A Fun Dating App
This prototype was made as a school-project in two weeks.
Pixer
School project
Pixer is a dating-app prototype where users can't see each other before matching. The prototype aims to solve some of the grievances that people have with dating-apps.
What I did
- Research
- Prototyping
- Testing
Tools
- Adobe Xd
- Miro
Steps I took
As usual, I started this project with research to understand and define the problems with online dating and sympathize with the end user. I took part of articles, surveys and did my own interviews. Once I had a good grasp of what the most comon problems were, I started ideating by creating userjourneys and storyboards to identify where the pain points are and create solutions around them. I later created a prototype which was tested in a usibility test and I conducted short interviews with the testers afterwards to understand their thoughts about the solutions to their problems. The results where then considered and a plan of how to move forward was created.
Research
Sympathize
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Research & Empathizing
Understanding the user and their needs
There were three obvious problems that I had to solve to improve the users experience. Those being the app-dating scene feeling shallow, most matches don’t lead to a conversation and matches rarely lead to an actual date. The interview participants confirmed those problems and attributed the problems to it being hard to start a conversation with someone you don’t know and even harder to know when and how to ask someone out for a date.
With the information I gathered I started ideating and sketched up a design around three ideas, matchmaking based on common interests instead of looks, icebreakers and making “taking the next step” easier.
Gamefy
Users' pictures are pixelated to allow users to only focus on their common interests and get to know each other first. Users have to chat and "level up" to unlock pictures of each other.
Conversation Starter
When users are matched, Icebreakers, based on common interests, are suggested to start a conversation.
Next Step
After chatting for a while, the users are asked if they’re ready for a date. Date suggestions are given if they answer yes. If they aren’t ready for a date, new functionalities are unlocked such as video chat and in-app games.
Results
Key findings from testing sessions
To test my ideas and the prototype I invited three people to a usability test. The prototype was overall positively received. The testers really liked the icebreaker and “taking the next step” functionalities as they felt less pressure when the app asked these questions on their behalf. The users thought the pixelated/blurred pictures is an interesting twist but also expressed the importance of seeing who they’re talking to. There were several complaints about the presentation of the prototype, as was expected. The UI should’ve received more attention and the presentation should’ve been more polished.
The core idea for this prototype, pixelated picutres, was recieved as an interesting twist but the reception was still somewhat lukewarm.
The "Next step" button was a clear winner! It was appreciated by all testers and the next itteration should be built more around it.
"Next step" should go beyond suggesting dates, it should help with planning the dates which in turn would create room for affiliate marketing.