In project 1, we brainstormed people groups individually. Then, we ranked which people groups we were most interested in and got split into teams. The people group our team chose was animal shelter workers.
The first step in our design process was to get to know our people group. We scheduled interviews with 6 animal shelter workers with a wide variety of experience, job functions, and locations (pictured below). Questions included: What does a typical day look like? What keeps you motivated? What are your biggest frustrations? The focus in interviews was getting our people group to tell stories and observe how they think and feel about their experiences.
After going through interview data, we created people profiles that analyzed each individuals values and needs. We also created frameworks that related individual needs to a bigger picture. Our key takeaways were:
Values: Human connections, animal connections, engaging the community, caring, bringing happiness, making an impact, being good at their jobs
Frustrations: Overcrowding, irresponsible owners, internal staffing concern
Needs: More resources for facilities, responsible pet owners, improve staffing systems, overcoming burnout and compassion fatigue
We formed design goals taking into account personal stories, values, needs, and frustrations. There are many things animal shelters workers have agency over like controlling stray population, active spay/neuter programs, transferring animals to different facilities, or finding alternative funding avenues; however, one thing they can not control is other people or owners. We targeted surrenders and irresponsible owners for our design goal because the biggest frustrations stemmed from things completely out of animal shelter workers control.
Design goal: How might we reduce surrenders?
which would...
Reduce over crowding
Reduce animal stress
Reduce burn out
Reduce irresponsible ownership
While interviewing, our people group talked about complicated, nuanced topics while our design goal was very broad and simple. We wanted to understand the systems and contexts of animal shelter worker frustrations to refine and specify our design goal. We mapped these systems visually as this exercise shows we truly understand the systems and their connections while offering thoughtful meditation to aid in ideation for project 3.
Investigation tools used were interview analysis, literature reviews, database searches, and data analysis. Topics focused on were: how animals end up in shelters, what influences surrender and adoption, employee working conditions, and compassion fatigue. Systems that were mapped include:
Dog Intake Flow Diagram (left)
Stakeholder Value Network (middle)
Power/Interest Model (right)
Key evidence:
25% of dogs entered shelters due to relinquishment by owner this year
7% increase in population across all shelters this year
Pet surrenders stress the system into overcrowding and other related issues
Pet surrenders are related to the socio-economic health of the community
After studying main frustrations, systems, and key evidence, we refined our design goal.
Refined design goal: How might we make pet ownership more accessible or support struggling owners with pet care?
which would...
Reduce over crowding
Reduce animal stress
Reduce burn out
Reduce irresponsible ownership
Reduce surrenders
Taking into account what we learned through interviews, research, systems mapping, and design goals, it is time for ideation in project 3. We brainstormed ideas indiviudually. The goal was to be creative and generate as many ideas as possible without judgement. The team listed and combined the most feasible ideas after brainstorming. Then, we eliminated ideas down to our 5 best. A final 2 were chosen to present as possible solutions to our design goals. This process is described extensively in the following sections.
