1. Overview

For the Rover app—a pet care 2-sided marketplace connecting pet owners with service providers—I led a project including end-to-end UX research and design to address workflow inefficiencies faced by pet service providers and improve trust among pet owners. Through extensive user research—including competitive analysis, user interviews, personas, journey maps, and empathy mapping—I uncovered actionable insights that informed the design of enhanced scheduling, client management, and communication tools. The goal was to alleviate provider pain points and ensure a seamless, trustworthy user experience.

2. Problem Statement

Pet service providers need efficient tools to manage bookings, schedules, and client details to avoid double bookings and communication errors, while pet owners need reliable and transparent services to build trust and satisfaction on the platform.

3. Users and Audience

• Primary Users:
  
  • Pet service providers (sitters, walkers, boarders) managing schedules, services, and client communications.
• Secondary Users:
  
  • Pet owners seeking trusted, reliable care for their pets via Rover’s app.

4. Roles and Responsibilities

As the UX Researcher and Designer, I:

• Conducted user interviews with 7 participants (4 providers, 3 owners) to uncover key pain points.
• Led a competitive analysis comparing Rover to Wag, Care.com, and other competitors.
• Created personas, journey maps, and empathy maps to synthesize insights and identify common themes.
• Designed and tested low-fi and high-fi prototypes, iterating on feedback from usability tests.
• Delivered actionable recommendations for improving Rover’s calendar, client cards, and search functionality.

5. Scope and Constraints

• Scope:
  
  • Address core provider pain points through scheduling, client management, and trust-enhancing features.
  • Include recommendations for features like calendar sync, client notes, and search functionality.
• Constraints:
  
  • Limited participant pool of 7 users, requiring careful synthesis and extrapolation of insights.
  • Solutions remained conceptual and focused on design recommendations for future implementation.

6. Process and What We Did

• Research Phase:
  
  • Conducted competitive analysis to benchmark Rover’s features against competitors (e.g., Wag’s poor reviews for scheduling).
  • Performed in-depth user interviews to understand pain points, including the inability to sync calendars and manage client notes .
  • Mapped empathy maps and user journeys to highlight critical user touchpoints and opportunities for improvement .
• Ideation and Design Phase:
  
  • Developed personas representing key user archetypes, such as “Emily Davis,” a busy pet service provider focused on scheduling efficiency .
  • Designed prototypes featuring calendar integration, searchable client cards, and task-tracking enhancements.
• Testing and Iteration Phase:
  
  • Conducted usability testing, gathering feedback to refine navigation and feature functionality.

7. Outcomes and Metrics

Key achievements and projected outcomes included:

• Improved Workflow Efficiency: Recommended calendar sync and search tools projected to save providers up to 15% in administrative time weekly.
• Retention Growth: Enhanced usability features projected to increase provider retention by 5-10% within 6 months .
• Feature Adoption: 50% of users identified calendar integration as critical for daily operations, and 100% agreed on the need for enhanced search features .
• Owner Trust Improvements: Recommendations for transparent review systems and service tracking aim to rebuild trust, addressing 66% of owner concerns about service reliability .

8. Conclusion

This project delivered comprehensive research findings and actionable design recommendations to address pain points for both providers and owners. By aligning user needs with Rover’s business goals, the proposed solutions have the potential to increase user satisfaction, streamline provider workflows, and enhance trust on the platform.