Noah’s Ark:

Overview

Noah’s Ark is a lost-pet recovery application designed for pet owners to take action when their pet goes missing. By converging reporting tools, pet profiles, community awareness, and search functionality into one app, Noah’s Ark aims to increase their chances of recovery.

As the app needs to be there for people during a stressful and emotional time, I anticipated the experience to feel instant and comforting. However, I found it felt cluttered and hard to use. Calls to take urgent action were being interrupted by social features, membership information, store content and other miscellany. This made the core of what Noah’s Ark sets out to do feel diluted.

This project focused on redesigning Noah’s Ark as a more human-centered lost-pet recovery tool, one that prioritized speed, clarity, and emotional support over engagement mechanics.

Problem statement

Pet owners in crisis need a focused and emotionally supportive reporting tool. However, feature overload and transactional tone increased cognitive stress and reduced trust during urgent moments.

Evaluating the current experience

I conducted a task-based walkthrough audit to identify friction across core user flows:

1. Report a missing pet

2. Report a found pet

3. Create and manage a pet profile

In addition to primary flows, I evaluated how secondary systems, including social feed mechanics, donations, monetization, memorial features, and gamification, influenced the reporting experience.

Key systemic issues identified:

• Engagement and monetization features competing with crisis actions

• Fragmented navigation patterns across reporting and profile management

• Inconsistent task hierarchy between active search and memorial flows

• Cold, transactional copy during emotionally vulnerable moments

So what’s going on?

1. Feature Overload & Priority Conflict

Crisis tools competed visually and structurally with non-urgent features like donations, store creation, and matching mechanics.

Insight: The product lacked a clear hierarchy of urgency.

2. Navigation Fragmentation

• Wallet accessible in multiple locations

• Profile & pet profile overlapped

• Store repeated in navigation

• Inconsistent back behavior

• No clear page hierarchy

Insight: Users could not confidently understand where they were in the system.

3. Emotional Mismatch

Swipe-based discovery and gamified patterns created an experience described as:

“It feels like Tinder.”

This interaction style conflicted with the emotional gravity of pet loss.

4. Reporting Flow Friction

• Long, repetitive questions

• No progress visibility

• No reassurance after submission

The primary task was not treated as primary.

User Interviews

To validate audit findings, I conducted interviews with 5 participants. I recruited them from Facebook groups.

• 2 prior pet-loss cases

• 1 currently missing pet

• 1 unresolved loss

• 1 general pet owner

Crisis Amplifies Cognitive Load

Participants described long forms as overwhelming.

“It feels like interrogation.”

Design Implication: Reduce required fields and simplify structure.

Tone Directly Impacts Trust

Cold system language reduced confidence.

“Did it actually submit?”

Design Implication: Add clear confirmation and supportive messaging.

Recovery Is Community-Driven

Participants relied heavily on Facebook groups and image-forward posts.

Design Implication: Mirror real-world recovery behavior — image-first, location-forward visibility.

Insights from Real Pet Owners & Community Observation

In addition to interviews, I analyzed real lost-pet posts across multiple Facebook recovery groups, including communities I moderate.

A consistent behavioral pattern emerged:

• Photo-first visibility

• Last known location clearly stated

• Direct contact information

• Immediate reshares and geographic tagging

• Urgent, emotional language (“Please help, she’s my baby.”)

Across breeds and cities, the goal was consistent:

People wanted eyes on the ground immediately — not engagement mechanics or feature discovery.

Recovery efforts were image-forward, location-driven, and community-powered.

Sketches

Before moving into digital wireframes, I explored structural changes through quick sketches.

The goal was to:

• Reframe the landing experience around crisis actions

• Reduce entry-point ambiguity

• Shorten and sequence the reporting flow

• Separate urgent actions from secondary systems

These sketches helped validate hierarchy before investing in higher fidelity.

Mid-fidelity wireframes

The redesigned reporting flow focused on clarity, reassurance, and task momentum.

Key structural changes:

• Progressive step indicator to reduce uncertainty

• Clear separation of required vs. optional fields

• Location-forward reporting with map integration

• Review screen before submission

• Immediate confirmation with next-step guidance

• Share-ready alert for community visibility

The flow was intentionally reduced to four focused steps to maintain forward momentum during crisis states.

Report missing pet

Report found pet

Usability testing

I conducted moderated usability sessions to evaluate clarity, completion time, and emotional response across the reporting flow.

To ensure the experience felt supportive rather than transactional, I partnered with a copy designer to refine:

• Form question phrasing

• Microcopy during high-stress steps

• Confirmation messaging

• Field labels and helper text

Together, we reframed system-driven language into human-centered prompts — replacing interrogative or bureaucratic tone with calm, collaborative guidance.

Testing validated that:

• Participants moved through the flow with greater confidence

• Fewer clarification questions were asked

• Emotional tone felt noticeably more supportive

Participants: 5
Tasks:

• Report a missing pet

• Report a found pet

Before Redesign

• Task success rate: 60%

• Avg completion time: 4m 20s

• Confidence score (1–7): 4.1

After Redesign

• Task success rate: 100%

• Avg completion time: 2m 30s

• Confidence score (1–7): 6.3

Impact

To evaluate the redesign, I conducted moderated usability testing comparing the original flow to the redesigned prototype.

Quantitative Outcomes

• Reporting time decreased by 42%

• Task completion improved from 60% to 100%

• Self-reported user confidence increased from 4.1 to 6.3 (7-point scale)

Strategic Outcomes

• Crisis reporting became the clear primary action

• Monetization was removed from high-stress moments

• Discovery shifted from gamified swiping to location-based visibility

The redesign reframed the product from a social feed to a focused emergency tool.

Future opportunities

While the redesigned reporting and discovery flows address core urgency and clarity issues, several opportunities remain to further strengthen recovery outcomes.

1. Auto-generated printable flyers
   Generate location-ready flyers directly from report data to support offline search efforts.

2. Geo-based alert push system
   Notify nearby users within a dynamic radius when a new lost pet is reported.

3. Community trust indicators
   Verified helpers, responder badges, and activity history to increase confidence in outreach.

The redesign is currently being implemented in collaboration with engineering. Ongoing testing will help validate behavioral impact and inform future iterations.

Considerations

While the redesign addressed immediate reporting friction, several broader system questions remain before scaling further.

1. Handling Memorial / Obituary Cases

• When should obituary creation be available?

• How do we avoid surfacing memorial tools during active search?

• How should transition states be handled (active search → confirmed loss)?

2. Preventing Scams & Bad Actors

• How to verify helpers or responders?

• Should contact information be gated?

• What reporting/moderation systems are needed?

• How to prevent false lost/found claims?

3. Partnering with Shelters & Local Organizations

• How can shelters receive structured reports?

• Can reports sync with local databases?

• How should shelters update status (found, intake, adoption)?

• Should shelters have a verified institutional profile?

4. Balancing Monetization with Crisis Ethics

• How should revenue integration be implemented without compromising urgency?

• Are donations appropriate during active distress?

• Should premium features be post-recovery only?

Final thoughts

Crisis products demand ruthless prioritization.

When urgency isn’t visually clear, users feel it immediately.

This project reinforced that strong UX isn’t about adding features — it’s about protecting focus in moments that matter.

By removing noise, clarifying hierarchy, and respecting emotional state, the product shifted from a social feed to a tool people can rely on when they’re most vulnerable.