Finding your new BFF!
A rewarding journey for both humans and animals.
We all know that there are plenty of animals that are looking for homes.
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But it isn't as easy as just going to the shelter and pick out a cute floof - unless you like to gamble.
To set yourself and your new BFF up for success and for a long harmonious relationship, you need to know that it will fit your lifestyle and that you can support the pet's needs.
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Whether you are all about long hikes, are a clean freak or love older dogs - BFF will find your match!
THE STORY
I was looking for a match-maker, but for pets. But I couldn't find one that fit my needs. So I created one.
I have been involved with animals for the majority of my life, and somehow I always accidentally end up browsing the web for cute animals that need a home.
And when I'm browsing, I'm often left feeling like something was missing, that I couldn't find my perfect imaginary animal.
What if I wanted a hypoallergenic dog? Or a specific energy level? Or if I couldn't adopt, is there an easy way for me to donate money to that pet or foster?
I don’t know about you, but I've made many calls to animal control.
The reason why a pet ends up being rehomed or in a shelter can be many, but one is that they were lost and someone found them.
But there isn’t an easy way to report a lost/found pet. You would need to call animal control, knowing the exact location and if you can’t contain the animal - you can just hope that they’ll find it.
Or if, knock on wood, your own animal got lost - you would need to call shelters, run around the neighborhood like a maniac to find your furry friend.
That’s why I added a feature where you can alert your local animal control.
DESIGN
In the onboarding process I wanted to make sure that you could add your preferences right off the bat, which would be saved in your own profile if you choose to create an account.
But with the option to skip, of course.
Given that you added your preferences, you will be directed to the feed right away, where you will find all your matches along with featured dogs.
And if there is a dog that piques your interest, like Buddy here, you can simply tap on his bio and it will take you to his profile.
If you are like me, just browsing and dreaming, you can opt for a donation instead.
You can create your own profile where you can add more information about yourself and your circumstances. That way BFF can set you up with the perfect match and for success!
In the event of finding or losing an animal, you can report that in the app with ease.
These screens are some examples of the steps you would take to notify animal control.
Knowing what animal control usually asks for, I wanted to make sure that you could provide all that information in the app - such as breed, pin your location and submit a photo.
And here you can also opt to get updates about the animal.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Even though there are plenty of adoption apps out there I didn't find any that had a feature where you could report lost/found animals.
So I set out on a mission to fix that!
I decided to create this faux app after I reported several loose dogs to animal control, and I always wondered if they were ever picked up.
But after I did some minor research and got feedback from several people, I realized that an app where the main feature was to report lost/found animals probably wouldn't get much usage.
So I decided to incorporate my love for homeless pets with my initial idea.
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The hardest part was probably to implement the two features seamlessly and to make it feel organic. So I tried to add the reporting element in various places; in the feed, at the very top, in the settings.. but after testing several iterations it made the most sense to add it to the tab bar.
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I had a lot of fun making this app, and who knows - maybe someday it will help some lost four-leggers.