Project Overview
I was paired with three other UX designers to help a client who is in the middle of re-vamping their mobile dating application called The Round. It is a live dating app that takes the frustrations out of online dating and focuses on getting people on in-person dates quickly to bring accountability back to online dating.
We were given an existing prototype for The Round and then tasked to solve the following problems:
Onboarding process
Positive/negative paths of the match-making flow
Using value props to solve for The Round
Introduction to a new app to unfamiliar users
Team Role
UX/UI designer - I conducted general research, user research, user testing, app redesign, iconography and illustration design and interaction of the product along with the presentation layout. I was in charge of working on the onboarding process of the application.
Project Duration
Three weeks
Tools
Handing Sketching (Sketchbook and Pen)
Sketch App
Adobe Illustrator
InVision
Team Members
Nick Hughes, Kara Heffner, Phillip Spaulding, Ariel Aronovitz
The Journey
Brainstorm
Competitive Analysis
SWOT Analysis
As a team, we collaborated on making SWOT analysis for the pre-existing dating app. The purpose of the chart is to create a framework for identifying and analyzing the internal and external factors of the app.
User Research
User Interviews
We conducted 20 user interviews with ages 22 to 30. We first had the users engage with the existing prototype and had them express their initial pain points. After receiving feedback, we questioned them on their past dating app experiences.
Affinity Diagram
We found that a lot of people had the same pain points with the original prototype. Once all the data from the interviews were gathered, we collaborated on an Affinity Diagram (shown in the image below). One of the findings that we found was that the onboarding process was too long and caused user fatigue leading to multiple users quitting the app early on.
Synthesizing data
To visually show the results of our interviews, I decided to collect all of our research findings and create an infographic to summarize the data.
Identifying Pain Points:
Most users had no idea of what 'The Round' is
Most users complained or quit due to long onboarding process in the beginning.
'The Round' demo seems confusing
Prioritizing Points:
Facebook or phone sign in
Phone verification
User must fill out basic info such as name, age, gender, and interests.
Users must have six photos minimum for profile
User Personas
" My word is my bond"
Primary Persona - Jamie Sanchez is a 28-year-old man who is a construction worker. He’s uses dating apps often hoping to make that real connection one day.. Jamison has low patience and gets tired easily.
User Journey Map
Ideation & Sketch
After we got an idea what users need, we wanted to create a user flow (image above) that shows our persona going through the app. Creating this user flow helped with a visualization of the user path the user would take to complete their task.
We then decided to separate the tasks to divide and conquer to meet our client needs with a tight deadline. My role was to shorten and simplify the onboarding process.
Ideation Sketching
Before I do any designing on a computer, I start sketching to generate solutions. Once I was done with my sketches, I added this ideation into our user flow (images below).
UI Design & Prototype
Early Mockup Designs
Version 1
Version 2
Style Guide
I created a style guide for our team to use while making comprehensive layouts in the Sketch app. This helped with prototyping our ideas and implementing new designs. The style guide acted as a set reference among our team to make sure everyone was on the same page. This made collaboration more effective.
User Testing and Design Iteration
Click to enlarge.
Outcome & Moving Forward
High-Fidelity Mockups
I conducted another usability test with the updates that we were given from the previous tests. The results were much better this time around. Feedback was much more positive.
What's next?
Adding coach marks to the demo to help guide first time users.
Create a responsive layout for potential expansion to laptop and tablet devices
Adding animations to design.
Like what you see or want to chat? Please contact me.