FOU
for you
An app for people looking to make deeper connections through conversations
my role
Ideation
UI Design
Wireframe
Prototype
Overview
The Background
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Dating apps never attracted much of my attention due to the premise that most apps rely on. As a person looking for interesting conversations with different kinds of people to form connections, the fact that dating apps focus mainly on overall personality through prompts and pictures rather than giving people the time to get to know each other in a more natural free-flowing way, always kept me away from them.
Thus, I thought of a way to make a human-centric app focusing on creating a gamified world that promotes a more natural dating process even in the virtual world.
The Goal
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To design a gamified dating app that focuses on personalized exchange of information and building relationships through conversations. To break away from existing dating apps, this app should promote a slower dating experience through information moderation.
Introduction
One thing that the pandemic has made clear to us is this: no matter how isolated one might be and no matter how much time they spend on trying to make connections with people virtually, there are gaps in the market when it comes to platforms that promote meaningful connections. Most social media apps and dating apps focus a lot of people’s ability to share information about themselves to the world and wait for some sort of validation in the form of likes or swipes.
And that is where FOU comes in.
FOU is a dating app that focuses on cultivating relationships through conversations that slowly reveal a user’s personality through an even and gradual exchange of information.
Methodology
A primary and secondary research was conducted into the existing market of dating apps. The results of the primary research is presented in the following sections in the form of a case study.
Case Study
For the purpose of seeing the market viability of this app, a small case study was conducted with 20 people from ages 22-35. They were given an online survey with questions that focus on their preferences when it comes to online dating. For example:
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What part of the online dating process do you find to be most intimidating?
When was the last time you went on a date through a dating app?
What parts of the online dating experience do you like the most?
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72% men and 40% women find it intimidating to set up dating profiles.
70% women and 40% men feel insecure about sharing personal information on dating apps.
60% women and 40% men find texting on dating apps to be intimidating.
48% women and 52% men believe that current dating apps are useful for casual dating only.
Solutions
Give users the opportunity to make elements visible to specific people and give them control over who can view how much of their dating profile.
Provide users with a limited environment taking inspiration from concepts like speed dating and truth and dare to limit lying potential.
Provide users with prompts so that minimum thinking power goes into the flow of information. Users only have to think up interesting answers and not interesting questions.
Provide users with the opportunity to not only earn matches but also earn points to celebrate small achievements on the app that can be encashed to access more features.
Give users the opportunity to leave a goodbye message or reasoning for why they are being unmatched. Give users the opportunity to request for closure. These features can be gained by making use of the point system.
Problems
Privacy
False information
Flow of conversation
Sense of achievement
Closure
The making of
THE APP
User Journey
As the first step towards designing the user experience, I first tried to map out the journey a user would take while navigating through the app.
Sign Up
Set up profile
Privacy Settings
Link Socials
Set
Search Parameters
Profile cards
Swipe
User Profile
Request access
FOU points
Chat
Request for chat
Request open chat
Question Master
Send Greetings
Request Socials
Wireframing
Basic wireframing sketches were drawn out to further understand the components that would go into designing the app.
Gesture Library
Swipe right on the profile card to request chat.
Long press on messages to give FOU rating.
Long press on questions in questionmaster to directly paste it in chatbox.
Redeem FOU points to see more parts of matched user's profile.
Pull down to refresh
Prototype
App Features
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Explore feed with profile cards that feature the FOU rating collected by user on the app.
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Swipe on profiles to view interests and pictures, depending on what the user has unlocked.
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Users have control over how much information they want should be available to be openly viewed on the app.
FOU points
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Chat with user in a question and answer format by making use of the questionmaster or coming up with your own!
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Award user with FOU points if you like their answer!
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Encash FOU points earned with a user to unlock details about them on their profile!
Go Pro!
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Get upto 2X FOU points everytime you answer a question.
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Get the ability to send secret message to other Pro members.
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Get personalised suggestions to ask better questions to other pro users!
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Get secret sneak peak into other users profiles before unlocking them!