DogDrop.co
End-to-end UI-UX for a dog daycare brand scaling through franchises building both an internal franchise management platform and a consumer-facing app.
DogDrop is a dog daycare business that operates on a franchise model. As the brand scaled, they faced two distinct but connected challenges: franchisees needed operational software to run their locations efficiently, and pet owners needed a seamless consumer app to book, manage, and stay connected with their dog's daycare experience.
I was brought in as the product designer responsible for both surfaces designing the franchise management platform (under NDA) and leading the full design of the consumer-facing iOS app from research through to shipped product.
The pet care industry was growing fast but the tools available to both franchisees and pet owners were not keeping pace. DogDrop faced two parallel problems:
I conducted research in parallel talking to franchisee operators and pet owners to understand the real friction on both ends. Methods included stakeholder interviews, competitive analysis, and contextual observation at a pilot DogDrop location.
12
User interviews conducted (pet owners + staff)
5
Competitor apps audited (Rover, Wag, local daycares)
78%
of pet owners said booking felt "too much effort"
3
Key drop-off anxiety moments identified
Key research findings shaped two distinct design directions: the franchise platform needed to reduce cognitive load and standardize operations, while the consumer app needed to build trust through transparency and reduce scheduling friction.
The internal platform was built to give franchise operators a structured, intuitive way to run their location covering dog onboarding, daily check-in/check-out flows, health and vaccination record management, and staff task tracking.
Given the NDA, I can't share visuals from this work. However, the core design challenge was creating a system flexible enough to handle the variation between franchise locations while keeping the interface simple enough for on-the-floor staff to use without training overhead.
Work stream 2 · Consumer iOS App
Building the pet parent experience
The consumer app was the public face of DogDrop the product that pet owners would use before, during, and after every visit. I led the full design process: from research synthesis and information architecture through to high-fidelity UI and developer handoff.
Outcomes & Impact
Results that mattered
The consumer app was the public face of DogDrop the product that pet owners would use before, during, and after every visit. I led the full design process: from research synthesis and information architecture through to high-fidelity UI and developer handoff.
Challenges
What made this hard
The consumer app was the public face of DogDrop the product that pet owners would use before, during, and after every visit. I led the full design process: from research synthesis and information architecture through to high-fidelity UI and developer handoff.
Reflections
What I learned
B2B and B2C in the same ecosystem means holding two mental models simultaneously. The systems can look different, but the underlying logic has to connect seamlessly.
Emotional design is functional. In pet care, trust is the product. Every micro-decision copy, confirmation screens, notification timing either builds or erodes it.
Test at the right fidelity, early. The IA issue caught in round 1 would have cost weeks if it reached dev handoff.