As much as I'm sure it improves the listings, I'd recommend not making the photo required. First of all, other non-required info (such as pet type) seems more important, and second of all it requires digging through my photos. I'd be likely to add a photo when I'm looking for someone to catsit, but it was a deterrent for me to add the cat in the first place.
Thanks so much for the feedback, that is a great point. We wanted to make the signup easy, covering just the basics, but you're right that digging for photos is not always the easiest task. We've adjusted this a little in the redesign we're working on, but I think we could always do more to simplify.
Good feedback. We've heard this before as well. I'm just stubborn and like looking at the photos. When we roll out the redesign, we'll add a silhouette and not make it required.
Definitely, we're thinking about small nudges to help people through the process, both in completing the profile and in setting your first request or remembering us the next time you do need help.
Second the photo thing. I was on a machine where I didn't have access to any of my dog photos (work) and I got stuck in the process because I couldn't upload a photo.
As much as I'm sure it improves the listings, I'd recommend not making the photo required. First of all, other non-required info (such as pet type) seems more important, and second of all it requires digging through my photos. I'd be likely to add a photo when I'm looking for someone to catsit, but it was a deterrent for me to add the cat in the first place.