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Case Study · 03 · Spring 2022

A Date
with the Owls.

A 5-month UX research project for the Burrowing Owl Conservation Project at ASU Polytechnic — connecting communities to conservation through human-centered design.

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Project Focus
Community Engagement& Contacting Capabilities
Timeline
5 MonthsSpring 2022
Role
UX ResearchProject Planning
Client
ASUBurrowing Owl Project
Survey Questionnaires
Usability Testing
User Interviews
Persona Ideation
A/B Prototyping
About the Project

A conservation effort in need of a community.

The Burrowing Owl Conservation Project is a partnership between ASU's College of Integrative Sciences and Arts and the Wild at Heart raptor rescue organization — building, monitoring, and maintaining owl habitats at ASU Polytechnic while rehoming owl pairs in need.

Stakeholders needed a usable interface to extend their outreach and connect with the wider community. This research aimed to understand the mindset, capabilities, and preferences of those living in and around the ASU Polytechnic campus.

Guidance
Dr. Andrew Mara, ASU CISA
Audience
Community members near ASU Polytechnic
Tools
Adobe XD · Adobe Illustrator · LinkedIn
The Problem

How do you invite a community to care?

The owl team had a meaningful mission but lacked a bridge to their community. People living steps away from the habitats had no easy way to locate, visit, or get involved. The interface — digital or tactile — needed to do more than inform. It needed to motivate.

The research was designed to uncover what actually moves conservation-minded community members to take action — and translate that into a design direction the team could build on.

Design Process

Seven stages, one direction.

01
Project
Planning
02
UX
Research
03
Persona
Ideation
04
Concept &
Usage Story
05
Feature
Research
06
Sketches
07
Final
Iteration
UX Research

Three methods.
One community.

Research combined quantitative and qualitative methods to build a complete picture of how community members think about conservation — and what would genuinely motivate them to engage.

01
📋
Survey Questionnaires

Quantitative data to understand community awareness levels, conservation interest, and barriers to engagement. Delivered at scale across ASU campus communities.

02
🧪
Usability Testing

Evaluating existing conservation interfaces to identify friction points — understanding what patterns already work for conservation-minded users vs. what creates confusion.

03
🎙️
User Interviews

Deep qualitative sessions surfacing motivations, latent frustrations, and unarticulated desires around wildlife conservation participation and community involvement.

C
Persona 01
The Curious
Local
Nature-Aware Community Member
Wants to easily locate and visit owl habitats on campus without complex navigation
Values clear, accessible information about when and where to find the owls
Low friction is essential — any barrier to visiting means they simply won't go
A
Persona 02
The Active
Advocate
Conservation-Motivated Participant
Wants to contribute meaningfully — through volunteering, donations, or spreading awareness
Needs a direct, friction-free way to contact and engage with the project team
Motivated by impact visibility — wants to see that their engagement makes a difference
Final Iteration

Two prototypes.
One A/B test.

Two distinct interface directions were developed to test which approach better resonated with community members — map-first discoverability vs. community-first connection.

Only the Locate and Contact Us flows are prototyped in both versions. Other screens are shown for visual and structural context.
Prototype A
Map-first approach

A location-centered interface allowing users to find owl habitats, plan visits, and get directions. Prioritizes physical discovery and one-time engagement.

Try Prototype A
Home screen
01
Welcome Home
Land on the home screen. The Locate and Contact Us flows are prototyped. Donate and Volunteer are shown for context but not yet interactive.
Map/Locate screen
02
Locate a Sanctuary
Tap Locate to open the map view. Filter between All sites and Open to Public. Tap a pin to see hours, address, and contact details.
Navigation menu
03
Navigation Menu
The hamburger menu slides open to show navigation options. This screen is shown for visual context — menu items are not individually prototyped in this iteration.
Contact Us screen
04
Get in Touch
Tap Contact Us in the bottom nav. Fill out the form, select your interest (Volunteering, Donations, Visiting), and hit Submit. The team responds directly.
Prototype B
Community-first approach

A visual, image-led home experience with a map-based locator and a streamlined contact form — prioritizing sustained engagement and personal connection to the cause.

Try Prototype B
Prototype B Home
01
Visual Home
A full-bleed owl hero image greets users. Only the Locate and Contact Us flows are prototyped — Donate and Volunteer tiles are shown for visual reference only.
Prototype B Map Pin
02
Tap a Pin
Tap any map pin to reveal a card with the sanctuary name, hours, address, phone number, and accessibility icons.
Prototype B Filters
03
Filter Sites
Use the filter pills to narrow down by Open to Public, Photography Allowed, and more — finding the right visit for you.
Prototype B Full Map
04
Explore All Sites
The full map shows all sanctuary locations across the Phoenix area. Yellow pins are owl sites — blue markers show your saved or filtered selections.
Prototype B Contact
05
Contact the Team
Fill in your name, number, and what you're interested in — Volunteering, Donations, Careers, or Visiting. Select a nearby campus location and hit Submit.

"Proposed Initial Stages Testing: An A/B Test to determine what works versus what needs additional work. Feedback will be used to create a new prototype for future testing rounds."

2
Distinct prototypes developed and A/B tested for community response
2
3+
Research methods triangulated for deeper, more reliable insights
3
5mo
End-to-end research and design from planning through final prototype
5
Key Takeaways

What this project
taught.

1
Community context shapes every design decision

Research revealed that local residents respond better to location-first navigation than cause-first messaging — a finding that would have been impossible to assume without direct community engagement.

2
Quantitative + qualitative is more powerful than either alone

Survey data revealed what users wanted. Interviews revealed why. Together, they provided the confidence to make specific, defensible design recommendations for a niche and underrepresented audience.

3
A/B testing as an early research tool, not just a launch tool

Building two distinct prototypes from the outset — rather than iterating on one — surfaced divergent user preferences early, before significant resources were committed to one direction.

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