MISSION Create a new feature for a mobile app
ROLE Product Manager, UX Designer
TASK Case Study
TIMELINE 2 Week Sprint, Group of 4
SOFTWARE Adobe Xd, Adobe Illustrator
UX PROCESS Market Research, User Interviews, Survey, Affinity Mapping, User Personas, Journey Mapping, User Flows, Design Sketches, Wireframes, Usability Testing, A/B Testing, High Fidelity Prototype
Overview
My team of four was tasked with creating a new feature that would improve an existing mobile app. We chose the dating app, Hinge, as we felt we could help users navigate virtual dating during the pandemic.
Hinge is the dating app that’s “designed to be deleted.” Users answer prompts that help show their personalities and spur on conversations. Instead of swiping left or right based on pictures, members develop meaningful connections (in theory) and are able to move past direct messages on to meeting, then to dating, then ultimately, to deleting the app.
Our feature, The Date Planner, provides date ideas in order to help the user move beyond messaging to meet their match and delete the app. After viewing a three-screen onboarding tutorial, the user can select a date idea from the virtual or in person date menus. The planner will even help them schedule the date and send an invitation to their match.
Put yourself in September 2020.
Six months into the pandemic, the world had changed in ways we couldn’t have imagined, and no one was sure if and when it would return to normal.
Zoom meetings were the new conference room. Hugs were a thing of the past. And dating? Surely the dating scene would never look the same again. This was the assumption as our group of four UX students set out to create a new feature for the virtual dating app, Hinge, that would help its users navigate the complications of dating during Covid-19.
(Spoiler alert: We were wrong.)
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s probably best to start back at the beginning with research.
Research
Dating During Covid
Articles written in April 2020 reported a surge in messaging in the early stages of the pandemic. Daily conversations on Tinder were up 20%, and while only 6% of Match members expressed an interest in video chats before the pandemic, interest in video chats spiked 69% after, and they were now a “priority” for dating apps. According to a survey from OKCupid,
“It’s important to develop an emotional connection before a physical one.”
and
“The switch to virtual has allowed these emotional connections to thrive.”
Virtual dating saw a shift away from a “hookup culture” toward more long term connections, and video chats provided a way to “vet suitors” and see if a relationship was worth the necessary investment of time, money, and energy. In fact, Match.com’s video chat is now dubbed “Vibe Check.”
Competition During Covid
Hinge’s approach to Covid
Hinge responded by providing a link to the World Health Organization’s Covid-19 website. The amount and tone of the information felt overwhelming and not targeted to Hinge’s market.
Hinge also provided a video chat feature called “Date From Home,” where members could press a video camera icon to start a video chat.
We thought they could do more.
User Research
In a survey and round of interviews, we asked people who had used dating apps within the past six months questions such as:
“Do you typically initiate dates, or do you wait for the other person to initiate a date? If not, what stops you from initiating?”
“Have you met up with anyone from a dating app during COVID either in person or digitally? Why or why not?”
“Do you think you would use video chats to meet dates after Covid is over?”
As we expected, we found a variety of users with a range of opinions and needs.
Synthesis
Affinity Mapping Takeaways
We found that some users felt uncomfortable initiating dates and liked the idea of easing into dating by meeting virtually first.
“I get nervous making the first move.”
“I’d video chat to see if there’s a connection.”
While some felt comfortable initiating dates and preferred to meet in person.
“The whole point of the first date is human, face-to-face connection.”
“There are intimacy limitations to virtual (dates).”
“Face time is not the same as in-person dating.”
To our surprise, about half of our interviewees reported that they were not concerned about Covid-19 and felt comfortable meeting in person.
“I’m not too concerned about Covid if we’re outdoors.”
“I was less concerned about Covid after the first few months.”
“(Covid is) not a huge threat (where I live.)”
The Persona
With such a wide range of users, we knew that we could not create a new feature that would help everyone. Someone who felt comfortable initiating dates probably did not need external help from a feature, but someone who felt awkward initiating dates might need help making the first move. We named this user Sally.
Sally is:
Hopeful BUT skeptical
Dislikes texting BUT feels uncomfortable initiating dates
Wants to find a relationship BUT is losing faith in dating apps
Original User Flow
Once two users matched and started chatting, they could continue to chat in Direct Messages (DMs) or decide to meet. If the uses were not ready to meet in person, they would most likely continue with DMs until the conversation fizzled out and died. Hinge’s video chat option was still relatively new, so it was yet to be seen if it was enough to bridge the gap between DMs and meeting in person. (Select image to enlarge.)
The Problem
Hinge users need help moving beyond texting while social distancing so that they are able to form a lasting connection and eventually delete the app.
The Solution
We believe that by providing options for virtual activity-based dates and covid-safe in-person dates, Hinge will enable users to take the next steps in their relationships despite the need for social distancing.
Design
With a rough solution in mind, our team was eager to help frustrated daters connect and find love. We got together and sketched our initial ideas and combined them to create a new feature that would provide Covid-safe date ideas and help users set them up.
We eventually called the feature the Date Planner.
