Dating App UX Research

Exploring the psychographics and usage of the apps by single men and women

Client:
Cara Liu

Main Team Members:
Cara Liu

Timeframe:
2 weeks

Roles & Responsibilities:
Project Scoping
User Research Coordination
User Interviews
Data Analysis

Deliverables:
Research Results
Journey Maps
Mental Models
Recommendations

Background

Dating apps are usually a love/hate relationship among Millennials and Gen Z. Most people are on it out of obligation and Fear of Missing Out. Being an superuser of dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge, I wanted to explore people's perception of the apps, their usage, and their painpoints. Specifically, I was interested in finding out why users delete and come back onto the app, which happens almost cyclically ranging from every 3 months to every 2 weeks.

So I decided to set out with this personal project to find out what's contributing to the lack of satisfaction for users on these apps and brainstorm solutions for what could help increase continual retention.

Scope & Approach

The goal of this research is to explore:

  • the holistic experience and touchpoints of users of dating apps (online or IRL), 
  • other avenues they use to meet other potential matches, and
  • where they get knowledge and advice around romance and what they should do to “find the one”.

Ideally, this will give us a better idea in how to answer the questions of:

  • How do we prevent dating app burnout and the “on-again off-again cycle”?
  • What features on Tinder are effective at helping people find their ideal matches?
  • What features on Tinder are not effective for that?
  • How to properly serve both people looking for casual relationships and people looking for serious relationships without compromising the quality of each group’s experience?
  • The interviews and analysis of data took about 2 weeks total.

Participants:

  • Between the ages of 20 - 30 years old
  • Live in Austin, TX
  • 5 men, 5 women
  • All have used dating apps regularly for at least a year

Recruiting & Methodology:

  • Recruited from local Austin Facebook groups
  • Used Google Meet for qualitative interviews

Want to learn more?

For the full case study, please contact Cara for further details.

© 2021 Cara Liu 

© 2019 Cara Liu