Project Overview

The Work

This is a case study on a popular Dating app Called Hinge. It claims to be an app built for people to find love. The case study is dedicated to elevating the effectiveness of Hinge, the dating app, in "cultivating" genuine connections between individuals. I conducted surveys to figure out what could be done to improve the effectiveness of the dating app. Based on the research created a prototype to showcase a additional tool for hinge.

Duration - 2 weeks

My Role - UX Researcher

The problem:

Stringing along
The greed of looking for better prospects
Lack of consistency

The Goal:

The goal of the case study is to find a way for Users to be able to form genuine connections without being sucked into the whirlpool of trying to find the one and losing in on Genuine connections.

User Research

Summary

Our research is dedicated to evaluating the effectiveness of Hinge, the dating app, in cultivating genuine connections between individuals. I meticulously conducted an extensive investigation, utilizing surveys and delving into online forums like Reddit to explore user experiences. Through this thorough research, we gained valuable insights into people's attitudes towards dating apps, unraveling nuanced perspectives and illuminating pathways for meaningful enhancements to the platform.

About Hinge.

Hinge, launched in 2012, originated as a dating app that connected users through mutual Facebook friends. Over time, it underwent significant changes, rebranding itself in 2016 to move away from the swiping culture and towards fostering more meaningful connections. The app's redesign focused on prompting users to create detailed profiles and engage in conversations based on shared interests, ultimately positioning Hinge as a platform for users seeking more substantial and lasting relationships in the world of online dating.

" When the love of my life dumped me after college, I was devastated. I turned to technology to meet new people, creating Hinge in the process. The app was built to help people find love, but over time, we added features just to keep up with our competitors."

-Justin McLeod

Founder and CEO

Problem Statement

Hinge is a Dating App that helps people connect by making them take an interest in the profile instead of just swiping through them like its competitors. Despite having people take time in trying to connect with someone users have been seen spending too much time trying to find someone better instead of trying to Nurture a genuine connection. Along with that frequent cases of burnout because of instances of Ghosting and stringing people along is prevalent in the app.

Survey

A survey was conducted on 15 individuals who actively use Hinge:-

100%

People ghosted

80%

Feel like being Stringed along?

60%

Ghosted because of options?

30%

Ghosted because lack of spark?

60%

Regretted ghosting

Have you Ghosted people?
Are there times when you feel you are being stringed along?
Do you String people along as backup?
Have you Ghosted People after a few dates because of options available that could be better?
Was it because you thought the spark wasn't there after a few dates?
Have You come to regret that decision?

Insight

1

Too many fish in the sea

People feel they have a lot more options available to them and they want their ideal type.

2

Lack of seriousness

or assumed seriousness.

Some people feel they are being strung along in a relationship.

3

Lack of understanding of how to make a relationship work.

Due to the amount of options available many people felt they were the only ones putting in the effort.

4

Exhaustion due to the fast pace

A lot of people made the same complain that they feel exhausted with the continuous changing relationship.

Mockups

Solution

Concept

I Propose simple features to be added to the app that can help people feel more in control of their dating lives. At the same time increasing one's chances of truly finding love.

Proposed solutions

A way to block requests and matches if the user feels they like someone.
An additional window in the We Met window allows the user to communicate with the app how he feels about the match after meeting more than once and giving them a choice.
Stopping matches if you are communicating with more than 20 people (a certain number of people).
To prevent users from being ghosted or strung along, along with notification a small window with questions about the match may help the situation.
Access to an online therapist or AI to help people make up their minds or even help with their feelings.

These Solutions may help create a better experience for people. But I do acknowledge that for many users interested in casual relationships or short term relationships they may not possibly be a good solution. These solutions are for people who are looking to get into long-term relationships.

Prototype Screens

We Met again

yes

no

After meeting a match again I think it would be nice to be able to understand the users motive and also giving them an option to focus on a particular match. By locking their ability to be approached or approaching other people the want to possibly look for something better goes away.

A simple lock that can be unlocked at any moment.

Giving an option to the user prevents being tagged along.

Help Me

The Help Me feature is to help counsel users in a relationship if they need it. In the age of social media the society is changing and so is human interaction. Most of the people are trying to show their best selves to the world. Psychologically people are getting closed up not sharing their real self so a tool that can help them navigate through a relationship can be helpful for them.

Ping

A small ping can be sent to the match to know the other person is waiting for an answer. This doesn't need to be on in the beginning but can made available if there is no contact more than a week so people can move on if not interested.

Too Many Matches

This feature may be unpopular in the beginning but can be useful for people looking for a relationship. Restricting the number of matches just like restricting the number of likes can save people from dating burnouts. with people trying to focus on what they have and not hoarding people to string along. if the matches go down then it automatically gets unlocked for more matches.

Monetization

I understand the need for monetary gains is necessary in any business and changes can cause ripples in any business but sometimes changes are required in a system to make it better and more profitable. Some of the features like the poke and we met again can be free as it can help the algorithm to understand the user's type better and also the type of people who respond to the user better enhancing the algorithm in the process. The Help me can be available in the premium edition although an online chat system would be better than an Ai based chat system as we are dealing with real humans. The match system locking can be similar to being able to see a limited number of likes until a move to the premium account. I would like it limited to 10 but from the conversations I had 20 seems to be the magic number (I have no idea how).

Results

Hinge is a very effective dating site better than its competitors in the sense that its not like a game where you need to swipe what you see. It treat people like emotional beings looking for love by giving people an opportunity to be able to communicate with another person on an emotional level. The changes Proposed here are no way an Insult to the app but are more in the lines of an advice from users to be able to provide a better dating experience to the Users. These Solutions are my solutions and are in no way a representation of people as a whole.