OurDate
this denotes a summary or key point
Context
OurDate is a B2C SaaS company dedicated to helping people find and create meaningful connections. Most of my time involved innovating and iterating the tools that enhance “connecting people.” After some initial brainstorming and research, I pursued a new idea that tackled the core problem of forming connections.
My Role
From conception to final iteration
Some design collaboration happened during research and ideation, and parts of the UI were also managed by a separate design system team. Also, we had daily stand-ups with the dev team to ensure project feasibility.
Scope
Ideation, Research, Interviews, Testing, UX/UI Design, Pitch, Iterations, Presentations
Tools
Figma, FigJam, Zeplin, Notion, Miro, Zoom, Google Meets, GatherTown, Loom, Tella
Revolutionizing how we form meaningful connections
In the era of dating apps and increasing reasons to avoid social interactions, forging genuine and meaningful connections has become a daunting task. My goal was to equip relationship seekers with the tools that lead to their own personal happily ever after.
Modern dating apps promote a negative, and often dehumanizing, user experience
Initial Problem: How do we help people form new, meaningful connections?
OurDate is not seeking to be the next hot dating app. We are not a dating app at all. Our mission is to connect people, in-person and face-to-face. Through numerous research and accounts we know that dating apps are often too shallow and favor a select minority, which is why we advocate for in-person interactions.
I started by hosting group brainstorming to generate ideas and understand the motivators behind forming new connections
The goal was to come out with a potential core feature for OurDate
The initial problem was too broad, so I held a few cross-functional brainstorming sessions to narrow it down and come up with potential features that align with company goals. I prompted the group with questions to get ideas flowing and we collaborated until several ideas formed.
We shared ideas, research, and personal experiences
Potential features generated from brainstorming
Then I realized an emerging pattern: many people shared feelings of anxiety, shyness, or fear when approaching someone new.
This became the core problem my design aimed to solve.
Narrowing the Problem
What discourages people to approach someone new?
After gathering the insights from brainstorming, I was able to narrow the problem and tackle the core feature I wanted to test. By clearly defining the problem, research and testing became more pointed, which helped when navigating the barrage of testing that ensued.
Initial Design:
Hunt Mode
User Interviews and group brainstorms created a solid foundation for ideation.
‘Hunt Mode’ stemmed from the idea of people ‘hunting’ for love in packs
After defining the problem and using key insights, the idea of Hunt Mode formed. This translated in a feature that allowed users the option of letting other users know your location. The obvious concern of security became a focus during the initial rounds of testing.
Rapid prototyping and user testing
OurDate has access to many users, and we did a total of 5 initial testings within the span of a couple days.
This is where we tested the low-mid fidelity prototype of Hunt Mode. For convenience, we used moderated, remote testing which was taken into consideration when extracting insights. There were several findings, but the main research goal was to understand whether or not this would help reduce the barriers of human interaction.
Success Metrics
The success metrics below were defined based on insights found during user research and interviews. I also adjusted them based on the feedback from the initial rounds of user testing.
Evolving into Mingle Mode
‘Mingle Mode’ is an iteration upon ‘Hunt Mode’
From the insights we received from testing Hunt Mode, some adjustments include:
• Changed name to “Mingle Mode” (Hunt mode sounded “too intense/predatory”)
• Removed event creation (Based on insights - Too cluttered)
• Added connection flow (New feature)
• Updated thought flow (Based on insights - More intuitive)
• Map abstraction (Dev constraints)
Last Round of User Testing (Guerrilla Testing)
For the last round of testing, since the app was better contextualized on-site, I wanted to do in-person testing. Thus, I chose to utilize guerrilla testing.
The final round of user testing revealed a lot of future opportunities for Mingle Mode. I tested with a total of 5 people. I analyzed the findings using an affinity map, and I showcase some insights below.
Final Design
How we lessen the barriers of human interaction.
Below showcases the final prototype of Mingle Mode for OurDate.
Link to Prototype
Retrospective
Building upon existing prototypes, a WIP design system, and years of research.
OurDate started 2 years before I joined and, as such, had multiple years of work already put into it. Days of research can be saved by simply reviewing past notes and deriving insights from them. I was able to understand the problems OurDate was tackling by reviewing those documents.
Operating in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment.
This was my first time working with (and leading) multiple design teams. Looking back, we flourished due to channels of open communication, efficient daily stand-ups (15-30 min), and fostering a collaborative environment regardless of experience.
