FOSTERING MADE SIMPLE
Timeline
March 2025 - June 2025
Roles
User Research, Wire-framing,
Prototyping, Visual Design
Tools
Figma, Adobe Illustrator,
Adobe Photoshop
The context + problem
Animal homelessness is a major issue, with millions of animals euthanized each year due to overcrowded shelters. While shelters provide care with limited resources, animals often live in stressful and cramped conditions. Fostering is a powerful solution because it offers comfort and increases adoption chances while freeing shelter space. However, many people hesitate to foster because it feels overwhelming, confusing, or inaccessible. Misconceptions about time, money, and space along with a lack of clear guidance and support create barriers that prevent potential fosters from stepping in.
So the question is
how might we raise awareness about fostering and make it feel simple, accessible, and rewarding?
And thats exactly what I set out to explore for this project.
The solution
I started designing Domi to create a platform that connects people with animals in need of foster homes and provides helpful resources to make the fostering process as simple and accessible as possible. The goal way to make fostering feel easy, approachable, and rewarding for more people helping animals leave overcrowded shelters and experience the love and comfort of a home, which improves their chances of adoption. By meeting both human and animal needs, it aims to create a smoother path from shelter to forever home.
Research
Using my background as a member of the foster community, I conducted qualitative interviews within my local network to understand common pain points, discovering that many found the current fostering ecosystem tedious and disjointed.
To supplement this research and ensure I wasn't relying solely on my own bias, I used generative AI tools to uncover edge cases and less obvious user constraints, such as fear of medical emergencies. I synthesized these insights into an empathy map, which allowed me to visualize the user’s emotional journey and pinpoint that the main friction point was an overwhelming onboarding process.
Personas
I initially explored multiple user segments, ranging from busy professionals to families. However, clear patterns emerged during the analysis phase: the fundamental needs for transparency, support, and organization were identical across groups. To maintain a clear design direction, I consolidated these insights into one holistic persona, 'Charlie.' This allowed me to focus on solving the high-priority pain points that affect 100% of the user base, rather than optimizing for edge cases.
Key Features
A smart matching quiz
that pairs users with pets based on their time, experience, and care capacity, making it easier to find an animal that fits seamlessly into their lifestyle and home.
A personal dashboard
where users can keep track of vet visits, supplies, tasks, and updates related to their foster pets.
Guides and resources
that walk users through the fostering process and provide care instructions for different types of animals.
Rescue and shelter support
with direct contact options and connections to nearby organizations for quick help and coordination.
Paper Wireframes
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
High-Fidelity Wireframes
Designed by Amulya Pennepalli