As a dedicated volunteer and foster at South Plains SPCA in Lubbock, Texas, I assumed the role of a board member and undertook the challenge of revitalizing our online presence. The existing website posed significant challenges in efficiently showcasing adoptable animals, managing their status, and providing essential information to potential adopters.

The absence of a Content Management System (CMS) in the previous website compelled manual addition and deletion of sections for updates, creating a repetitive and time-consuming process. This inefficiency, especially in handling returns from home visits or medical holds, proved unsustainable. Falling behind in updates became a significant challenge, leading to inaccurate information and hampering the organization's ability to maintain a timely and reliable online presence.

Setting clear goals, we aimed to design a visually appealing and user-friendly website, introduce a robust content management system (CMS), implement comprehensive filtering options, enhance animal profiles, and streamline the management of statuses. Researching other rescue websites and gathering insights from stakeholders, we strategically selected a Webflow template for its speed and customization possibilities. This gave us a better starting point to bounce off from instead of starting from scratch, getting further behind than we already had been.

The redesign focused on streamlining navigation, ensuring information clarity, and incorporating user-friendly filtering options. We developed a user-empowering CMS, seamlessly integrated a filtering system, and introduced innovative features such as related animal showcases and a dynamic status management system. These changes resulted in a welcoming platform for effortless information discovery, an intuitive filtering system, enhanced animal profiles, and a dynamic status management system that simplified administrative tasks.

The redesigned website now provides an improved user experience for potential adopters and enhances operational efficiency for the organization. By addressing usability issues and implementing user-centric features, we have laid the foundation for a valuable tool that aligns with the organization's mission.

Continuing our commitment to improvement, we are working on adding digital application forms to expedite the adoption process. Additionally, we plan to integrate pet management software to streamline the planning of intakes and medical needs. Fundraiser pages for animals with special needs will be introduced to raise awareness and support. A calendar for events and private meetings, along with a local HTML and JavaScript app for wellness check-ins, is in the pipeline, ensuring a comprehensive and user-friendly approach for both adopters and organization operations. These ongoing initiatives aim to further optimize the website's functionality and contribute to the welfare of animals in need.