New User Flow
The Date Planner does not claim to reinvent the wheel, and it does not guarantee that a match will lead to a successful relationship. It simply gives users more options of how to bridge the gap between DMs and meeting, and therefore makes the success of a relationship that much more likely. In a situation as complicated as virtual dating, that is a win. (Select image to enlarge.)
For example, if a user is uncomfortable asking a match to meet in person, maybe asking them to meet virtually over coffee or cocktails might feel less intimidating. Or maybe a user is confident about meeting in person but could use some inspiration for date ideas. The Date Planner has that too! By pivoting the user flow and effectively lengthening it by giving more options, the user more likely to continue on in the process and less likely to give up in DMs.
The Date Planner in Action
The user is first informed of the new feature with a 4-screen introduction.
The user is invited to visit the date planner or may opt to skip the feature and view potential matches. They can find the date planner at any point by selecting the lightbulb icon in the main menu.
Once in the Date Planner, the user can choose between virtual or in-person dates.
The user can choose between six different virtual date options or six in-person date options.
The Date Planner allows the user to choose a date and time to meet as well as send a date invitation to the match.
The user receives confirmation that the invitation was successfully sent. They will later be informed if the date is accepted or rejected.
Usability and A/B Testing
The Date Planner went through two rounds of Usability Testing and A/B Testing before our team arrived at the current iteration. These resulted in three changes that were especially noteworthy.
# 1
How to find the feature
Usability testing showed that, despite the light bulb icon located throughout the app, users had difficulty finding the feature once they left the intro screen. We used AB testing to decide between two options. (Select image to enlarge.)
# 2
What to name the feature
Up until the last moments of development, the feature was actually called the Date Concierge. But users reported that they did not know what exactly a date concierge would do, and they associated a concierge with hotels. We needed to find a new name that more explicitly described the function of the feature.
At 60%, Date Planner seemed like a clear winner.
# 3
How to represent the feature
The lightbulb icon currently in use is a placeholder while the team continues to do more research.
The most popular icon was actually a calendar with a heart. When shrunken down to fit in the menu at the bottom of the screen, however, the details in the calendar were difficult to see.
Before launching the feature, we would plan to design a calendar icon easy to view in a smaller size. We would test this icon’s effectiveness when used alongside the new copy explaining the icon that was developed in A/B testing.
The Prototype
So… how were we wrong?
If you take a closer look at the user flow, you’ll notice it does not mention Covid-19, social distancing, or the pandemic, yet our problem and solution statements were built around them. This raises two important questions:
# 1
Could the feature exist without social distancing?
The short answer is YES!
Just as offices may continue to operate remotely beyond the pandemic, virtual daters may continue to see the benefits of meeting virtually before meeting in person. Users have simply become aware of video chats and other forms of virtual dates as additional tools for connecting. If we were to go through and take out pictures of masks or the mention of Covid-19, the feature would function exactly the same.
# 2
Has the pandemic really changed dating as much as we had hypothesized?
While people were initially more concerned about the virus in the first few months of the pandemic, our research showed that by September, people (felt that they) understood the virus better. As long as they were following proper precautions, such as wearing a mask and meeting outside, our users were more likely to meet in person six months into the pandemic than they were back in the beginning.
Our industry research was based on articles written five months earlier. At the time of our research, this seemed short, but a lot can change in five months during a pandemic.
What does this mean?
These questions are actually GOOD NEWS for the Date Planner. They show that even after the pandemic is over, the feature will remain useful. Some important points to note:
Did we cater to too many users?
By including Covid-safe in-person dates, our feature may have gone out of scope for our users’ needs. A better approach may have been to limit the feature to virtual date ideas that would feel less intimidating (let’s say, for Sally) than meeting in person. If these date suggestions were received well by users, in-person dates could be added in a later iteration.
Future iterations are necessary.
If the feature is to remain relevant beyond the pandemic, pictures of masks and the mention of social distancing should be removed from the prototype.
TL;DR
After conducting usability and A/B testing, we designed a high-fidelity prototype of the Date Planner. We received positive feedback from users and felt we were successful in our mission of improving the app and helping Hinge users move past messaging and on to meeting.
We did, however, find ourselves falling out of scope by including in-person date options in the feature. After reflecting back on our research, we realized that our key users would prefer virtual dates over in-person dates even beyond the pandemic.
UX designers are eager to help people, and in the process, it is tempting to get attached to an idea and run with it. Realizing you have done this is a humbling experience, but I am glad I had this experience early in my UX career. I believe I am now a stronger UX designer because of it and am able to more objectively evaluate and catch potential mis-steps in my later work.
If the persona is in fact formed from user research, it is a valuable tool that UX designers should continually refer to throughout the design process. An idea that doesn’t address the persona’s needs may lead the product down a path that is out of scope or does not solve the original problem. My group and I did not realize we were guilty of this until far into the design process, but now we know from experience the value of checking in with the persona along the way.
In the end, I am proud of the research we conducted and our resulting design. I have been watching how Hinge continues to adapt to the pandemic and would love to see a feature like the Date Planner become a reality.