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FOSTERING LOVE
Fostering Love is a conceptual app designed to assist the Humane Society in finding foster families for adoptable pets. This project was developed during a Master's level UXD course and spanned the entire duration of the class.
THE PROBLEM
What was the design challenge?
The goal of the project was to design an application that provides a service, defined as 'the action of helping or doing work for someone.' The application could be either a native app or a cross-platform browser-based mobile application. There were no restrictions on its focus, allowing it to be shaped by personal interests and experiences.
PROJECT STEPS
These were the steps taken in this project:Â
1. Research
2. Sitemap/Screenflow
3. Wireframing (Low to high fidelity)
4. Peer feedback
5. Prototyping
6. Peer feedbackÂ
7. Finalized product
RESEARCH
Given the tight timeframe, I drew on my previous experiences to shape the idea for the application. Growing up, we frequently fostered animals, and I observed a recurring challenge faced by our local Humane Society: finding temporary homes for animals awaiting adoption. In our small county, lacking a formal shelter, foster homes were essential for saving more animals. With this concept in mind, I began researching and developing the project brief.
SCREENFLOW AND SITEMAP
Creating a screen flow established a hierarchy and provided structure to the idea. To make the application valuable for users, it needed several key features: a chat function for communication between foster families and the Humane Society, a system for documenting information on current fosters, an in-app 'apply to foster' function, and the ability to edit the foster profile after initial creation.
LOW FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
After establishing a screen flow, the next step was to create wireframes. I chose to start with hand-drawn wireframes to keep things simple. This approach allowed ideas to be quickly put on paper and facilitated an open mind when receiving peer feedback. While these wireframes aren't perfect, they provide a rough visual framework of the app.
HIGH-FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
The high-fidelity wireframes underwent multiple rounds of peer review, allowing for numerous enhancements and corrections before reaching the prototype stage. Through these reviews, I learned how to better link pages and create more complete designs. A valuable technique I picked up was creating pre-filled pages, such as sign-up and profile setup pages, to demonstrate the user experience when interacting with fields.
FINAL PRODUCT
Click here to see the final, interactive product.
LESSONS LEARNED
One of the most daunting aspects of starting a project for me has always been creating wireframes. I often struggle with the notion that everything needs to be perfect from the outset. Through this project, I learned the value of simply sketching out ideas with paper and pencil.
Additionally, this project has made me more proficient with Figma. While the application is generally straightforward, some features, especially those related to prototyping, have a bit of a learning curve.
Finally, I have come to greatly appreciate the importance of peer feedback. After spending extensive time on your application, it's easy to overlook small (or large) errors. A fresh pair of eyes can be incredibly helpful in catching these issues.