Find your next match with Stories.
Timeline: July 2023 to October 2023 (12-weeks)
Role: UX/UI Designer, UX Researcher, Product Manager
Tools: Figma, Miro, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro
Key learnings: UX research, user testing, wireframing and prototyping, video editing
This project was exhibited as part of the Victoria University of Wellington Design Exhibition.
THE PROBLEM
There is a growing disconnect between people seeking meaningful relationships in the digital age. Traditional dating methods are often challenging and time-consuming, leading individuals to turn to dating apps for convenience and broader access to potential partners. However, the current dating app culture is plagued by inauthentic interactions, excessive time-wasting, and an unhealthy focus on appearances.
GOAL
My mission is to create a dating app that fosters genuine connections, values meaningful conversations, and decreases the emphasis on superficial attributes. By leveraging advanced matching algorithms, providing creative ice-breaker prompts, and encouraging users to focus on quality interactions, I aspire to build a platform where users can find compatibility beyond looks, creating the potential for more lasting and authentic interactions which could hopefully result in meaningful relationships.
TARGET AUDIENCE
People aged 18 and over who are looking for a serious relationship
DESIGN PROCESS OVERVIEW
DISCOVER
I started the discovery phase by doing both primary and secondary research. Using secondary research, I wanted to understand the issues surrounding dating apps, and what we could do to improve the user experience in obtaining the goal of meaningful interactions and quality matches.
Secondary research
I got some statistics from Cloudward to understand the current market and user landscape of dating apps. The conclusions that I got from the statistics were:
There are more people that want to find meaningful relationships
There is a gap in the market for an app to allow users to organise dates immediately (and safely)
Swiping fatigue is a real issue and current apps don’t support users with this
Primary research
After interviewing five people on their definition of trust and their experience with using dating apps, I compiled their responses in Miro and created an affinity diagram to find common themes in the responses.
From the interviews, I learned:
✨ People don't want to waste time
✨ People rely on other users to be truthful, but they also rely on the app developers to protect them
✨ People want to build connections
✨ People want quality matches
✨ People struggle with or are unable to start conversations
✨ People want reviews/feedback like they already do when they research products
User journey map
To better understand the user experience and where we can intervene to provide users with a positive experience, I put together a user journey map.
When it comes to using dating apps, there are two possible directions that a user journey could go - a positive route, where the users end up going on a date, or a negative route, where the users don’t get matches or stop interacting with one another. Through the positive outcome, there’s also another possibility of a negative outcome - the date doesn’t go well and they stop talking to one another. Both negative outcomes result in the user feeling annoyed and either continuing to swipe or they stop using the product altogether.
I did a competitor analysis of the popular dating apps that exist to get an idea of what their strengths and weaknesses are and if there are any gaps I can identify. I also designed an ideal customer journey map to better visualise opportunities on how the new dating app can improve to provide users with opportunities to form more meaningful connections.
Design requirements
💖 People don’t want to waste time and they want to build connections
💖 People want quality matches
💖 Improve functionality and UI of story cards
💖 Add feature showcasing bars, restaurants and activities nearby so people don’t have to stress about thinking of what to do for dates
💖 Provide users with helpful tips and hints on how to make their profile more compelling
💖 Introduce a day where users can ‘speed date’
💖 Limit the amount of swipes users can have per day
Design constraints
❗ We’re dealing with human emotions and people want feedback - these are sensitive issues so we need to be careful with what we share and present and find ways to not defame or upset users
❗ Not everyone is looking for the same relationship type or relationship experience so how do we appeal to both, or should we appeal to both?
❗ It’s up to the users to be honest so what can we do to foster transparency and try to encourage people to be as honest as possible?
THE SOLUTION
Based on my research, I decided to design an app called Stories, which provides users with story cards instead of image cards as a first point of information. If they like someone’s card, they can tap on it to find out more about the person behind the card and see a picture of them. If they match, they can invite the person out on a date, ultimately removing what is called the ‘talking stage’ so they can see if there’s a connection in person. They also have 48 hours to make contact before their profile is removed from their matches. Users are also limited to eight matches a day so they have to think about who they give their matches to. Through these functions, Stories addresses the identified problems by:
✨ Eliminating inauthentic interactions by encouraging users to share authentic and engaging stories about themselves.
