During this project, I performed card sorting and produced 2 sitemap iterations redefining the site’s IA. I designed 3 prototypes (2 mobile, 1 desktop) and developed a style guide for UI branding. I also contributed to UX research by conducting 2 usability tests, identifying a user insight and reframing it into a problem statement, and constructing a value proposition highlighting our solution’s offerings.

Our team chose PAWS Chicago's website for a responsive redesign due to our mutual interest in pets and the nonprofit's no-kill practices, as well as evident usability issues. After identifying pet owners as our target users, we performed a heuristic evaluation identifying barriers to the site’s usability. We also conducted a competitive analysis of three no-kill shelter websites, discovering issues with animal imagery, text legibility, complex color palettes, and ineffective navigation.

To identify key user needs and pain points, we remotely conducted 8 initial user tests (4 desktop, 4 mobile) accompanied by interviews and synthesized our data into an affinity diagram.

Our findings revealed beliefs that a shelter’s animal-first practices should be visible, and that shelters focused on monetizing animals above keeping their online presence updated are harder to trust. From this data, we developed a persona named Kitty Owens, providing a clear and actionable understanding of our users.

After leveraging our research data to define user needs, we conducted card sorting to optimize PAWS Chicago’s navigation. The site’s revised IA (hierarchy of web pages) sorted 92 tertiary pages into (13 of) 35 secondary pages, which were hosted by 6 primary pages of logical categories. Using this card sorting structure, we produced a sitemap dividing the site's navigation into three main sections: primary, utility (search bar), and footer.

Additionally, a mood board compiling UI pattern and branding inspirations was used to develop a UI Style Tile, later expanded into a responsive style guide providing a cohesive visual identity for the site's redesign.

Guerilla user testing was conducted remotely over Zoom or Google Meet, with participants matching the target users. Initial testing of PAWS’ during the research phase yielded a 77% average success rate, with users mostly struggling to follow adoption and donation processes. Our mid-fi prototype addressed these issues, with five mobile tests yielding a 70% average. Despite being informed of limited interactivity, most users struggled with the menu’s density and absence of links. Incorporating those fixes, our responsive hi-fi solution tested with three users resulted in 100% – a 23% improvement over the initial testing average. Thus, the redesign is an empirical improvement to the current interface.