Challenge
The Royal Kennel Club needed to launch a new, first-of-its-kind membership platform within a compressed timeframe - with an unmovable deadline tied to Crufts, the world-famous dog show.
The platform was being built on Umbraco, with Codehouse brought in to deliver the design. The experience needed to span four distinct member benefit pillars - Health, Training, Grooming, and Food - while multiple subscription tiers had to be clearly differentiated and remain intuitive for dog owners.
Core user journeys - registration, dog profile management, membership selection, payment, digital certification, and access to the Joli Vet AI service - had to be completed, tested, and handed over rapidly to avoid blocking the build. Strong governance and clear scope management were essential throughout, given the parallel delivery model, evolving requirements, and multiple stakeholder teams.
Solution
Codehouse delivered end-to-end UX and UI design support across three interconnected workstreams.
User-centred journey design
We designed the complete member experience from the ground up - covering account creation and authentication, membership tier selection, Stripe-based checkout, dog profile management, member dashboards, and digital certificates. Journeys were designed to surface the platform’s four benefit pillars clearly: 24/7 AI vet triage via Joli Vet, an evolving expert training library, exclusive grooming product savings, and trusted food delivery partners. Each flow was mapped and validated against best UX practices, and iterated through prototype and high-fidelity design reviews to ensure a clean, polished final product and accessibility across devices.
Scalable design system
Rather than designing pages in isolation, we built a component library and design system - accelerating delivery under time pressure while ensuring visual consistency across journeys, tiers, and benefit areas. Responsive components, defined interaction states, accessibility considerations, and clear handover documentation were all included, giving the platform a foundation that supports future enhancements; a real asset for the Royal Kennel Club as they look ahead to Crufts 2027.
Embedded governance and design QA
Given the parallel build model, Codehouse embedded into the project’s weekly governance rhythm - providing ongoing design clarification, QA against implemented frontend work, and controlled handling of scope changes, including reworking designs when the membership model evolved mid-delivery.
Results
The Crufts Club platform launched as planned for Crufts 2026 at the NEC.
The platform has seen over 35,000 members sign up and the core membership experience go live ahead of the Crufts event deadline. Members now have access to 24/7 community support, 100+ training and health articles, AI-powered vet triage, and exclusive partner benefits across grooming and food.
The Royal Kennel Club now has a scalable design foundation capable of supporting future member services, additional subscription tiers, and evolving commercial models.