Alexandra
Food banks at pet markets or grocery store or more common places, donations can be given by customers, food close to expiration, parterships with larger companies for overstocked materials, provide special memberships to use food banks at low prices
sponsoring pet owners, GoFundMe, matches donors to pets who need medical care
give dog back after needed medical care at shelter instead of putting up for adoption
lower cost vet care, more regulation on pricing and meds
tax free pet items
app for resources, community help, lost and found, holistic animal adoption lists
best practice guideline for surrender counseling
low income sponsorships, like WIC or food stamps (if adopting from local shelter and low income)
allow fosters for temporary housing instead of having to surrender completely
emergency hotline for support, walk through what to do in situations
collab between pet food companies and volunteering or sponsoring low income families with pets
seal team six, comes into home with less than conditions and make it better, ie: building fences for tied down dogs outside
counseling from animal control
county sponsored ubers for low income, facilties run shuttle systems like adult daycare
public outreach and education about pet county regulations, community events w/ adoptions
shelter can provide food and medical care but prohibit surrender unless very sick, no home, or severe abuse
policy with mandatory spay/neuter by 2 years old unless special circumstance like show dog or mandatory genetic testing
policy mandatory breeder must accept responsibility for dog if owner surrenders
stricter breeding laws and licensing
Beatriz
Higher pay for shelter workers
Amazing facility (happy people, happy dogs)
Subsidized food, care, vet and training
Make everyone instantly responsible and compassionate
Programs to optimize shelter resources (physical and personal)
Automated dog care
Laws to punish animal abandonment
Scan test before adopting
Educational app with instant support
Instant behavioral correction (microchip, electrotherapy)
Harsher penalty for animal cruelty
Events for fundraising and awareness
Food pantries ex. Students can donate pet supplies along w/ food pet owner and funding benefit
Some passive revenue for shelters – increase pay for worker reduce need for volunteer
Easier access to information: Give owners more power and reduce stress in the system
Educating citizens on how they can help (instead of volunteering)
Campaign for professionals to volunteer (Ind. engineers, strategists, social media managers, PR agencies, etc
Counseling programs, stress relief tools, spaces and activities to control compassion fatigue between workers
Gabriella
Round 1 - Current Ideas
Pet food bank
Government support for people
Do not take surrenders / make it impossible to get rid of animals
Animal counseling for surrender
Stricter screening for adoptions
Animal support program for moving or sickness
Vet care financial support
Round 2 - Pairs of Stakeholders
Workers + owners ~ drop surrender rates education packet
Gov + worker ~ drop in need higher termination
Volunteer + worker ~ animals more social for adoption volunteers do more play
Workers + owners ~ reward system for holding on to animal for longer
Adoption pipeline to working dog workers + animals
Round 3 - Levers of Change
Rules of the system give workers power to correct structure issues
Negative feedback loop better structure / utilization of volunteers to reduce burden on workers
Information flow better animal awareness
Reward points for volunteers more time they do the more play they get gain positive feedback loop
Round 4 - Wild Ideas
Robots to take care of feeding / cleaning
Expands shelter
Hire more people
Bring army of volunteers
Gps tag dogs so that can find dogs abandoned
Add microchip so that lost dogs don’t go back into system
Give dogs silly hats
3 months of training before adoption
Hire social media full time
Round 5 - Different Modalities
Doggy dates family takes home for the day
Dog café socialization for animals and income
Competitions for events – training and can showcase dogs
Scavenger hunts and Sunday activities
Dog outfits
The barchler internet celebrity plays game
Lorena
Crowdfunding with non-major donors (Donorbox)
Advertise to maximize, engaging in creative and physical advertisement
Professional pet photoshoots fundraiser
Build strategic partnerships with local businesses or influencer advertisement
Dog washing in exchange for donation
Seek and maintain major donors
Engage with nearby shelter workers and volunteers for support
Have a pet daycare in animal shelters free of cost
Shelters provide pet owners with food if needed
Enforce pet owners to a training class before adopting a pet to be educated, regardless in they already own a pet
Form a group or organization to help pet owners provide for their pets
Provide pet owners with a base microchips when adopting
Allow volunteers or animal shelter workers to take their pet to work
Waive pet adoption fees during the holidays
Reward pets when they get groomed with a bowtie, bow, or a treat
Provide free vet care at animal shelters
Educate interested pet adoptees prior to adopting about the cost associated with owning a pet
Individually, we reviewed our ideas from the first brainstorm, and wrote down 5 of our favorite on sticky notes. Since there are 4 team members, a total of 20 ideas were presented at our "gallery walk." As a team, we reviewed each sticky note idea. We noticed some ideas were similar so we combined them. Then we voted on our favorite 5 (pictured below).
The purpose of this solution is to alleviate stress on the animal workers by optimizing the pre-existing physical and human resources (volunteers) within the rescues/shelters to better balance the work load.
