Our team partnered with Finley's Barkery, a dog treat company whose mission is to bring inclusivity in the workforce by creating employment opportunities for people with disabilities. We worked with Finley’s to figure out how to improve their digital communication with their target audience while bringing attention to the company’s mission.
Meet the Team
Shruti Agarwal
Ako Asamoah
Ethan Reed
Jun Lin
Major: Computer Science
Year: Sophomore
Contact: agarw161@umn.edu
Fun fact: I once set my microwave on fire at 2am trying to heat up dumplings (turns out you can't put kleenex in the microwave)
What I got out of this project: I'm glad to have been able to work in such an interdisciplinary team and learn from them while using our combined skill set to help out a company with an empowering mission.
Major: Graphic Design
Year: Senior
Contact:
Fun fact: I went to Mankato State for 6 days...Don’t Ask.
What I got out of this project: I was able to collaborate with a company with integrity. But most importantly, I was able to work effectively with a diverse team across vastly different majors. Something I was definitely not used to!
Major: Management Information Systems
Year: Junior
Contact: reedx500@umn.edu
Fun fact: I have a pet guinea pig that I found in a bush in downtown Chicago (he does not have rabies)
What I got out of this project: This project was highly valuable because it helped sharpen my interpersonal skills when it came to working in a highly collaborative and innovative setting.
Major: Marketing
Year: Sophomore
Contact: lin00113@umn.edu
Fun fact: I have hit the maximum number of saved songs on Spotify (10,000)
What I got out of this project: The opportunity to learn from my peers and from our client, even with the current situation, has been invaluable. As a team, we got to help design a better digital user experience for our client.
Alesia Meulemans
Major: Pre-Product Design
Year: Freshman
Contact: meule023@umn.edu
Fun fact: I dressed as Elvis Presley for Halloween all four years of middle school (dark times).
What I got out of this project: Working on a project with such a powerful positive impact has been really fulfilling. I’ve also learned both digital processing and interpersonal skills from working with a multidisciplinary team.
Meet the Client
As two former special education teachers, co-founders Angie and Kyle saw an opportunity to serve a greater purpose through our pets. So, they created Finley’s, named after their resilient rescue pup and CTO(Chief Treat Officer). Finley's goal is to create paid employment opportunities for people with disabilities while dedicating 50% of net profits to initiatives providing employment training, accessibility, health & wellness, and advocacy platforms for people with disabilities. Read more.
Defining the problem
We worked with Finley’s to figure out how to improve their digital communication with their target audience while bringing attention to the company’s mission. In order to determine where to narrow our focus, we did a SWOT Analysis (Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats) of our initial thoughts on Finley’s website.
User Journey
We defined and processed 4 different user journeys and graphed the highs (above the dotted line) and lows (below the dotted line) for each user. These users resemble Finley’s target customers - millennials, those who have a family member with a disability, user’s who want to support Finley’s mission, and pet lovers.
Research and Data
We looked through the website’s analytics and found that there was a 78% drop-off rate after users viewed only the homepage. Analytics also showed us that only about 4% of users went to the mission statement after viewing the homepage. We aimed to decrease the drop-off rate by bringing attention to the mission statement on the homepage and giving users a way to read more about the company and shop for products directly off the homepage.
To get user feedback and track collective user sentiment, we created a google form for people to fill out after going through the website. Overall, these graphs show some key data insights consumers feel about Finley’s and their products.
Validating through Design
Finley’s playful color scheme is a recognizable aspect of their brand and we wanted to make sure it was well incorporated throughout the website for cohesiveness and brand identifiability.
Before and After
Homepage
About/Mission
Product Page
