SitMyPet · 2021
Full case studyConnecting pet sitters with owners — a marketplace concept built around fast, trusted matches, taken from research and personas through information architecture and wireframes to a prototyped interface.
Project type
End-to-end UX case study
Role
UX/UI Designer
Platform
Mobile app — two-sided marketplace
Year
2021
Key outcomes
2 sides
Owners and sitters designed as one system
Trust
Profiles, reviews and verification at the core
End-to-end
Research, IA, wireframes, UI and prototype
Context
Pet owners rely on informal networks — friends, neighbours, local groups — and fall back on expensive boarding when nobody is available. Sitters have no simple way to prove they are reliable.
The project explored a marketplace where both sides find each other quickly, and where trust is designed in rather than assumed.
Research
I interviewed owners and sitters separately and found the same underlying worry expressed from two directions: owners fear handing their animal to a stranger, sitters fear turning up to an unclear job.
Research boards: goals, pain points, competitor analysis and the persona.
Dog owner, travels for work
“I'd rather cancel a trip than leave him with someone I don't trust.”
Goals
Frustrations
Student sitter, building a reputation
“I'm good with animals — I just have no way to show it.”
Goals
Frustrations
One persona per side of the marketplace.
Information architecture
Rather than building two apps, I structured one product with a role switch at onboarding. Search, booking and messaging are shared; only profile and availability differ.
Site map
App root
Find
Book
Talk
Me
App structure shared across both roles.
Card sort — FigJam board
Proof
Fit
Practical
Comfort
Card sort output — what owners expect to see on a sitter profile.
Wireframes
Card sorting, the work-flow architecture, paper sketches and wireframes.
Wireframes
Core owner-side flow, sketched before any visual design.
Solution
State machine
Requested
Owner sent dates; sitter has a response window.
Accepted
Confirmed with care instructions locked in.
In care
Stay running — updates and photos expected.
Completed
Closed, payment released, reviews invited.
Booking states shown identically to both sides.
Solution mapping and the final SitMyPet interface.
Reflection
In a two-sided marketplace, trust is the product. Every screen either builds it or spends it.
Designing both sides in parallel exposed mismatched expectations early — especially around availability and pricing.
Next project
Limehome — App · 2025
Read next case study →