Animal profile management

Overview

Animal profile management is the core capability of the PetFolio MVP. Users create detailed, structured profiles for their animals that serve as a single source of truth - whether for their own reference, handing off care to a sitter, sharing with a vet, or supporting a rehoming handover.

A completed profile should feel personal and warm, not clinical. It reads like a handover from someone who knows and loves their animal, with enough structure to ensure nothing important is missed.

Discovery

Job stories

Job stories frame requirements as situations rather than personas, which is useful here because several situations cut across user types.

Creating a profile:

• When I first add my pet to PetFolio, I want to be guided through what information to capture, so I do not miss anything important and do not feel overwhelmed by a blank page.
• When I am creating a profile for my dog, I want the prompts to be relevant to dogs (walks, lead rules, reactivity to other dogs), so I am not wading through questions that do not apply to my animal.
• When I have an unusual pet that is not in the main species list, I want a generic option that still gives me useful structure, so I am not locked out of the platform entirely.
• When I am filling in my pet's profile, I want to write in my own words and include personality, so the profile feels like it comes from someone who knows and loves this animal - not a clinical form.

Managing health information:

• When my pet has a known health condition, I want to record what it is, how it is managed, and what warning signs to look for, so anyone caring for my pet knows what to watch out for.
• When my pet takes daily medication, I want to capture the name, frequency, and any tricks for administering it, so a carer can follow the routine without guessing.
• When my pet has a food intolerance that affects their diet, I want to link it clearly to their dietary restrictions, so the connection is obvious to anyone reading the profile.

Recording behaviour:

• When my pet has a fear or dislike, I want to flag it prominently, so a carer does not accidentally cause distress by doing something my pet cannot tolerate.
• When my pet is reactive to other animals on walks, I want to describe the behaviour and how to manage it, so a carer is prepared and knows what to do.
• When my pet has a bad habit that could be dangerous (eating stones, chewing soft toys), I want to mark it as a Top Tip, so it is not missed among less critical information.

Building a routine:

• When I set up my pet's daily routine, I want to lay out the day as a timeline, so a carer can see at a glance what happens and when.
• When a routine activity has specific steps (getting dressed for a walk, feeding procedure), I want to write those steps out in detail, so a carer can follow the process exactly as I would.
• When my pet has strict rules about being left alone (crated, maximum duration, preparation steps), I want to capture those clearly, so a carer does not make a mistake that causes distress or danger.

Maintaining the profile:

• When my pet's medication changes, I want to update their profile quickly, so anyone with access always sees current information.
• When I have multiple pets, I want to manage each profile independently, so updating one does not affect another.
• When I look at my pet's profile, I want to see the safety brief and Top Tips prominently, so I can quickly check that the most critical information is correct and up to date.

The "5 Whys" - digging deeper

Starting statement: "We need pet profiles."

1. Why? - "People need somewhere to record information about their animals."
2. Why does that matter? - "Pet care information is scattered across vets, insurers, microchip registries, and the owner's head. No single place has the complete picture."
3. Why is that a problem? - "When someone else needs to care for the animal, they do not have what they need. The knowledge walks out the door with the owner."
4. Why can't they just ask? - "They can - but they will forget things, miss details, and not know the right questions. A dog's fear of harness clips or a medication routine with Pringles is not something you think to ask about."
5. Why does it need to be structured? - "Because unstructured information gets missed. A wall of text does not surface that the dog must never be let off lead. Structure ensures completeness; personality ensures usefulness."

Root requirement: PetFolio must provide a structured yet personal way to capture everything someone needs to know to care for an animal, because the most critical care knowledge is unwritten, and unstructured information fails to surface what matters most.

Starting statement: "We need species-specific prompts."

1. Why? - "Different animals have different care needs."
2. Why does that matter? - "A dog profile needs walk protocols and lead rules. A cat profile needs indoor/outdoor access rules. A reptile profile needs habitat requirements. Generic prompts miss what matters."
3. Why can't users just add what they need? - "Most people do not know what to include until they are prompted. They will forget things they take for granted, like the harness routine or the feeding separation rules."
4. Why is forgetting a problem? - "Because the profile exists for someone else to read. If critical information is missing, the carer does not know what they do not know."
5. Why can't we just make all prompts available? - "Because irrelevant prompts create noise and fatigue. A fish owner scrolling past walk protocols and lead rules will disengage."

Root requirement: Prompts must be tailored by species so that creators are guided to capture what actually matters for their animal, without noise from irrelevant categories.

Event storming

Domain events related to animal profile management, and the questions they raise:

Event	Who triggers it?	Who cares?	What happens next?	What could go wrong?
Animal added to account	Account user	Account users, the animal's profile	Species selected, identity captured, creation prompts begin	Wrong species selected, duplicate animal created
Profile picture uploaded	Account user	Anyone viewing the profile	Image stored and displayed on profile	Image too large, wrong format, inappropriate content
Health condition recorded	Account user	Carers, anyone viewing the profile	Condition appears in health section, linked to diet if relevant	Condition described inaccurately, missing warning signs
Medication added	Account user	Carers following the routine	Medication appears in health section with frequency and notes	Dosage recorded incorrectly, administration notes unclear
Behaviour entry created	Account user	Carers, anyone handling the animal	Entry appears in behaviour section with reactivity flags	Critical behaviour not flagged as Top Tip
Item flagged as Top Tip	Account user	Anyone viewing the profile, safety brief	Item surfaced prominently in safety brief and category view	Over-flagging (everything marked critical), under-flagging (dangerous item missed)
Routine timeline updated	Account user	Carers, combined daily routine view	Timeline reflects new schedule, combined view updated	Times conflict with other animals, activity missed
Activity protocol written	Account user	Carers following the routine	Step-by-step procedure available for the activity	Steps unclear or incomplete, carer cannot follow
Diet information updated	Account user	Carers responsible for feeding	Diet section reflects new food, portions, or restrictions	Dietary restriction not linked to health condition, brand changed but profile not updated
Animal profile edited	Account user	Anyone with active share access	Changes visible immediately to all viewers	Accidental deletion of critical information
Animal removed from account	Account owner	Account users, anyone with share access	Profile no longer accessible, active shares invalidated	Accidental deletion, no confirmation step

Requirement highlights

MVP

• One profile per animal, owned by the account that created it
• Species-tailored prompts: dog, cat, rabbit, rodents, birds, reptiles, Other
• Profile identity: name, aliases, species, breed, colour, age, profile picture, temperament
• Four profile categories (basic scope): health, behaviour, routine, diet
• Information hierarchy: safety brief, daily operations, understanding, reference
• Top Tips flagging for critical information
• Structured prompts with freeform content
• Animal states: Active, Transferred, Archived, Deleted
• Animal statuses: Personal (Active, Archived), Professional (Draft, Active, Inactive, Pending, On Hold, Archived with configurable labels)

See MVP deep dive for detailed requirements.

Future

• Expanded profile categories (vaccination history, vet contacts, insurance, full medical records)
• Gallery images and video per section
• Additional species with tailored prompts (fish specifically discussed)
• Draft/publish model for controlling when edits become visible to share recipients
• Profile merge after transfer return

Exemplar

Shirley's dog profile is a real-world example of what a completed profile looks like. It demonstrates the tone, level of detail, and structure that PetFolio should enable users to create.