Deliverables
End to end Product Design
Pet-sitting platform to build trust and confidence for pet parents
Summary
Despite the $2.4B pet-sitting market, users hesitate to book sitters online due to a lack of trust and safety concerns. Pet parents have faced unimaginable horrors from platforms that provide pet-sitting services.
I designed a platform to address these gaps, focusing on building trust, safety, and transparency from the ground up. Early user testing validated this approach, with participants reporting a significant increase in confidence when booking sitters through the platform.
Approach
To uncover what is important to pet owners in ensuring a pleasant booking experience, I conducted 10 semi-structured interviews and analyzed real-world media reports about sitter-related incidents. This helped surface the emotional and systemic factors behind users’ lack of trust.
Research Summary
Despite background checks and 5-star reviews, users don’t feel safe using pet-sitting platforms. The distrust is driven by widely reported incidents, unclear safety standards & weak accountability from platforms when issues arise.
Pet parents want more than surface-level trust indicators — they need proof of safety, transparent sitter qualifications, and emotional reassurance before booking.
Reliability & Qualification concerns
Pet parents feel hesitant to hire pet sitters from apps and prefer to rely on family members.
Pain Point #1
“I don't trust pet sitters I can hire on pet-sitting platforms, I've read many bad stories and can’t imagine something like that happening with my dog.”
James, Pet Parent
Age 45
Pet’s comfort and Routine
The expectation is to take them for walks and play with them as per the pet’s regular schedule.
Pain Point #2
“My dog needs regular medication and exercise. I need to know that they have the necessary skills to handle this.”
Sarah, Pet Parent
Age 36
Pain Point #3
Safety concerns
Pet parents are concerned about the safety of their pet and their belongings.
Unfortunately, I had a sitter who seemed great at first but then neglected my pet’s routine. My dog was very stressed when I returned, and it took a few days for things to get back to normal.
Lisa, Pet Parent
Age 44
Design problem statement to guide us through the ideation
From the research, it became clear that pet parents need more than just background checks or star ratings, they need visible proof of safety, sitter credibility, and personalized care to feel confident booking. This led me to frame the core design challenge as:
How might we help pet parents confidently book sitters they trust by making sitter qualifications, reliability, and care attentiveness visible and verifiable?
Ideation
While exploring ideas, I came up with the concept of a pet-sitting platform that focuses on these 3 functionalities to resolve pet parents’ concerns.
History, Stats, and Photos
Allowing pet owners to see the history of their pet sitter along with stats and photos from previous jobs would help resolve this.
Mandatory Training
Before sitters join the platform, mandatory training for pet sitters would reassure pet owners and boost their confidence in booking sitters.
Custom Instructions
Pet parents can leave instructions for the sitter to ensure the pet’s medication and routine needs are being met.
Solution
Keeper: Trained and reliable sitters
Feature #1
History, Stats and Photos
Feature #2
Trained Sitters
Feature #3
Tailor to your pet
Sitter’s profile gives brief info about them including their service’s satisfaction rate from previous jobs done.
All sitters are required to undergo training to learn best practices for handling pets. Trainers with advanced training can be hired for special needs.
Let the sitter know of your pet’s schedule by adding a message or instructions for them.
No single feature builds trust. It requires a system of small, reinforcing signals, from sitter stats to custom instructions that together make the user feel confident and in control.
Learnings
Nacho - Inspiration behind Keeper