Veterinary task manager
UX DESIGN · RESEARCH
Role and responsibilities
-
User research: Competitive analysis, user interviews, task analysis, journey mapping.
-
UX design: sketching, prototyping, usability testing.
Project context
-
Spring 2022
-
Non-profit solo project
Tools used
-
Figma
-
Illustrator
Backstory
Saras' shelter is an organisation of animal rescue and protection. This is a government funded shelter, taking in unidentified cats and dogs from every municipality and providing necessary veterinary care. Intakes per annum revolve around the figure of 3500 animals, with an average adoption rate of 67%.
With the intention of creating a positive social impact, while improving my knowledge of product design, I reached out to this organisation to see what problems could be solved. We analysed numerous areas including stakeholder communication, internal operations and the adoption process.
Problem
The medical team, composed of veterinarians and vet auxiliaries, are heavily involved in the beginning and end of the adoption process, performing examinations, treatments and other minor operations. The team has recently been experiencing higher intakes which is leading to discoordination and delays when attending animals in need of care.
How might we assist veterinarians in improving the speed and quality of animal care?
Solution
Notification centre
-
Allows veterinarians to plan their schedule based on real-time intakes, outcomes, examinations and requirements.
​
-
Supports team collaboration by allowing assignations and requests.
​
-
Notifies about team activity and schedule updates.
​
Smart schedule
​​
-
Assists veterinarians with examinations and treatment plans by providing comprehensive breakdown of tasks and smoother data entry.
​
-
Enables quick assignments, reminders and micro-interactions that creates a delightful job completion experience.
Insights
-
Enables veterinarians to have a customised insights dashboard of what is most relevant.
​
-
Search and filter profiles by type status, medical conditions, location and time of entry.
​
-
Provides important understanding of shelter flow and areas of improvement.
Collaborate
-
Access to collective schedules to allow transparency and ease in planning across the team.
​
-
In-app sorted contact list for centralised, instant communication. ​
​​
-
Manage display settings such as text size & language for increased accessibility.
Approach
01 Define
02 Research
03 Design
04 Evaluate
-
Understanding the problem
-
Defining project goals
-
User interviews
-
Affinity mapping
-
Empathy mapping
-
Journey mapping
-
Task Analysis
-
Divergent design ideas
-
Sketches
-
Feedback session
-
Wireframes
-
Prototyping
-
User based testing
-
Design recommendations
Research
I divided the research into three phases - a primary research phase consisting of formative interviews to understand the general processes, operations and major stakeholders within the shelter & identifying main bottlenecks that can impact quality of animal care.
Stakeholders
-
Veterinarians
-
Vet assistants
-
Administrative assistants
-
Cleaning and maintenance operators
-
Potential adopters
After a priority analysis of main problems, we decided to focus on assisting veterinarians. A secondary phase consisted of understanding the context of the problem and conducting initial stakeholder interviews. From here I gathered insights into their responsibilities, team dynamics and audited existing solutions.
Lastly, I conducted in-depth user interviews and a virtual site visit. The data collected was then synthesised into an affinity map and derived into journey maps, empathy maps and design ideas.
Analysis
Understanding the intake-outcome process: I gained clarity on the workflow and degree of involvement & impact of veterinarians in different points of the journey that animals go through in the shelter.
​
Understanding team dynamics and expectations: I analysed the desired internal and external communication, coordination and delivery in relation to the existing dynamics.
Affinity mapping
Task analysis
Insights
Veterinarians’ workflow
Insight 1
​A veterinarians’ daily schedule & workflow is based on the amount of intakes, outcomes and overall animal health in the shelter.
Insight 2
The work environment is very spontaneous and flexible, requiring a lot of team coordination.
Insight 3
The workflow is dynamic and involves a wide range of practices - physical examinations, bloodwork, surgical procedures, creating treatment and care plans.
Insight 4
Decisions on which animal to attend to first is based on the urgency and proximity of the animal.
Streamlining communication
Insight 1
Communication and information exchange is rather decentralised, using pen and paper, handheld transceivers, phones and computers, making it hard to understand trends.
Insight 2
Part of the team currently relies on pen and paper to note down information about animals, which later on is transcribed into the database by admin.
Insight 3
Sickness amongst animals staying at the shelter is mostly reported by maintenance operators via message.
Insight 4
Responsibilities during the day are divided and shown in a collective calendar, but there are plan changes along the day due to new intakes and backlog.
Ensuring quality of care
Insight 1
Veterinarians are not looking for more members to join the team, but more coordination amongst existing team members.