For instance, within Tri-County Animal Rescue, volunteers are only responsible for walking the animals. Our interviewee, Coral, noted that animals were being walked several times a day and that often they need to turn away volunteers because the animals have already been walked. Thus, the surplus of volunteers could be used on other difficult tasks such as cleaning kennels or dispersing food.
https://animalfoundation.com/volunteer/about-volunteering
This solution is based off of a pre - existing system deployed in the Los Angeles animal system. Our interviewee, Jake, informed us that within the LA system, they employ a counselor who talks with every owner that wants to surrender must talk to. They find out exactly why the owner(s) are trying to surrender and makes the aware of some already available solutions to their problems e.g. if the actual owner is in the hospital a counselor could connect the family with a foster who can take the animal for the time being.
For this solution, we will develop a set of guidelines for shelters and rescues for what a surrender counselor would do and how to go about creating the role.
https://counseling.online.wfu.edu/blog/social-worker-vs-counselor/
Animals are very different from humans. There are many things to consider like breed purpose, temperament, training, grooming, feeding, exercise, etc. It is a lot to think about and may be difficult and overwhelming to do especially as a first time pet owner.
This solution would include things like tabling at community events, presentations, pre-adoption classes, and creating educational materials like pamphlets or an app.
One of the main reasons that people surrender their pets is due to financial factors. When getting a new pet, people often fail to think about how much it can cost to take care of a pet over their entire lifetime or to account for unexpected life changes.
This sponsorship program could be run as an organization or as a sub-organization, where citizens and/or companies could sponsor an specific animal, either on a shelter or one that already has an owner, for an specific amount of time. This way, pet owners could recover from an unexpected life circumstance without giving away their pets, and shelters could better allocate their financial resources and wouldn't have to euthanize certain pets due to financial strains.
Nowadays, people can find free pet food at certain animal shelters, veterinarian clinics, pet stores, pet food manufacturers and sometimes at religious institutions. While this may sound like a lot of options, people that are struggling to afford pet food are most likely also struggling to afford transportation and their own food, which means they might also go to regular food pantries.
This solution proposes that adding pet food pantries to more locations, and to regular food pantries would be extremely beneficial for people that are struggling to afford it since people might not have the time or resources to go to both pantries.
Pet-Source is an open-source, 100% volunteer run group. It's purpose is "to supply and educate". It will partner with animal shelters, pet stores, and other companies/nonprofits. The beginning will be opening food pantries to support low income pet owners. A closet or corner of pet supply stores or shelters will be converted into storage areas which will be stocked with defective, overstock, and donated items for people to take. Running in parallel, an app will be designed to find these locations and sign up. Later it will be expanded into educational programming as well.
Customer Flow Chart
Figure shows life cycle of customer interaction with service.
A person will hear of this resource through outreach or word of mouth. They will download the app and sign up. Then, they will be able to enter and take what they need when they need it. If not available, locations may offer to sell products for discount. People may also engage the app or resource for educational content or volunteer run email hotline/zoom meetings.
Pet-source will be open source and volunteer run - similarly to academic organizations/clubs with elected board members and subcommittees. The intention for this solution is mainly to foster a community so the pressure of success or generating profits/productivity is mitigated. It can generate income for operation through content creation, ads, or donations. It can also generate interest in adoptions. People are allowed to join and contribute what they can to coding, drafting educational playlists, outreach events, answering questions, etc. Usually ideas like this sound really good in case studies or at the beginning stages, but end up being very hard to implement or sustain over time. Many breakdowns can already be seen like not having enough stock, people not following the honor system, barriers to entry, and other logistical issues at every step of the way. There is a lot of work and not enough reward for stakeholders. It would be interesting to see how it would all come together in reality.
