Social proof project
Introduction
Family trust in Care.com’s sitters is paramount. Based on data around features that drive trust among families, we strongly believe that “social proof” plays a key role.
Target users: Families searching for a babysitter
Problem: We need a visual representation of the social connections between families and babysitters
Goal: Create an MVP design to get the foundation in place to bring social proof into the sitter hiring journey
Team
Product designer (me)
Project manager
UX researcher
Tools
Figma
PlaybookUX
Time
One week
The audience
Who is our audience? To answer this question, I worked with our UX researcher, Supritha, to perform some user testing around trust signals.
Our testing objectives included:
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How would families rank trust signals in order of importance?
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Would their response change under different conditions?
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How much personal info are they willing to share with us?
Results discovered:
Common connections ranked 2nd behind reviews (which we already surface):
“I honestly don’t think I would hire a one-time caregiver for my children without feeling that the person relates to my circles in some way” - Tester
Entry point
What is the best entry point that balances business restraints and user needs?
With my project manager, we defined:
1. That we want to display social proof data in the user journey that’s most likely to influence either a parent’s decision to initiate contact or the decision to hire.
2. The tech constraints: Even though this is an MVP, we’d prefer to minimize throwaway work. This means the preference is to 1) Build on Web instead of App, which is going through an overhaul, and 2) Focus on UIs that are already built in our new pattern library.
In Phase 1, we added social proof to the Lead & Connect flow since it aligns best with the team’s focus and is quickest to implement.
Signal type
What type of signal is best? To decide, we balanced user data, dev effort, and business goals to create an optimal MVP by weighing pros and cons of each option
Result:
That leveraging existing location data is our best option to display common connections. We also later integrated ‘coworkers in common’ after popular demand from stakeholders.
Pattern research
Next, I identified some Social signal patterns across direct and indirect competitors to help align with users' existing mental models.
Visualization
What should the signal look like?
Color psychology
What color should the iconography be? According to color psychology, green symbolizes calmness, balance, and safety. It’s the color of nature and the environment of thriving, lush neighborhoods, just like the community we want to foster!
Iconography
Community
I explored and iterated on multiple directions for a social signal icon, partnering with peers and leadership to land on a final design that fits seamlessly into our existing system. The final design symbolizes the interlocking relationships of the community.
I’m also a contributor to Care’s design system, helping scale iconography across the product.
Content design
What's in a name?
Should we call out neighbors, families, or mutual connections? Let’s test it!
Results
Most users preferred the "Hired by X neighbors" and "Hired by X coworkers" attributes.
