RSPCA

Pet owners in urgent situations couldn't find help fast enough The RSPCA is Australia's leading animal welfare charity. But its Knowledge Base had drifted into something closer to a static archive than a living resource — an "encyclopedia" pet owners had to dig through rather than a tool that actually helped them in the moment.

Duration

Oct-Dec, 2025

Client

RSPCA

Services

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Product Design

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Mobile UI Design

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Prototype

Challenge

The pattern was always the same. A pet owner arrives stressed, searches for help, and leaves without an answer.

Before touching any screens, I used a What–How–Why framework, built from the project brief and stakeholder interviews, to frame the problem properly. From there, three research methods grounded the redesign in evidence rather than assumption.

What the data showed. Google Analytics put 60% of users on mobile, with an average engagement time of just 30 seconds. Earlier UX studies backed this up — users skimmed, hit dead ends, and left. The content existed. It just wasn't findable.

What competitors were doing well. A scan of comparable organizations surfaced three distinct strengths worth learning from: the Asia for Animals Coalition's strong mega-menu and multi-language support, the Animal Welfare Toolbox's expert credibility and downloadable resources with previews, and World Animal Protection's age-targeted content and visual engagement.

Where the existing KB broke down. A heuristic evaluation traced the failure to three specific issues: inconsistent navigation, no filtering options, and a layout that simply didn't hold up on mobile.

Together, these three methods didn't just describe the problem — they defined exactly what needed to change, and why.


The mission: turn that archive into a user-centric digital ecosystem, one that gives pet owners and animal lovers advice they can trust and actually act on — fast.

Solution

The redesign focused on breaking the stressed-search-leave pattern at three points: building trust at first glance, clearing the path to the right information, and making the next step always obvious.

Three lenses, one filter

Every design decision had to pass through three principles before it reached the final prototype:

  • Authority — signaling expertise through verified labels and author credentials

  • Navigation — making sure users never feel lost, on any device

  • Seamless discovery — encouraging "information grazing," where one topic naturally leads to the next

Restructuring the architecture

The content hierarchy was rebuilt around scannability: an icon-based grid system on the homepage, paired with a clear "Document Type" tagging system (Video, Article, PDF). Users can now filter by their preferred learning style and how urgently they need an answer.

A navigation that works under pressure

The drop-down menu was redesigned so the search page is reachable from anywhere in the user journey. Engagement hooks — the Quiz feature, links to the Adoption page — were built directly into the navigation to turn browsing into action.

Search and filtering that respects the user's time

Results can now be sorted by Newest, Most Popular, or Recommended, depending on what the user actually needs. Downloadable PDFs got visual previews, so users know what they're getting before they commit to a download.

Articles built to be skimmed, not just read

A clickable table of contents lets users jump straight to the section they need. AI-generated summaries and a floating "Top" button were added specifically to improve scannability on mobile — where, per the research, 60% of the audience lives.

Trust, in human form

Expert verification badges and an "estimated read time" set clear expectations up front. Author profiles give the science a human face. Mini quizzes embedded at the end of articles turn passive reading into active engagement, encouraging users to test what they've learned.

Impact

Expected outcome: a more connected, educated, and loyal RSPCA community — better equipped to provide high-quality care for animals across Australia.

Mentor evaluation highlighted strengths in synthesis, resourcefulness, presentation, and empathy, reflecting Midweight-level design capability.

What I'd do differently. The strategic framing and research foundation held up well, but the design decisions were never validated with real users. With more time, I'd run usability testing specifically with pet owners in urgent situations — the exact moment where finding the right information fast matters most.

What's next. Measure whether the redesign actually reduces time-to-find-information on mobile, where the majority of the audience already is.