Ecossistema Shepherd
A complete design system (PawPrint) and the pet-services super app built on top of it.
Visit product
The context
Shepherd centralizes pet appointments, shopping, and records. Before PawPrint, every screen reinvented patterns and accessibility was accidental.
The real problem
The tension was speed versus foundation: the app needed to ship, but building features on an inconsistent base only deferred the cost. I chose to build the system and the product in parallel.
My role
- Built PawPrint from scratch: tokens, components, and living documentation.
- Embedded AA accessibility into the essential components.
- Designed the Shepherd journey — onboarding, checkout, and empty states.
The critical decisions
AA accessibility as default, not an extra layer
Baking contrast and focus into base components meant every new screen inherited accessibility with no extra effort.
Educational empty states before new features
Welcoming empty screens reduced anxiety and early drop-off — prioritized over features few would see at first.
Outcomes
- Faster delivery of recurring screens in the validated prototype.
- AA accessibility patterns built into essential components.
- Fewer cross-platform visual inconsistencies reported.
What I’d do differently
I’d have set up lighter governance rituals from day one — a system only lives when contributing is easy, and that came too late.