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PET ADOPTION PROJECT

MILLIONS OF ANIMALS ARE CURRENTLY IN SHELTERs AND FOSTER HOMES AWAITING ADOPTION

Design an experience that will help connect people looking for a new pet with the right companion for them. Help an adoptee find a pet that matches their lifestyle. Consider factors such as breed, gender, age and health status.

I STARTED OFF WITH RESEARCH

I interviewed 6 animals shelters to find out how they currently match owners with pets. I wanted to know if behavioral psychology (or captology) methods are being used in this industry.

• How do you make sure a pet is suited for a particular owner?
• Does any kind of behavior screening exist?
• What is the most common reason people return pets they've adopted?
• Do they note the humans behaviors along with the pets

ASSUMPTIONS

what i learned

There is currently no software being used to match pets to owners based on behavior. Captology methods are not practiced or considered when making matches. Although filters exist on adoption websites they aren’t personalized shelters know the most about an animal only after it has been relinquished.

solution

My solution is an application that uses an algorithm to matches the key factors of human psychology with the observed behaviors of animals in shelters. The software is called adopt.pet and it will ask the user a series of questions about themselves. The idea is to match the user with the best possible pet.

The user can answer the questions at home using the application or website. They can also visit the shelter and answer the questions in person.

HOW IT WORKS

At the shelter each user is given an RFID wristband while they walk around. This wristband contains their behavior profile. Each animal is wearing an RFID collar. The wristband will buzz when a match is made.

The experience is meant to be seamless and run in the background, with limited UI interactions and as
little latency as possible.