THE PITCH
In our course "Prototyping tools" we were given a week-long assignment in which we were supposed to create an alternative dating app/website, named Pixer, where users would be matched based on personalities rather than looks. The pitch we were given was that users would unlock photos of each other gradually by talking to each other. We were told to approach this project using the Design Thinking process, which includes Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test.
1. EMPATHIZE
I already had a slight idea about what to do regarding the locked pictures and I wanted to be able to explore this idea that with a younger target group, so I decided to research which age groups use dating apps versus websites. I found that the majority of younger people, my target audience, were use dating apps. After having spoken to some users of dating apps within my target audience, there seemed to be a consensus that people often use dating apps to seek affirmation about their appearance rather than looking for a serious connection. If a match would happenen, and the two people start talking or chatting, it's not uncommon that the conversation would quickly die out, if it even began in the first place. I knew I wanted to try to combat this attitude towards online dating with the premise of this app.
2. DEFINE
So, what difficulties might an app like Pixer be faced with (or have added to) compared with those of conventional dating apps? Whether or not we want to admit it, appereances can be extremely important when dating, especially since it can tell you a lot about a person's character. Also, it's not uncommon for people to have particular preferences looking for a partner, something that might even be a dealbreaker in some cases. Humans beings are highly visual creatures. If all imagery is completely removed two people may have a hard time forming a connection. And how are we to stand out from a crowd when any visual image, an aspect of mutual connection that we are most accustomed to seeing, is unavailable until it's unlocked?
Examples of avatars, made from
Picrew Pixel avatar creator.
3. IDEATE
So, instead of making the users of Pixer go cold turkey, and have no reference point for whom they are talking to, I decided that avatars should represent users from the beginning. The app lets its users create a custom avatar to embody themselves. The use of an avatar is anonymous enough for the users to feel secure in not revealing their apperance early on, while also helping other users put a face on someone they've matched with. Hopefully, this avatar representation should be interesting enough to lead users to wanting to unlock the real pictures of each other. But, the question arises, when should these pictures be unlocked? I played with the idea of it being after a certain amount of time has elapsed, but this strategy didn't feel completely right. What happens if you instantly connect with someone and have to wait for a specified timer to run out before being able to see them? They would most likely ask to add them on a social media platform and just disregard the app. Finally, I decided on it being based on a time constraint, but one that speeds up depending on the amount of messages being sent - the more messages being exchanged, the faster the timer runs down. When the timer reaches 0, the users can agree to share each other's photos, but can also decide to opt out.
One of the problems I also tried to take hold of was that of conversations between matches often tend to fizzle out, not for a lack of trying, but because of how awkward and difficult it can become to keep a conversation going when one doesn't know much about the person one is talking to. My idea was that Pixer would aid users in this regard by prompting them to pick and choose between a number of hobbies and interests when making their profile. These interests are shown to other users on your profile, making it easier to maintain a conversation by highlighting common interests. Pixer also lets users fill out and add a few infocards to their profile, to help users who are unsure about what to write in their profile. These inforcards might prompt users to answer questions about favourites (TV shows, movies, foods etc.), or cards that let users talk about their pets, or just cards that might let them tell something about their lifestyle.
4. PROTOTYPE
I chose to do my prototype in Balsamiq, since we didn't have a lot of time for the project and I wanted to challenge myself by not focusing of the aesthetics of the app. I made the registration for new users quite similar to other dating apps. I didn't feel the need to venture out too far from pre-existing account registrations and kept it simple. Users fill out their name, birthdate, gender identity and other bits of information that could useful for creating matches. I kept registration as fun and short as possible and added the number of steps needed to complete registration, so that the user can see which step they were on at all times. This was done in order to not make the new users lose interest and exit the app before completing the registration.
I wanted the users to feel secure and fully understand when/where their photos would be seen and how the interaction of users sharing their photos would work in order to ease any concerns they might have. This is why I wrote, "Please note that your photos will not be seen by anyone you don't consent to" and "Please note that you can always wait longer than the time chosen" as a short notices during these steps of the registration.
The homepage of the app is where all the users Pixer thinks you might want to match with are found. If you click on any profile, you receive more information about the person and also have the opportunity to click on the heart icon and match with the person. Something I wanted to avoid, which, for example, Tinder utilises, is that instead of seeing one person at a time, you see all users at once. The decision to make my homepage in this way was because of some comments I got during the Empathize phase of the process. People I talked to that were using dating apps didn't like the idea of having only two options, either to match or not match with a perticular person. They felt trapped and pressured by the app and didn't feel like making a hasty decision. This is why I chose to make my homepage as I did.
5. TEST
I tested my prototype on three people, aged 20-30, two men and one woman. When I explained my version of Pixer, I got comments that they believed that an app like Pixer would be useful for shy people, and might allow them to get further in the dating process, to go further beyond just getting matched with random people. Since there was no premise of getting matches based on one's looks, they felt like it would encourage users to be more serious about dating when using this app, which made them want to try out the app for real.
RESULTS
Overall, I'm pleased with my results. If I ever get the chance to continue developing this app, I will definitely start revising the prototype based on some comments I received during the interviews. I would also want to make the "How the app works" wizard easier to understand for first time users, as a more step-by-step explanation with arrows pointing to the different features.