Learning Goals
Students will be able to investigate local shelter conditions, animal safety concerns, and adoption barriers through interviews and observations to define evidence-based community needs.
Students will be able to synthesize interview notes, shelter observations, and partner feedback to formulate a clear, actionable problem statement for an adoption awareness event.
Students will be able to analyze criteria and constraints for a community adoption event, including animal safety, audience access, time, cost, and staffing, to guide feasible design decisions.
Students will be able to ideate multiple outreach and event-planning solutions, including marketing, engagement activities, and shelter connection strategies, to increase adoption awareness.
Students will be able to prototype an individual animal adoption outreach artifact, such as a flyer, social media post set, or event pitch, that translates user insights into a testable concept.
Students will be able to test and refine prototype outreach materials using mentor, peer, and shelter-staff feedback to improve clarity, safety messaging, and audience engagement.
Students will be able to justify design tradeoffs in a community awareness and adoption event using evidence from user research, partner feedback, and attendance or engagement data.
Students will be able to reflect on personal growth in community activism, collaboration, and self-direction by documenting progress, setbacks, and next steps across the yearlong project.
Products
Animal Shelter User Research Brief and Outreach Prototype
Each student creates a research brief based on firsthand interviews and observations, then designs one testable outreach prototype that responds directly to identified shelter needs. The product includes a short rationale explaining how user evidence shaped the concept and what feedback led to revisions.
Community Adoption Event Plan, Prototype, and Stakeholder Presentation
Teams develop a shared problem statement and a higher-fidelity event solution, then present the plan to shelter staff, mentors, and families for critique and possible implementation. The product shows how individual research informed the team’s priorities, tradeoffs, and final design decisions.
No rubric has been generated yet.