✨ Minimising time spent on dating apps by encouraging users to go on dates and expand their match pool.
✨ Decreasing the focus on looks by shifting the attention to users' personalities, interests, and experiences.
DESIGN
For my first iteration, I sketched out my initial ideas of what the app will look like and I had two people go through it by ‘pressing buttons’ to see if it feels right. Their task was simply to go through the question and to press the buttons. The initial feedback from this is that their thumb doesn’t immediately gravitate towards the ‘next’ button that’s located down the bottom as they’re completing the questions.
They also said it was a bit difficult to visualise any potential issues while it’s in a paper format. This could be in part because of the way I presented the paper prototype - if they were on separate pages it may have been easier for the testers to visualise.
Low-fi wireframes and refining my design
For the next iteration, I drew my sketches out on my iPad before creating low-fi wireframes in Figma. The design and experience was pretty much the same except I took the feedback on board to move the next button so it sits next to the questions. I also started sketching out more low-fi wireframes on what the date collaboration screen would look like, along with the speed dating function.
I recruited four user testers and asked them to go through the onboarding process, right until they like a profile and request a date with them. I asked them to focus on questions and ease of usability as well as the overall experience - was it meaningful or meaningless.
High-fi wireframes
For the third prototype, I created my hi-fi wireframes. I made the changes suggested from the findings of the user testing session.
I focused my attention on the story cards and profile aspect of my iteration and started working on making the date request section cleaner.
For the onboarding process, I added a section where people could select their interests and ideal dates. I decided to use icons because I thought visuals would add a nice touch to the look and feel (following the aesthetic-usability effect).
I then user-tested it with four participants aged between 25 and 41. To make the experience as authentic as possible, I used Figma on my phone and asked the user testers to interact with the product and tell me their thoughts as they went along. My key findings were:
➡️ It’s a lot easier to navigate through vertical cards rather than scrolling horizontally for each question
➡️ Speed dating is a nice feature to expand match pools and the set up works well
➡️ Having the option to enter an area to see date options is great
➡️ Multimedia options for story cards is a great addition
From the feedback, I made the following changes to Stories:
Previously, story cards were grouped according to the questions and people scrolled vertically and horizontally. Now the cards are ungrouped and shown vertically instead because it’s an interaction people are more familiar with. I also decided to make the story cards multimedia so people have the option to answer questions using voice notes or through images.
I created a map and grid view to show people activities, restaurants and bars that are within their own and their dates area. This allows them to see what’s in range, and I also included suggestions of options based on what both parties have put as their interests on their profiles. They can also view reviews and details of the places and activities before making a decision. It’s also mandatory to add a message to the invite so there’s a level of communication between both parties, especially if they haven’t communicated before.
Once a date invite has been received, the receiver has the option to suggest a different place, date and time making it a bit more collaborative rather than one sided.
From here, I decided that while users can invite people on dates before having a conversation, it is likely that not everyone will feel comfortable with this approach. Therefore, I felt it was important to have this functionality especially for people who don’t feel comfortable with the approach of being invited for a date immediately. Collaboration and communication allows this function to feel a bit safer with the added knowledge that dates are recorded on the app.
I also thought it would be a good idea to add a speed dating function, with a dedicated day for speed dating so users are matched with people the algorithm think is suitable for them for five minutes at a time. From there, they can decide whether they’d like to match with one another. This expands people’s match pools and also assists with removing the focus on just looks.
FINAL DESIGN
REFLECTIONS
I think in its current state, Stories has the potential to be a lot more than it is particularly from a back-end perspective - features such as building an algorithm based on whether people choose to date or message first, adding guided feedback after each date where people choose responses on how the date went - this gives people the opportunity to give feedback without the ability to slander, and finally if a person is not being truthful on their profile i.e. getting a lot of feedback on them not looking for a relationship, the app can message them to let them know they should change their preferences to suit.
It has been a great process co-designing Stories with users and getting insights and feedback as the prototype was being developed. There were moments of frustrations because I wasn’t sure I was meeting the mark and designing something that people actually wanted or needed or fitted the brief and design criteria. Thinking beyond that though, I’m happy with the outcome and the feedback received.
Like many interaction designs, Stories is an iterative design and will continue to grow and evolve based on user feedback and needs. I am continuing to work on this project as a side-project with a friend who is a software engineer and we’re looking to build and launch Stories in the near future.