Can Dogs Eat It
Designing a trusted and personalized experience for everyday pet nutrition decisions
- Can Dogs Eat It
- Product Design
Context
Understanding the Problem Space
Can Dogs Eat It was created to help dog owners quickly understand what foods are safe for their pets. While the idea is simple, the challenge was making that information feel clear, reliable, and easy to use in real-life situations. There’s a lot of conflicting content around pet nutrition, so the focus of this project was turning that complexity into something people can trust and act on quickly.
Problems
From uncertainty to confident decisions
Creating a reliable experience for pet nutrition meant balancing speed with accuracy, organizing complex information in a clear way, and making sure the guidance felt relevant to each dog.
Building trust in critical decisions
Pet nutrition content is often inconsistent and unreliable, making it difficult to design an experience users can confidently depend on when making quick decisions.
Balancing speed with depth
Users need immediate answers, but food safety requires nuance. The challenge was to present clear guidance without oversimplifying important details.
Lack of meaningful personalization
Most solutions provide generic advice, failing to account for differences in breed, size, or health conditions.
Unstructured information hierarchy
Key information like safety status, risks, and recommendations were not clearly prioritized, making it harder for users to quickly understand outcomes.
Challenge
How might we deliver instant, clear food safety guidance while reinforcing trust through veterinarian-verified content in an AI-driven landscape?
Approach
From search to decision
I approached the experience by thinking about how people actually make decisions in the moment, often quickly, sometimes unsure, and looking for reassurance. The product was designed to give an immediate answer first, and then allow users to go deeper if they want more context. I focused on creating a clear structure where safety, risks, and recommendations are easy to scan, without feeling overwhelming. Personalization was introduced in a way that adds value without complicating the experience.
Onboarding flow
The onboarding was designed to quickly communicate the product’s value without overwhelming users. It introduces the core experience step by step, helping users understand how it works while naturally guiding them toward personalization.
Design principles
The design principles were centered around clarity, trust, and relevance. The goal was to make complex information easy to understand, while reinforcing credibility and helping users make quick decisions with confidence.
1. Clarity over completeness
Safety status is always the most prominent element, reducing the need for interpretation.
2. Build trust through transparency
Content presents both benefits and risks, reinforcing credibility and informed decision-making.
3. Design for real-life moments
Quick search and immediate answers are prioritized over complex navigation.
4. Personalization with purpose
User input directly impacts recommendations, making the experience more relevant.
5. Layered information architecture
The interface is simple at first glance, with deeper content available when needed.
Impact
Turning complexity into confident decisions
The product brings together scattered and sometimes confusing information into a clear and structured experience, helping users make faster and more confident decisions about their dog’s nutrition.
Instant safety check
Users can search any food and immediately understand if it’s safe, reducing hesitation in everyday situations.
Vet-backed credibility
All outputs are reviewed by veterinarians, which helps build trust and makes the experience feel more reliable, especially in an AI-driven context.
Structured decision support
Information is broken down into safety, benefits, and risks, making it easy to scan or explore in more detail.
Personalized recommendations
Dog profiles allow the experience to adapt based on breed, size, and health conditions, making the guidance more relevant.
Context-aware suggestions
Location and seasonal context add another layer of usefulness, going beyond basic food safety.