“
The more that we can deliver on a pet parent’s expectations and exceed them, the more they feel like they’re doing right by their pet.
The fur family shift: Innovating for the modern pet parent
It's time to move beyond traditional pet products
At Smart Design, we’ve explored a blurry line of what it means to be human centered designers, when your end user is not only a person, but a dog, cat, or even fish. As pets become increasingly integrated into our families, we’ve seen first hand that the expectations around what they need, how we care for them, and the products we bring into our homes are evolving. Innovation is moving beyond traditional pet products to address the deeper relationship between pets and their parents.
To explore these opportunities, we brought together a panel of experts: Mikkel Holm, Chief AI & Innovation Officer at BARK; Lindsay Joyce, President of Brand and Innovation at Pet Life Unlimited; and Bob Blake, VP of Hardware and Operations at Fi.
Drawing on our experiences across pet products, consumer brands, and connected technology, we discussed what it takes to innovate for the modern pet parent and how the next generation of pet products can better serve both pets and the people who care for them.
High quality experiences
The pet may be the ultimate end user, but the human is the chooser. Modern pet parents carry a strong sense of responsibility to “do right” by their animals, leading them to favor products that align with their personal health standards and values.
For Pet Life Unlimited, that means formulating products with recognizable, human-grade ingredients. For BARK, it means applying design and safety protocols comparable to children’s toy manufacturing standards. Similarly, when Smart Design developed the OXO pet feeding suite, we engineered removable stainless steel and silicone inserts. Beyond offering everyday convenience during feeding and cleanup, these materials serve as a barrier to limit pet exposure to plastic.
Unlock the mystery
Even with thorough research and training, pet parents can still feel like their pets are a mystery—a challenge magnified with less expressive animals like cats and fish. Just as we’ve embraced smart phones and wearables to tell us more about our human bodies, pet parents are embracing smart devices to gain actionable insights into their pets’ well-being.
For Bob and the team at Fi, pet technology is moving beyond answering the simple question of “Where is my pet?” The next opportunity is using data to understand an individual pet’s health and behavior over time. By establishing a baseline for each animal, technology can help identify meaningful changes in their routines, from shifts in activity and sleep to increases in scratching, licking, eating, or drinking.
“
We’re trying to find ways to not only provide the data, but also provide the next layer up of what you can do with that data.
Beyond puppy love
The more pets have become interwoven in our family’s life and household, the innovation priorities are shifting from wellness to supporting our pets as they age and prolonging their good years. While a products link from good for my pet to longevity may not be immediately apparent, it is quickly becoming the next promising frontier.
Establishing a personalized health baseline makes early intervention possible. For instance, an unexpected spike in scratching detected by a smart collar can immediately alert an owner to an emerging skin allergen or infection. Both Fi and Pet Life Unlimited are integrating technologies that can monitor and surface early health warnings for pet parents.
This principle applies across species: Smart Design’s exploration into the expanding fish-parent demographic revealed that potential fish owners were frequently deterred by the intimidating maintenance required to keep aquariums thriving. Streamlining care through intuitive technology lowers these friction points for all types of pet parents.
“
The way that we think about health and wellness is in terms of longevity. When your pet starts to reach what you know is inevitably going to be the end of their life, your only goal as a pet parent is to keep them feeling better for longer.
Creating shared experiences
Designing for pets goes beyond functional care, it is equally about enriching the bond between owner and pet. Mikkel, for example, sees toys as a way to encourage and extend meaningful interactions between pets and their parents. When Smart Design collaborated with Bark on their enrichment platform, a core metric of success was creating an experience that brings as much joy to the owner as the pet. To accomplish this, testing was a core part of our process.
This focus on shared joy is also driving shifts in commerce. Both BARK and Pet Life Unlimited are expanding into TikTok Shop, recognizing that video-first social commerce is uniquely suited to capturing the interactive, joyful nature of modern pet products.
“
We're the extra layer in your relationship. We don't want to get in between you and your dog. We want to be additive to that. So we want to be the props that makes you play more with your dog.
Designing for the evolving pet family
At the end of the day, no design can account for every mischief-minded cat or unexpected behavior. However, building a trusted brand requires deeply understanding the dual-user dynamic and designing holistically for both pet and parent.
The strongest pet brands do more than solve a functional need. They empower pet parents with the confidence that they are giving their animals the best possible care. Whether through safer materials, intuitive monitoring, or play that deepens connection, great design honors the unique bond of the modern pet family. Designing for pets ultimately means designing for relationships—never treating either user in isolation.