Designing a Smarter Petcare Ecosystem
Evolving Wagr from a GPS tracking product into a connected petcare ecosystem through strategic product design.
Building More Than Just Another Pet App
Wagr started as a GPS tracking solution designed to help pet parents keep their dogs safe. While the product solved an important problem, conversations with users revealed that tracking represented only a small part of the pet parenting journey.
From booking veterinary appointments and choosing the right food to learning about behavioural changes or finding trustworthy advice, pet parents relied on multiple disconnected products to care for their pets.
Rather than continuing to build around hardware, Wagr saw an opportunity to become a digital-first petcare platform that could support pet parents through every stage of their journey.
The challenge was to evolve Wagr into a connected petcare platform that could support users throughout their entire journey, from urgent veterinary consultations to everyday pet parenting.
Over three product phases, we validated digital healthcare, expanded into a broader ecosystem, and introduced personalised experiences designed to make petcare more proactive.
Shaping the Product Roadmap
Beyond designing interfaces, I worked closely with the founders to identify product opportunities, prioritise features, define MVPs, and establish scalable design patterns that could support the platform as it evolved.
Across three product phases, my work spanned research, product strategy, interaction design, visual design, prototyping, and building a flexible design system that could accommodate future growth.
Research revealed that pet parents faced three recurring challenges.
Accessing trusted veterinary care often involved long wait times, travel, or limited availability.
Everyday petcare was fragmented across multiple apps, websites and communities.
Most products were reactive, requiring users to search for information instead of providing timely guidance.
This presented an opportunity to build a platform that simplified petcare through trusted, connected and personalised experiences.
Why We Built in Phases
Building an entire petcare ecosystem from day one would have been difficult to validate and overwhelming for users.
Instead, we deliberately sequenced product investments across three phases, allowing each release to solve a distinct user problem while laying the foundation for what came next.
Phase 1: Building Trust Through Digital Healthcare
The first product investment focused on solving one of the biggest challenges for pet parents—access to trusted veterinary care.
Instead of attempting to solve every aspect of petcare at once, we started with TeleVet consultations. This allowed Wagr to establish credibility, reduce friction in accessing professional advice, and validate digital healthcare as the platform's entry point.
Product Goal
Create an accessible and trustworthy digital consultation experience that gives pet parents confidence to seek veterinary advice earlier while establishing Wagr as a reliable healthcare companion.
Key outcomes
Simplified the consultation journey
Reduced friction in accessing veterinary care
Created the foundation for long-term engagement
Product KPIs
↑ Consultation booking conversion
↑ Consultation completion rate
↓ Average booking time
↑ First-time consultation bookings
↑ User satisfaction (CSAT/NPS)
Phase 2: Expanding Into Everyday Petcare
Healthcare solved an important problem, but it wasn't enough to keep users engaged every day.
Research showed that pet parents continued switching between different platforms for shopping, education, and community support. Phase 2 focused on bringing these fragmented experiences together into a single ecosystem.
Product Goal
Increase everyday engagement by connecting healthcare, learning, commerce, and community into one seamless product experience.
Key outcomes
Increased opportunities for repeat engagement
Connected healthcare with everyday petcare
Strengthened cross-feature adoption
Product KPIs
↑ Cross-feature adoption
↑ Weekly active users
↑ Repeat sessions per user
↑ Community engagement
↑ 30-day retention
Phase 3: Creating a More Intelligent Product
With the ecosystem established, the next challenge was making the experience feel increasingly personal over time.
Instead of expecting users to search for information or remember routine care, Wagr began using pet profiles and behavioural data to deliver timely recommendations, reminders, and insights.
product goal
Reduce cognitive effort by delivering personalised experiences that anticipate user needs rather than simply responding to them.
Key outcomes
More relevant recommendations
Proactive petcare reminders
Personalised experiences powered by user context
Product KPIs
↑ Recommendation CTR
↑ Reminder engagement
↑ Recommendation-driven conversions
↑ Repeat engagement
↑ Multi-feature adoption
Designing for Scale
One of the biggest design challenges wasn't solving today's problems—it was ensuring today's solutions wouldn't limit tomorrow's product direction. Navigation, information architecture, design systems, and interaction patterns were intentionally designed to accommodate future services without requiring major redesigns.
Key Learnings
Designing Wagr reinforced that successful products aren't built by shipping more features—they're built by solving the right problems at the right time.
By validating trust through healthcare before expanding into everyday petcare and personalisation, the product was able to evolve naturally while maintaining a cohesive experience for users.