Upcycle old fabric into new pet accessories
Helping pet owners transform fabric waste into playful, sustainable pet accessories
Project Type
Service Design
Website Design
Sustainable Design
Timeline
Jan. 2025-Mar. 2025
(10 weeks)
Team Project
2 UX Researcher
2 UX Designer (Me)
My Role
Experience Mapping
Prototyping
Visual Design
In the Petter project, our team designed a sustainable service that helps pet owners upcycle old fabrics into new pet accessories. We explored how to reduce waste while strengthening the bond between pets and their owners. The service combines DIY workshops, community engagement, and a digital platform to make sustainable play both fun and accessible. My role focused on research, experience mapping, and digital prototyping to bring this vision to life.
Challenge
Pet owners frequently discard accessories due to durability or hygiene concerns, contributing to significant textile waste. At the same time, they want products that are safe, customizable, and emotionally meaningful for their pets. We saw an opportunity to reimagine toy disposal not as an end, but as a beginning.
Research & Insights
📚 We conducted secondary research, survey, interviews, and co-design workshops
Our desk research highlighted two major challenges in the pet accessories industry:
🐩 Short product lifespan: Most pet accessories last only a few weeks to a few months before breaking or being discarded. This creates a recurring cycle of waste and cost for owners.
💰 High cost of eco-friendly alternatives: Sustainable pet accessories are priced almost twice as high as regular ones, making them less accessible for everyday owners.
pet toy made from eco-friendly material
regular pet toy
Affinity mapping of 4 internviews & 30+ survey reponses
The research revealed some insights…
Key Insight #1
✨ Safety first, then sustainability
Pet owners want durability and hygiene guaranteed before considering eco-friendliness.
“If it’s second-hand, I need to know it’s clean.” -P2 interview
In person co-design
Online co-design
Key Insight #2
✨ Customization adds emotional value
Personalizing toys strengthens bonds between pet owners and pets.
“If you know your dog, you know what they love.” -P3 co-design
Key Insight #3
✨ Education empowers
Pet owners respond best when learning feels approachable, not judgmental.
“I want to learn how my choices impact pets.” -P7 co-design
Mapping Experience
💡 To ground our design decisions, we mapped both the ecosystem and the user journey of pet owners.
Ecosystem map revealed key opportunities across the pet owner journey. From discovery to feedback, we focused on elements: browsing workshops, receiving clear preparation checklists, and engaging in guided co-design during workshops.
Ecosystem Map
Mapping Experience
Petter is designed as a journey: Pet owners first discover safe materials and creative ideas, then reserve a workshop, prepare their fabrics with clear instructions, and finally create accessories with pets or other participants in a supportive environment.
User Journey Map
Petter Digital Platform
🐶 The digital platform serves as the entry point, guiding pet owners from awareness to participation.
Final Design
Users discover Petter, learn how to choose safe materials for their pets, explore how old fabrics can be transformed into new opportunities, and seamlessly discover, reserve, prepare, and attend Petter workshops.
Browse workshops by type and difficulty, find activities that fit their pets’ needs and their own skill level.
Provides personalized instructions like how to prepare fabrics, what supplies to expect, and tips for bringing pets safely and comfortably based on what users answer for the quick quiz
Petter Workshop
🧶 The workshop is the heart of the service, turning waste into playful creation.
Final Design
Pet owners bring their own fabrics—trusted materials that ensure safety and comfort—and join hands-on sessions to craft toys tailored to their pets’ unique preferences. Guided by instructions, the workshop transforms toy disposal into an opportunity for creativity, bonding, and sharing. Extra creations can be donated, extending the impact to shelters and other pets in need.
Check-in Into The Workshop
Contribute Scrap Fabric Donation
Get Tailored DIY Toy Kits
Craft With Guidance
View Narrative Prototype
Petter workshop kit
Reflection
🙇♀️ What I Learned
This project showed me that design often begins in uncertainty, and clarity comes through trusting the process. By synthesizing messy research, I learned to uncover clear opportunities that balance user needs with sustainability. It also pushed me to think beyond individual touchpoints and consider the entire service and interaction ecosystem.
🙋♀️ What I Would do Different
I would expand testing with real pet owners to validate both the workshop flow and digital platform. I’d also explore partnerships with local shelters to reach broader communities, experiment with digital workshop kits for remote access, and test incentive models that encourage consistent upcycling.
Service design class final showcase
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