Quantitative Survey
Transactional Data Analysis
Interviews
Pet Center Visits
New Pet Parent Journey
Quantitative Research
Business Sizing
Qualitative Research
Opportunities
Experience Strategy & Blueprints
Petco: Designing a support system for the new pet parent's journey
Petco identified a gap in the market for new pet parents and turned to us for insights and innovative solutions. Recognizing the critical role their employees play as the first point of contact, they expanded the project to include staff perspectives.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Senior designer
ROLE
1 director
2 seniors
1 strategist
DESIGN TEAM
8 weeks
TIMING
Initial research & discovery
Since our brief included both pet parents and Petco employees, we visited Petco stores in person, speaking with different departments and types of employees (such as vets, groomers, and sales floor associates). Observing them interact with customers helped us better understand their pain points and begin ideating potential solutions to improve their day-to-day experience.
Vet technician, Sunset Park Petco
“If it wasn’t for my customers, I would have quit a long time ago; we just don’t get the support we need [from Petco]”
To better understand the mindset of new pet parents, we interviewed a group of owners with varying levels of experience. From these interviews, we began crafting our journeys.
Quantitative Survey
Transactional Data Analysis
Interviews
Pet Center Visits
New Pet Parent Journey
Quantitative Research
Business Sizing
Qualitative Research
Opportunities
Experience Strategy & Blueprints
We combined the pet parent and employee interviews into what we called a "new parent journey." This journey went through several iterations before we arrived at the final representations of both experiences.
Translating research into a journey map
We designed concepts within each phase of the journey, which were then presented to the client for refinement. When storytelling, we ensured each concept stayed aligned with the phase it was addressing, as each phase had specific needs for both parents and employees.
The team at Petco then selected two concept directions to pursue — the ones they found most applicable and innovative.
Pet parents feel more informed and empowered as they embark on their ownership journey through easier access to up-to-date information.
Meanwhile, employees gain a more transparent view of their customers when and where they need it.
Allowing the pet parent’s community to support them even before their arrival — giving them some much-needed pre adoption confidence.
As part of our deliverables, we created in-depth service blueprints to help the client better understand how to implement our solutions. Knowing that blueprints can often overwhelm non-designers, we broke them into more digestible pieces for the presentation.
Creating service blueprints
Impact
Since our engagement, Petco has since launched a section of their website dedicated to the new pet parent and have included a more 'new parent' focused end cap in stores. Many of our suggestions were reflected, and our journey phases were illustrated as part of the page.
©️ Claire Lorman 2025
Petco: Designing a support system for the new pet parent's journey
Petco identified a gap in the market for new pet parents and turned to us for insights and innovative solutions. Recognizing the critical role their employees play as the first point of contact, they expanded the project to include staff perspectives.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Senior designer
ROLE
1 director
2 seniors
1 strategist
DESIGN TEAM
8 weeks
TIMING
Initial research & discovery
Since our brief included both pet parents and Petco employees, we visited Petco stores in person, speaking with different departments and types of employees (such as vets, groomers, and sales floor associates). Observing them interact with customers helped us better understand their pain points and begin ideating potential solutions to improve their day-to-day experience.
Vet technician, Sunset Park Petco
"If it wasn't for my customers, I would have quit a long time ago; we just don't get the support we need [from Petco]"
To better understand the mindset of new pet parents, we interviewed a group of owners with varying levels of experience. From these interviews, we began crafting our journeys.
Translating research into a journey map
We combined the pet parent and employee interviews into what we called a "new parent journey." This journey went through several iterations before we arrived at the final representations of both experiences.
We designed concepts within each phase of the journey, which were then presented to the client for refinement. When storytelling, we ensured each concept stayed aligned with the phase it was addressing, as each phase had specific needs for both parents and employees.
The team at Petco then selected two concept directions to pursue — the ones they found most applicable and innovative.
Pet parents feel more informed and empowered as they embark on their ownership journey through easier access to up-to-date information.
Meanwhile, employees gain a more transparent view of their customers when and where they need it.
Allowing the pet parent’s community to support them even before their arrival — giving them some much-needed pre adoption confidence.
Creating service blueprints
As part of our deliverables, we created in-depth service blueprints to help the client better understand how to implement our solutions. Knowing that blueprints can often overwhelm non-designers, we broke them into more digestible pieces for the presentation.
Impact
Since our engagement, Petco has since launched a section of their website dedicated to the new pet parent and have included a more 'new parent' focused end cap in stores. Many of our suggestions were reflected, and our journey phases were illustrated as part of the page.
