Furmiliar
A conceptual mobile app enabling shelters to track feral cats and enhance their care and support. (2022)
My Role
UX Designer
Context
Familiar + fur = Furmiliar
Furmiliar is a personal project I revisited, inspired by my curiosity about feral cats and their survival. Shelters often rely on Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR), a minimally invasive method that benefits both cats and communities by managing overpopulation and improving the welfare of feral cats.
Previous Iteration (2020)
Problem
With 70 million feral cats in the U.S., overpopulation strains TNR programs. Challenges include noise from cat fights, limited resources like food and shelter, and illness spread from unneutered cats.
Opportunity
How might we assist shelters in tracking and supporting feral cat populations?
Process
Iterations + early wireframes
Through five interviews with shelters, I identified key challenges, including overpopulation, limited resources, and disturbances from feral cat fights. These insights guided the design to address the urgent need for better management and support of feral cat populations.
Solution
A community run platform
Furmiliar is a TNR-centered, community-powered app designed to track and assist feral and stray cats. Residents can report sightings, contribute resources, and collaborate with shelters to improve outcomes for the cats and the community.
Explore reports made by community members
The homepage displays reports from nearby users, helping track sightings and avoid duplicate entries.
Create and share entries with the community
Users can upload images, map locations, and add identifiable details about feral cats. This encourages community involvement and gives shelters accurate, localized data.
Next steps
Shelter portal
Currently, the solution relies on sending updates and data to shelters. In the next iteration, I plan to build a dedicated portal where shelters can access live community updates.
Onboarding
User testing showed a need for better guidance. I aim to add onboarding screens to familiarize users with app features.