Current dating apps involve swiping through a sea of carefully curated profiles. Half the time people match, exchange a couple of texts, and then nothing. If you do plan an in-person meetup there’s a tremendous amount of pressure involving the first encounter, risk of being catfished, and a lack of spontaneity. Plus who likes saying they met on a dating app?
Dating app success rates are low.
We want to learn more about young adult dating experiences to identify areas for improvement both online and in person.
I identified patterns between each platform and recognized a massive gap in the market. It seems most apps are formulated on the idea of browsing profiles through a series of images and then attempting to build rapport through chat.
5 participants
ages 20-24
What qualities are significant to individuals in a prospective mate?
What effect do face-to-face introductions have on relationships?
How does internet-initiated contact impact love connections?
How do individuals chase potential relationships?
What are the common issues faced using dating apps?
What difficulties do individuals encounter when approaching in-person?
Dating apps feel unhealthy, overly curated, and lack memorability.
It’s awkward to approach someone spontaneouslY due to the unknown variables about that person and their interest in you.
Arranging a date from a dating app is a big transition, involves extra effort, and people don’t want to take that risk with semi-strangers.
I get really bored of dating apps, you're just seeing face value, the best pictures they have of themself.
Less than 5% of the people I talk to on dating apps I actually meet up with.
You could get to talking to someone then you find out they're taken...it’s kinda a waste of time.
The research revealed specific issues for straight male and queer female audiences. Both groups described feeling “more pressure” to make advances with partners both in public and online yet increased amounts of fear that they would be rejected or perceived as predatory. These groups were also the least successful when pursuing a meetup through dating apps.
On the surface, we know success rates for dating apps are low and people don’t like approaching potential partners in public. I utilized the 5 whys technique and hypothesized that many users join dating apps because consequences are diluted online. On the flip side, there's too many wild cards when blindly approaching and rejection feels worse face-to-face.
I aimed to create an experience that was unique for users yet familiar and intuitive. I did this by thinking about the components of competitor dating apps and asking myself if certain flows/features were fundamental to the user’s experience or if they could be altered.
The onboarding survey process was one of the biggest improvements between iterations. It felt like there were better questions/interactions to establish a user and their wants than just basic sliders. This thinking pushed me to do further research on what makes people compatible. I found that there are different types of compatibility and conflict resolution that influence how well a couple will mesh.
5 participants
ages 21-23
The high-fidelity wireframes allowed me to create a more accurate product prototype where I could conduct usability tests with participants and identify what was working well and what could be improved. I measured success on participants ability to complete the following tasks:
Onboarding
Giving a GreenLight
Receiving a GreenLight
Overall the feedback was positive. All participants were able to complete the allotted tasks within the given time frame.
CONCISE LANGAUGE
Making onboarding text more concise for quick readability and comprehension.
EVENTS SEARCH BAR
A search bar for nearby and/or popular events. This way users could check out a specific event before going and see if many users are out.
Ultimately, I wanted to create a dating app that broke the “dating app formula” we’re so used to seeing.
A majority of us carry around micro-computers in our back pockets nearly everywhere we go, yet we’re more isolated than ever before. Is there a way we can utilize tech to help us start actually connecting again?
Overall this project challenged me to think outside the box and consider healthier ways for people to interact with dating apps. I see a ton of room for growth and expansion within this app. I believe that post-pandemic, people are craving human connection now more than ever. The app’s connection to real-world events could spawn partnerships/sponsorships with bars, college campuses, festivals, and different venues nationwide.
If I had more time I’d like to:
Design more error states and different paths
Partner with a developer to create a beta version of the app with more accurate animations and functionality