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Rover

Dog Sitter App

Timeline

Jan - Feb 2025

Role

U Researcher, Interviewer

Tool

Usability Testing, Interviews

Challenge

Understanding the app's shortcomings on the dog sitter side of the Rover app.

Objective/Goals

To conduct user testing on the pet sitter side of the Rover app to determine what improvements can be made for the improvement of the app.

Design Process
Empathize
Research Plan
Objectives
Research Methods
Base Research Questions
Recruitment
Ethical Considerations
Resources Needed
To identify the issues the user faces on the dog sitter side of the Rover app.

To determine if the Rover app is enjoyable for the dog sitters to use.
Usability testing will allow the user to walk through the app and form. opinions about their own experience.

Interviewers will be conducted to gain further insight into the user's experience.
Are tasks easy to complete within the app?

Are there consistent visual cues to prompt the user to update the calendar and communicate with clients?

Is any functionality lost due to the design or lack thereof?

Did the user feel confident in their ability to navigate through the app?

Is the intended function of the app clear?
Participants will be animal lovers who are interested in the Rover app. The users will have never used the app.

*The app requires new users to pay for a background check so participants will use the app on my phone.

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Ethical and data concerns could arise from participants seeing conversations between me and my clients. Despite the conversations being solely about their dog and dog sitting, my clients may see this as a breach of privacy.

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To mitigate this risk, I will have a friend who already has the pet parent side of the app schedule a fake appointment with me for a date far in the future. This will be the message thread and client profile that participants will navigate through.

Participants will using my cellphone and the Rover app during usability testing. The app requires the user to pay for a background check but I want no costs to be associated with the study. My account already has previous bookings listed so the user will have access to the full scope of the app. While participants use the application, I will record the screen and record what they say.

User Persona
Cheryl, 62.png
Usability Testing
Tasks
Navigate to calendar and update availability.

Navigate to pet's profile.

Navigate to pet parent's profile.

Navigate to pet parent's profile.

Change services provided.
Findings
Too many clicks needed to complete one task.

Certain pages, like the 'Review' page, were found by accident due to excessive clicks.

Confusion on how to navigate due to lack of visual cues provided in interface.

Calendar lack intuitive functionailty.
Research Plan
Interviewees
Questions
3
Were you able to complete each task asked of you?

How do you feel about the visual cues of the app? Did you feel a call to action?

Was the intended functionality of the app clear upon use?

Do you feel there is a functionality that could be added to the app to improve the user experience?

Are there any design elements that you would add or take away in the app's design?
Recommendations
Feedback consisted of:

Adding swipe features so sitters can see the dogs available.

Allowing sitters to block time off in their calendars, not just days of the week.

Adding more color for visual interest and ease of navigation.
Patterns found within the studies are that the user's don't find the app to be as intuitive or as dog centric as they expected. Participants assumed there would be more to the sitter's side of the app and felt limited by the functionality.
Reflection
Conclusion
The Rover dog sitter app lacks an intuitive UX and strong visual cues.
Through user testing and interviews, I concluded that Rover needs to strengthen their app's color palette and layout, update their availability managment, and allowing sitters to see the clientele before the potential client reaches out. Despite the app being catered towards a dog centered audience, the UI of the site doesn't create that atmosphere. Overall, the user's appreciated the need for the app but agreed that these changes would persuade them to provide their services on Rover.
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