TINDER REIMAGINED
This was a UX/UI group project I worked on in early 2021 with fellow Designer, Kyrie Tong. We split the work as evenly as possible and both contributed to each aspect of the process. We created a hypothetical update and rebrand for the dating app, Tinder.
"TINDER CHANGED DATING FOR THE WORSE, AND I BELIEVE IT WILL BE A DETRIMENT TO OUR GENERATION'S VIEW ON FINDING LOVE."
This was a direct quote from a self-conducted survey of Tinder users in early 2021. Unfortunately, this statement is a sentiment that was shared with over 100 surveyed users.
FOR THIS PROJECT, WE WANTED TO DO THREE THINGS:
1. Get to know Tinder's audience
2. Find out the specifics of what was wrong
3. Redesign the experience to hopefully solve the problem and satisfy the audience
FROM FIVE CONVERSATIONAL INTERVIEWS, WE HAD THREE MAIN TAKEAWAYS.
1. Men had trouble getting matches
2. Women felt unsafe on first dates
3. Everyone, in general, was unhappy with the app
GENDER
In our survey of over 100 Tinder users, almost 75% of the responses were from women. This was surprising because, at the time of conducting the survey, 75% of Tinder's active users identified as male.
SEXUALITY
When asked about their sexuality, over half of the survey identified with the LGBTQ+ community.
This statistic both intrigued and excited us. We had the opportunity to hear many pain points of an underrepresented community.
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM TINDER?
Despite finding that Tinder's reputation is mostly known as a hook-up/casual dating app, only 9% of surveyed users intended to use Tinder for that purpose. In fact, most people were either open to different types of relationships, or wanted something more serious.
DO FIRST DATES ON TINDER FEEL SAFE?
25% of our survey responders didn't feel safe in the early dating stages, and 40% only felt safe under certain conditions.
BASED OFF OF THE INTERVIEW AND SURVEY ANSWERS, THREE OF OUR INITIAL ASSUMPTIONS WERE VALIDATED.
1. Tinder has a reputation for hookups
2. People use Tinder for various kinds of relationships, including platonic friendships
3. Most matches are based purely on someone's physical appearance
WE ALSO FOUND OUR TARGET AUDIENCE.
We are redesigning the Tinder experience for 18-30 year old users who want to be reassured of their safety on first dates.
As for the types of relationships our audience is interested in, we called them "casually curious"; they use Tinder casually but are open to any kind of relationship that they might find.
PERSONA #1: RACHEL
Rachel is a 25 year old, bisexual woman. She is not currently in a relationship.
In the past, Rachel has dated different types of people, but nothing has worked out. Ideally, she wants to be in a serious and committed relationship, although she is open to casual interactions before settling down. Unfortunately, she feels unsafe meetings strangers for dates, which has been an obstacle for her.
PERSONA #2: SIMON
Simon is a 27 year old, straight man. He is not currently in a relationship and hasn't been since college.
In his schooling years, he always made education his top priority. He downloaded dating apps once he had more free time, but has been having trouble making connections.
IF WE WANTED TO REDESIGN TINDER, WE HAD TO UNDERSTAND THE APP AS IT CURRENTLY EXISTED.
Neither of us had used Tinder in the past, so we created generic accounts to see firsthand how it functioned.
Based on our first impressions and the responses of our survey/interviews, we identified three primary pain points of the app:
1. The iconic swiping maneuver was confusing. On multiple occasions, we accidentally swiped in the opposite direction of what we intended
2. The messaging system was awkward. No one knows how to start a conversation when they only have someone's appearance to go off of.
3. There were minimal safety precautions in the app
WE REIMAGINED THESE PAIN POINTS AS OPPORTUNITIES ON HOW TO IMPROVE TINDER.
1. Quality of life fixes that are intuitive, but do not slow down the iconic fast pace of the app
2. Create new ways of starting conversation and meeting people
3. Implement useful but optional safety features
THE CURRENT TINDER USERFLOW EXPERIENCE
NOW WE KNOW WHAT TINDER IS DOING, BUT WHAT ABOUT COMPETING DATING APPS?
PROS:
1. Competitors encourage deeper connections based on more than appearance
2. Fewer mismatched relationship goals
CONS:
1. A slower matching and dating process overall
2. A significantly smaller userbase
HERE ARE THE SOLUTIONS THAT WE CREATED BASED ON ALL OF THIS RESEARCH:
1. Make Tinder's profile creation more customizable
2. Create a dating filtration system
3. Add an optional emergency contact/panic button
4. Add a fast-paced, group chatting system that goes beyond the standard image swiping option
WE THEN RECREATED THE USERFLOW AND BEGAN WIREFRAME SKETCHES.
AFTER HAVING USERS TEST A WIREFRAME PROTOTYPE, WE WERE READY TO CREATE THE FINAL REDESIGN.
To help avoid mismatched users, we added an optional filtration system. Here, you can pinpoint the types of relationships that you are interested in.
We explored an alternative to the app's iconic Gallery. We called this section "Party". It is a timed group chat system where you can talk with potential matches before swiping on their profiles.
In the Party system, there are many chatroom topics that could help kickstart a conversation.
You can quickly see the number of local users currently chatting about different topics.
Once you enter a chatroom, you have fifteen minutes to have a conversation before you are shifted to another group. Think of this like a digital version of speed dating; it maintains Tinder's appealing fast pace while encouraging connections that go beyond physical attraction.
If you want to match with someone, you can view their gallery profile. We updated this interface to be more simple and user-friendly.
The color palette of the brand has been refined and tagged interests have been added to the profile images.
In addition to the Party and filtration system, we added a safety feature. Before you leave for a first meeting, you can let Tinder know when, where, and for how long you intend to be out. You then input emergency contact numbers of someone you trust, such as a friend or family member.
Once the date begins, Tinder will send a check-in notification during the outing. If you fail to respond in ten minutes, another notification will be sent. If this also gets ignored, your emergency contact is notified.