2022. The idea is to create an app compatible with Android. Progress will be made as donations are received.
The choice to use Android is based on information provided by Carrier y Asociados in their 2019 report on the Argentine mobile market, which indicated that 93% of Argentinians had a mobile phone with this operating system.
With all the previous data, create Camilo's journey map with the goal of identifying critical points in his "process of adopting an adult cat" and thus be able to offer solutions to those moments of stress that he might experience.
1. Idea to adopt an adult cat
Feelings: 😃🤔😮
Actions: Begins the search in Facebook groups.
Pain Points: Only finds ads for kitten adoptions.
Opportunities: Conduct a web search.
Touchpoints: PC · Mobile
2. Gets to know our cat adoption platform.
Feelings: 😃🤔
Actions: Navigates through the entire app, quickly reads the information, and verifies that it is a local adoption app in Mendoza, Argentina.
Pain Points: Distrusts that the information on the platform is up to date.
Opportunities: Display the last update date on the cat profiles.
Touchpoints: Mobile
3. Search Process
Feelings: 🤓😢🥺😀
Actions: Finds cats of different ages, colors, and in various medical conditions. · Reads about the medical history of each cat · Views all the photos of the cats.
Pain Points: Distrusts the information about the rescued cats, believes that many things are invented to attract adopters.
Opportunities: Provide verified medical information for each cat by veterinarians.
Touchpoints: Mobile
4 · Lack of knowledge
Feelings: 🧐🤔
Actions: Finds cats of different ages, colors, and in various medical conditions. · Reads about the medical history of each cat · Views all the photos of the cats.
Pain Points: Distrusts the information about the rescued cats, believes that many things are invented to attract adopters.
Opportunities: Provide verified medical information for each cat by veterinarians.
Touchpoints: Mobile
5 · Decisión
Seelings: 😃🤩🥺
Actions: Contacts the rescuer of one of the cats.
Pain Points: Fears that the cat may not be as described in the profile.
Opportunities: Offer the possibility to meet the pet, once contact with the rescuer is established.
Touchpoints: Mobile · WhatsApp
Wireframes
Below, I present the wireframes: the first ones correspond to the adopter's profile, and the second ones to the rescuer's profile:
Mi-Fi
Once the foundation was completed, I moved on to creating the components and advanced the wireframes to mid-fi, on which I conducted guerrilla tests. Similarly to the previous ones, the screens at the top are for the adopter's profile, and the ones at the bottom are for the rescuer's profile.
With the mid-fi wireframes, I conducted guerrilla testing with 5 individuals for each profile; the results obtained were as follows:
Adopter profile:
1- "It would be good if there was somewhere to switch to the rescuer profile in case I rescue a cat and want to put it up for adoption." - This option has been added within the Profile.
2- "In the chat, it would be good to be able to send photos and location, like in WhatsApp."
3- "I like that I can have quick access to the cats I'm interested in."
4- "I think listing the vet clinics that are on this network is great because they can advise you better about the cat you adopted. Even on the cat's profile, it could mention which vet the rescuer went to, so I can go there too."
Rescuer profile:
1- "I would like to be able to upload a photo of the vet's clinical analysis so I don't have to write much and avoid errors."
2- "I would like there to be a map that shows me the network's vet clinics that are near my home."
3- "The chat is great; I would like to be able to send photos, audio, and my location like on WhatsApp. This way, it's easier to communicate with the adopter."
4- "I think the adoption process guide is unnecessary because one already knows how it works. And those who are new to it are usually advised by the vet."
Here are the mid-fi wireframes with the corrections:
We have reached the UI kit, and it's time to define the app's aesthetics.
As key points, the colors of the Nehuén Veterinary Clinic's logo were used as the foundation, from which the color scheme was developed and further aligned with the message the veterinary clinic wanted to convey with this project.
The predominant color is aquamarine, which was chosen to convey a sense of calm, recovery, and protection. Meanwhile, lilac serves as a complementary color, evoking feelings of empathy and care for other living beings.
The icons were chosen to be linear, curved, and natural, inspired by the shapes of felines, just like living organisms.
Regarding the moodboard, I began by exploring lilac and how it blends in nature with the aquamarine tone, resulting in the following inspirational palette:
Hi fidelity
Once the user interface kit was established, all that remained was to apply it to the high-fidelity prototypes. To see some of the screenshots, please click the button.
See on Behance
After presenting the entire project, it's time to talk about the conclusions:
An important challenge related to the adoption of adult cats was addressed, as they are often overlooked due to a lack of information and stigma.
Comprehensive research was conducted, including surveys, interviews, and guerrilla testing, which allowed for the identification of the needs and concerns of adopters and rescuers.
An adoption app for cats was developed with a focus on adult cats, providing users with the ability to access verified medical information, connect with rescuers, and engage in a more informed adoption process.
Regarding the colors, even though I previously explained their significance, I decided to assign each one to a specific profile. In other words, aquamarine was designated for the screens of adopters, as it evokes calmness and protection, emotions we wanted to evoke and strengthen in them. Meanwhile, lilac was assigned to the rescuers, reminding them of and enhancing the feeling of empathy they work with when rescuing a street animal.
Overall, this project addressed a significant issue in the adoption of adult cats and provided solutions that can increase adoptions and enhance the experience of adopters and rescuers.