Designed an end-to-end subscription pharmacy for Canadian pet owners managing chronic conditions.
I worked on this first for an ideation pitch for the Cansbridge x Simple Ventures Pitch competition in July 2025, and then as a concept project with Simple Ventures.
TIMELINE
July, October 2025
ROLE
Product Designer & PM
RECOGNITION
Top 4 finalist /20
THE CHALLENGE
Validating a proven model for the Canadian market
This was the initial prompt for the ideation pitch competition: business ideas that are successful in other countries, that have yet to be introduced to Canada. I had one week to put together a pitch (and fly to Toronto to present it!!)
EARLY IDEAS
I know people can spend a lot of money on pets and pet health. I thought about pet funeral services, then I found out they already exist here…
My mentor suggested I look into Mark Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs. He sells drugs at wholesale + a transparent 15% markup. But this was not something Canada needed.
I researched felix, a company that offers telehealth consultations and delivers specialty drugs and treatments. I saw an opportunity: "Felix for Pets"
I found an American company "Chewy Health" running an online pet pharmacy—validating my idea!
THE GAP
Canada has 16M+ pet owners and no dominant online pet pharmacy. Chronic conditions like diabetes, arthritis, and thyroid disease require consistent medication — but owners are stuck calling vets, waiting on physical pharmacies, and overpaying with no subscription option.
An unmet need meets regulatory barriers…
This was my first prototype that I presented to the panel of judges and my Cansbridge peers! I did my best to put my vision to life in the time constraint, placing in the top 4 for my research and ideation pitch, winning a spot at a future company dinner.
This was my first prototype that I presented to the panel of judges and my Cansbridge peers! I did my best to put my vision to life in the time constraint, placing in the top 4 for my research and ideation pitch, winning a spot at a future company dinner.
THE BRIEF
How might we make pet medication affordable and accessible for every Canadian pet owner?
This time, I was working for Simple Ventures on a landing page based on Koala.Health
My supervisor told me to emulate their premium, trustworthy feeling.
BRAINSTORMING
How do I make this better?
Redundant Cat and Dog tabs. I decided to sort the content differently, and introduced sorting to the FAQ page. I created a dog/cat filter inside each of the Medications, Treatments, and Nutrition & Wellness pages
Redundant Cat and Dog tabs. I decided to sort the content differently, and introduced sorting to the FAQ page. I created a dog/cat filter inside each of the Medications, Treatments, and Nutrition & Wellness pages
DESIGN CHALLENGE
Affordable, yet premium and trustworthy.
Before committing to the final design language, I used AI to do some rapid prototyping in two directions: clinical/medical, with realistic images and red/blue colours, and playful/pet-first, with casual pet illustrations. The first felt like a hospital website, and the second undermined credibility.
When I created my own brand guidelines, two things had to be true simultaneously:
Affordable — subscription pricing, transparent costs, no surprise markups
Trustworthy — vet-backed, prescription-validated, not feeling like a grey-market workaround
KEY FLOWS & DECISIONS
I chose to make cancellation and pause options visible from day one so the subscription model would feel like a convenience, not a trap.
I focused on transparency as a tool to build trust by using the pricing section to show what pet pharmacies usually hide: the vet markup. The savings are quantified and clear, and a footnote keeps the claims honest.
REFLECTIONS
As this was just a concept project, I didn't have access to formal user testing and mostly relied on friends to look over my work and give me advice. In the future, I would create better systems earlier to do A/B testing and define clear success metrics with my supervisor.
I learned a lot about designing sites for ecommerce and pet owners. Trust, transparency, and clarity were the big goals I strived for in this project.
