Time
1.5 months
Role
UX Designer
Processes
Ideation
UX Research
Branding
Journey Mapping
Wireframing
Prototyping
Collaborators
2 UX Designers (including myself)
The Problem
Dating apps are looks-based and superficial, so it's challenging meeting people with shared interests.
There's over 44m online dating users in the United States, and 77% of online adult users have gone on a date with someone they've met online. However only 20% of those in current relationships began online, and only 7% of marriages are between couples who met online.
It's been found that at least 50% of online dating users want a committed relationship. But when the most popular dating apps focus on looks and short bios users are left feeling overwhelmed, overlooked, and unsure how to meet people they will actually get along with.
Qualitative Research
What is the current experience like?
Journey Mapping
What is the current user flow?
After interviews we created a journey map to document the flow on the most common apps, and broke it down be steps. The entire flow is 9 steps, but the part our interviewees felt most strongly about were the 5 in the middle of the flow: swiping, selection, planning, meeting and assessment.
While using the a dating app initially is convenient and fun, it quickly becomes frustrating when having to sort through messages and profiles and having to plan the date.
Opportunities
What should we focus on?
Tailored Matches
Offer fewer, more tailored options to reduce feelings of being overwhelmed.
Shared Hobbies
In order to guarantee shared interests we could base matches on hobbies or events.
Saving Time
Offer fewer, more tailored options to reduce feelings of being overwhelmed.
The Solution
A dating app that guarantees shared interests by connecting you with people going to the same event.
Instead of swiping based on looks users select events that sound like fun, or they can synch their event calendars with the app. Afterwards they can look through the bios of other peope going. If they like someone, they can connect and talk before the event starts and attend together.
This ensures the match will have something they both enjoy in common, they will have something to talk about on the date, and time is saved from not having to plan the date.
Product Journey Map
What is the flow for our solution?
Job Stories
Wireframes
When
I am scheduling my upcoming week
I want to
Synch my calendar with my social media
So I can
See the events that I have signed up for.
When
My calendar is free
I want to
See suggestions for events I might be interested in
So I can
Plan the upcoming week.
When
I am nearing the event time
I want to
Be able to see other people who are attending
So I can
Make a selection.
User Persona
What do our users look like?
Branding
Value Proposition
We are a matchmaking online platform for people looking to expand their social circle so that they can form more natural, genuine connections through events and shared interests better than the looks-based dating apps available today.
The Principles
Design System
Final Product
Matches based on hobbies (not looks).
Final Product
Browse Events
View Profiles
View Saved Events
Iterations
Map View
Why we made this feature
So users can find matches that live nearby.
User testing results
After showing our product to 4 people we received feedback this feature was viewed negatively. Users were worried about privacy and did not feel comfortable sharing their location. We ended up removing it for this reason.
Friend or Date
Why we made this feature
To give users the option to attend as friends or express a romantic interest.
User testing results
We tested with 4 participants and found the option made users anxious. They were worried about being "friend-zoned" if the other person selected "friends" and felt unsure which to click since they still had not met in real life. We tested using only the heart and it made the flow easier with the same outcome.
Dark Theme
Why we made this feature
We wanted to test an edgier theme that more closely resembled night-time activities.
User testing results
Users preferred the white background. The darker theme was viewed as edgy and made users feel like the relationships they would make through Orange would be casual and short-term.
Reflections
What I Learned
- My biggest takeaway is how important user testing is every step of the way. Throughout the process what we thought was a great UI decision or feature wasn't always well-received, and we received many valuable tips that we were able to build out. Our finished prototype has over 8 major changes to the flow and UI- all of which we captured through testing.
- Writing down what the product's top values are as well as the mission statement helped us when it came to design and flow decisions later in the project. We found ourselves constantly referring to these in order to stay true to our initial vision.
- Lastly I learned how important it is to keep Figma organized! What started off as one or two pages on Figma ended up being 10 organized pages for our components, logos, various drafts and additional work.