We know a few of you on the forum have previously asked if you can be involved in any focus groups or product testing, we thought that was a great idea and so did the Product team!
They would like to give 50 Sitters and 50 Pet parents the opportunity to sign up for early access to our new Messaging and Application flow in mid-January.
This is still under development, so a few things will still be being added, but the core features and functionality will be available for you to use and try out.
By sharing early access, we hope to gain valuable feedback from active users like you and your insights will help the Product team identify any issues, you will be able to suggest improvements, and make sure the new flow is ready for everyone.
We would love you to be involved, there are a couple of things you need to check to make sure you are eligible for early access:
You must be actively using the platform throughout January and early February. This means regularly putting dates live and searching for sitters (for Pet parents) or actively applying for sits (for Sitters). This is to make sure those who sign up will be using the new inbox flow as much as possible.
You will need to register with the email address you use on the platform so that your THS account can be set up to have early access.
The first 50 Sitters and 50 Pet parents who register and meet the criteria will be granted early access and the Product team will notify you when the new flow is ready to use and how to provide feedback.
If you’re interested in participating, please sign up here.
I’m interested in participating but If I’ve already booked my Jan/Feb sits. Would I still be a valuable participant if I were using the inbox just for normal communications with my sitters during their stay, or would it be better to leave the spot to someone who is actually posting new dates and getting new applicants?
Hello, @adelia I’m glad you want to join in with helping with the new inbox feedback. I will check that for you. Ideally, it is for those who will be using the inbox as much as possible during the early access period, but in the meantime, if you want to sign up the team will check each account meets the criteria as well before adding you to the early access. I’m sure you can give helpful feedback when using the new inbox to message your sitters as well
Hello @sledgejoyce it is great that you would like to sign up. If you click on the green word ‘here’ in the main post, it will open a link to sign up. If you need any more help just let me know
@adelia The Product team have said please do sign up as you will be using your inbox during that time
There are still some spaces left for both sitters and owners, so I am pinning this post just to make sure everyone gets the opportunity to sign up if they want to. It would be great to fill all of the spaces so you can help us with your feedback on the new inbox flow! Any questions just let me know.
Hello @Silversitters@Cuttlefish Thank you for checking in on this. The Product team are planning for access to be for mid-January so after the holidays and once they have confirmed the launch date the Product team will contact people to let them know the date for the early access.
They also wanted to leave it open a bit longer as only approx 25 places have been filled out of the 100 available to see if any other forum members wanted to participate.
It’s open to anyone that meets the criteria and thank you for participating!
Happy Holidays
I’ve just signed up as a sitter too. I didn’t originally as we normally sit during school holidays and have already confirmed our February half term sit. We now plan to also apply for more weekend sits in rural locations not far from home. Older son got a telescope for Christmas as he is studying Astronomy at school. We were on a rural housesit at the time, and quickly realised that it is soooo much nicer (and warmer) for him to do his observations from the back door / garden instead of us all driving to a car park on top of a hill somewhere!
@Debbie: Don’t know if you folks already know, but there are some amazing astronomy apps, some of which are free. Like we used a couple while visiting the Australian Outback and they’d tell us what we should expect to see, where. And they’d fill in the blanks, so you’d know if you were looking at a fragment of a constellation if other parts were obscured. And so on. Amazing graphics and info.
We don’t use the apps enough to compare which are best, but I’m sure you guys could do that. I mention it, because such apps can make stargazing much more interesting.
My husband started getting into astronomy as a kid and he introduced me to camping and stargazing when we were dating decades ago, in college. Gazing in dark skies, away from light pollution, is amazing, if you like that sort of thing.
In some areas, astronomy fans hold stargazing gatherings / star parties. That includes some folks who’ll haul huge telescopes around and let other people take looks for fun. Many of them really know their stuff and it might be fun for your kids to chat with them if they get into stargazing more. When my husband was a kid, his stepdad sought out a professor from UC Berkeley to chat with him, to answer questions and support his interest. That was long before the internet and apps, of course, LOL.
I’m just bumping this post up as the Product team has mentioned there are still spaces for owners and sitters to get early access to the new inbox and help share feedback.
The Product team are just finishing a few things and then will reach out to everyone to let them know when the early access is ready. Thank you for bearing with them and to everyone who has already signed up!
Same as some others have said: I already have a confirmed sit (I’m on the sit right now) till end of Jan. And am not looking for sits in Feb due to work commitments. So don’t think I’ll be using my inbox much, if at all
Hello, @Silversitters apologies there has been a slight delay as the Product team needed to fill a few more spaces and finish a couple of things on the inbox release, they will reach out to you and let you know when the early access will be available to start using. I will also post here once they give me the green light! Thank you for signing up and bearing with us
Great idea, I’ve just signed up .
