Virtual Visitor: A New and COVID Friendly Way to Meet Your Future Furry Friend!

Design Team:

Patrick Render: User Researcher and UX/UI Designer

Joonyoung Chong (Joon): User Researcher and UX/UI Designer

Lizzie Gossman: User Researcher and UX/UI Designer

Yanjie Niu: User Researcher and UX/UI Designer

Problem Overview

Small local animal shelters are suffering due to COVID-19, which makes it nearly impossible to commit to adopting an animal without interacting with it first and risking disease. Unlike the big chains, small local animal shelters lack infrastructure and resources. Their main issues are the following:

1. Facilitating interaction between adopters and animals
2. Holding fundraising events and receiving donations during the pandemic

Solution

We decided to use Virtual Reality technology to help resolve these issues and came up with the product “Virtual Visitor”. Through the introduction of VR, potential adopters will be able to interact with animals through an immersive virtual experience. They will be able to see, hear, and play with the animal, simulating the in-person interaction potential adopters desire in the adoption process. VR interactions can also be entertaining for people not looking to adopt as well as insightful for those who are. By hosting animal based fundraising events in a virtual space, shelters will be able to provide diverse groups of people with the opportunity to experience interactions with all types of animals. Virtual fundraising events can also be hosted by shelters to attract widespread donations or reach fundraising goals. We believe that Virtual Visitor will not only be an asset to local shelters and potential adopters alike during the pandemic, but also, through its accessibility and ease of use, be a catalyst towards alleviating the disparity between local shelters and big chains.

Paper Prototype and Testing

Initial Paper Prototype Overview

Usability Testing Process

After receiving feedback on our initial paper prototype through in class Heuristic Evaluation, we made changes and updates and then conducted Usability Testing. This testing was conducted over Zoom with three college aged participants, who are familiar with the adoption process to varying degrees. Given the pandemic, we thought a virtual setting would be the most appropriate for our testing.

For each Usability Test we conducted, the participants interacted with a clickable mockup of our revised paper prototype. One team member directed the test while the other took notes by watching the participant’s shared screen and listening to the participant’s thought process. The participant was first given an overview of the design problem and then prompted to complete four different tasks:

1. Create an account
2. Browse animals and schedule an appointment
3. Go to a scheduled appointment
4. Attend a VR event and donate to host shelter

Usability Testing Results And Revisions

In our first usability test the participant noted that there was no “sign-out” function, making it impossible for multiple users to use the program on the same device. Based on this feedback we revised the prototype to include a “sign-out” button on the home screen.

In our second usability test the participant noted a desire for confirmation after donating and purchasing items. We chose to add this because we thought it would be important because our participant brought up the abruptness of being thrown back to the home screen immediately after donating.

Additionally, our participant had issues being able to donate to the host organization of a fundraising event. So, we also added the ability to donate at any point during the fundraising event, not just at the end.

Finally, based on feedback from our third usability test, we plan to revise action words to be clearer when viewing an animal. We thought this was important because our participant brought up that he felt they were wordy and he was initially uncertain what the actions were when he was just looking at the buttons.

“Watch pre-recorded video” → “Watch Reggie’s Video”

“Set up a time to real time interact” → “Schedule Virtual Appointment”

“Commit to adopt” → “Apply to adopt”

“Continue Browsing” was added right below “Schedule Virtual Appointment”

Final Paper Prototype Overview (Link)

Digital Mockup

Final Digital Mockup Overview (Link)

Task 1: Facilitating the Adoption Process

First, when the user opens Virtual Visitor, they will land here with the option to login or create an account. From here they will be able to enter the home screen.

The home screen is designed to help the user complete two tasks: 1) browse local animals and go about the adoption process 2) explore VR fundraising events. Users can also view any scheduled appointments in the ‘My Appointments’ section.

Once the user begins exploring local animals, they will have the option to select the type of pet and the range of distance in which they can go to adopt the pet. The simplicity of color and layout correlates with VR norms as well as provides a minimalist approach for user input.

Once the user finds a local animal, they can find detailed information about it including 3D videos. If they are interested in the animal, they can choose to schedule a virtual appointment. Both features help the user to get to know the animal and potentially adopt the animal.

The user can choose a time that suits both them and the local shelter to virtually interact with the animal they are interested in.

Now the user is able to view their confirmed scheduled appointment on the home screen and enter it when the time comes or edit it if they need to reschedule.

After entering the virtual appointment, the user is able to view and interact with the animal via the shelter staff.

Once the user has committed to adopt the animal, they can shop for items for their “new furry friend’’ which in turn further helps support the local shelter.

Task 2: Helping with Shelter Donations and Fundraising

Moreover, when the user is exploring VR events, the user can choose the event based on their interest. Whether the event is active or in the future is displayed on the left and an indication of the capacity of the event is given next to the ‘ENTER’ button.

Supposing a user wants to learn more about training a dog to sit, a VR space like the one above will be where the user will land. At any time during the event, the user can donate to the hosting animal shelter/rescue by clicking the blue donate button on the top right.

Also, at the end of the event, the user is asked if they would like to donate.

If the user chooses to donate, they will be presented with this minimalist donation screen for ease of use and efficiency.

Preliminary to Final Mockup Changes

We rephrased the question as “What kid of a pet are you looking for?” rather than “What animal are you looking for” to make the wording of the design more friendly.

We also changed the color of the text boxes to blue to indicate that they are clickable and that a number pad will show once clicked to enter numbers.

We changed the color of the circles at the bottom of the profile image to clearly show the user which image is being displayed.

We included the days of the week to the calendar in order to help the user make an appointment more easily.

We put the buttons for interactions on the left side of the interface to avoid obstructing the user’s view.

We made the “shop” button bigger to help the user notice and access it more easily.

We included the current quantity of each item in the cart to give the user a clearer understanding of the items and the quantities they would purchase.

We added the popup interface of the “Description” button to help the user better understand the specific virtual event.

We changed the color of the “Yes, please!” button to blue to make it stand out from the background and correlate better with the “Donate” button from the previous screens.

Summary

Local animal shelters across the nation have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through our user research we learned that staff shortages and drops in donations have been the most critical impacts to local shelters’ operations. These local shelters have been required to adapt quickly or face going out of business. A loss of a local shelter means the loss of another sanctuary for local animals for homelessness and abuse. To help support these local animals and local shelters, we have proposed Virtual Visitor, a virtual reality space for local shelters to facilitate adoptions and fundraising events. This virtual space can provide immersive interactions between potential adopters and animals while keeping the adopter, the shelter worker, and the animal safe from spreading COVID-19. The virtual space can also be a low-maintenance area for hosting new and unique fundraising events online such as teaching people how to train a dog virtually or hosting a virtual petting zoo. Through helping shelters facilitate their adoption processes remotely, we hope to reduce the work that staff shortages are causing animal shelters. Through helping shelters create new and diverse virtual fundraising events, we hope to bring new ways to attract donations and support local shelters financially. Through Virtual Visitor, local shelters may find themselves advancing into a new and brighter future for the adoption world.