Design Challenge: "Design an interface for a dog adoption agency"

Prompt: “Design an interface for a dog adoption agency to view the dogs they have in their network. The user should be able to see dogs up for adoption, dogs that are in the process of being adopted and dogs that have been adopted.”

I worked on this design challenge about a year ago. To be honest, it’s probably the raddest and most fun design challenge that I’ve ever been given. And trust me, I’ve gone through dozens (and…you’ll probably see a few in this little blog in the coming months). Unfortunately, this particular start-up was lacking in funds. I suppose they probably shouldn’t have put out a job posting for a Product Designer at that time? In any case, I hope things worked out for them.

So — back to this assignment. I was actually employed at the time, but I wasn’t very happy with where I was at. I didn’t feel challenged enough, and things moved at a much slower place than what I was used to. I was applying left and right. And, if you’re a designer, you know how it feels right when you’re about to open up that document for a design challenge. On one hand, you’re incredibly stoked to have passed on to the “design challenge” round of the many interview phases, and you’re also insanely curious about what you get to work on in the challenge. On the other, you’re nervous as hell that it’s going to be…well, a prompt that’s terrifying and seemingly impossible. I definitely got lucky with this one. In fact, I geeked out so hard that I even visited the local SPCA to do some user research (despite the fact that the challenge was only meant to be completed in 6 hours).

In any case, it’s nice to have a place to share some conceptual work. Thanks, blog! I think we’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other.