Animal Transfer & Space Availability Management
Shane Jeffers
Like this project
Posted Jan 6, 2026
Enhanced visibility of animal reservations for scientific services.
Animal Transfer & Space Availability Management
Overview
Animal transfer planning depended on fragmented data and manual coordination, making it difficult to confirm whether space was actually available before deliveries arrived. This resulted in preventable delays, rework, and last-minute decision-making.
I designed a centralized operational experience that visualizes space availability in context with incoming and outgoing transfers, giving teams a shared source of truth for planning, reservation, and execution.
The Problem
Scientists and Vet Services lacked real-time visibility into cage and rack availability when animals were delivered from animal production into controlled facility space (CFS).
This created “hotel management” issues:
Teams couldn’t easily see what was reserved vs. actually available
Incoming deliveries arrived without clear confirmation that space was open
Outgoing cages weren’t always accounted for in planning
I think I booked a room but it's not actually available.
Which spots are available for an incoming order? Is cage A8 leaving tomorrow, Or is the row booked up?
Impact
Reduced uncertainty around space availability before animal deliveries
Gave Scientists and Vet Services a shared source of truth for transfer planning
Decreased last-minute coordination caused by hidden reservations or outgoing cages
Personas
Workflow & System Design
To support different operational roles, the system needed to present the same data in role-specific ways—allowing Scientists to plan deliveries while enabling Vet Services to manage reservations and resolve conflicts.
This flow shows how users move from room-level visibility into transfer planning and rack-level management.
Design Exploration & Key Decisions
The Solution
A centralized operational dashboard that shows incoming transfers, outgoing removals, and rack availability together, allowing teams to confirm space before animals arrive.
Feature bullets
Incoming & outgoing transfer overview by room and date
Interactive rack map showing reserved, leaving, and occupied states at a glance
Transfer details drawer with cage-level information and grouping by origin
Hover interactions to confirm availability without leaving the page
Filtering by transfer and date to focus only on relevant racks
Clear status indicators to reduce ambiguity and manual follow-ups