In our investigation, we realized that animal shelter workers are a people group that are not considered often. There is hardly any peer reviewed, scientific research conducted on their mental health compared to other caring professions or how a surrender should be conducted. There is also little consistency in operating procedures and policies across shelters or facilities found in the United States or even across the same state.
For solution #2, a dedicated research group will be formed to develop best practice guidelines - for both owners and animal shelter workers. It will be funded by government programs/nonprofits, donations, or through proposal writing for grants. It would be a collaborative program across multiple universities or departments like animal sciences, psychology, and engineering.
The best solution to solve nuanced, social topics is extensive research to truly understand what is happening before making judgements. There is not enough interest or money in researching animal shelter worker or related topics while one semester is not enough time for our team to make any progress with the gap. We proposed a dedicated research effort. This may require extensive funding at first, but may also decrease funding needed for daily operation over time. There may also be breakdowns when trying to implement these guidelines or bad atitudes around the changes from both owners and employees.
Alexandra
The most prevalent solution to most social issues is to foster community, mutual understanding, doing the right thing, and education. However, most of us would prefer to lay in bed and stay in our own lanes - leaving the social work to the social workers. Although the truth is: dismantling and repairing systems IS in our lanes. We, as humans, are a part of these systems. We all interact with systems and each other. It is our duty to overcome the selfish desire to rest, leisure, and only contribute to capitalism for our own survival - especially us (engineers) who indirectly develop and manufacture core systems in society.
I was confused about the abstract concept of systems, but this class made is clearer for me.
I also got a chance to connect with investigate a people group I did not think much about before.
Beatriz
The most important lesson I’ve learned in this class is to be able to see specific situations and organizations as systems and to identify the stakeholders that are involved on it. Having a holistic approach instead of a step-by-step one is crucial when there’s people involved, and we must understand people’s needs and values in order to truly understand the problem we’re trying to solve.
On the third part of this project, I understood what are leverage points and that we must always identify what they are in our systems to tackle problems efficiently. I learned how small changes at any point of a system could cause considerable changes whereas big changes might not have the most efficient impact, which is why we must take into consideration the effort vs. effect of any action we take.
Gabriella
When thinking of solutions to complex system problems, its important to respect all discipline knowledge not just engineering as a possible solution. Initially, I thought we would come to the conclusion that an engineered solution like a new device to serve the animals their food.. However, after understanding our stakeholders and the systems they work with, it became apparent that the solution would be much more complex and not even traditionally engineer based, but it served our clients needs the best. This class made me look at stakeholders holistically and value them as such.
Lorena
Being able to see how all the projects come together and how they relate to each other at the end is my favorite lesson leaned. Getting to know the system of pet adoption opens your mind and gives you perspective as to all the hard work that goes into successfully adopting a pet and all the situations animal shelters experience, which then makes you think not only as engineers, but as humans of all the help we can offer to animal shelters and other organizations that play a significant role in our society, but we might not think of everyday. Being able to get familiarized with the systems we were introduced to was one my goals and therefore another lesson learned as prior to this course and starting our projects that was not the case.
Team
We all feel like we’ve learned a lot in this class, and we can carry the information learned for the rest of our lives, as all the lessons can be applied to any discipline or career path we choose. Some of the biggest takeaways of this class, and project number three are:
The importance of project management. Having a plan and being organized is crucial for successful project. Certain components of it are an art instead of a science and we must adapt as we go to maintain productivity.
To have a holistic approach towards problem-solving, especially when there are people involved. Sometimes the most effective engineering doesn’t feel like engineering at all.
When analyzing systems and its stakeholders, we should always get different points of views, as well as use different tools like diagrams and matrices to do so. This will give us an insight on different perspectives which will ultimately make us better understand the system overall.
Systems can be extremely complex and difficult to solve. Having a strategy and focus on more specific events helped us overcome this.
Understanding and emphasizing your leveraging points will point you to the right direction of the most effective solution of the problem you’re trying to solve, but it can be more complex than giving you an unique and straightforward solution.