Why wait until you’re out?
A mobile app that’s one part night life calendar and one part dating service, designed to actually connect people around the places they go.
Instead of racking up meaningless matches, we focused on the way singles actually meet in the real world. People flock to their favorite bars, clubs, events, and venues every week hoping to find someone new, so why not build a dating app around that experience.
Instead of racking up meaningless matches, we focused on the way singles actually meet in the real world. People flock to their favorite bars, clubs, events, and venues every week hoping to find someone new, so why not build a dating app around that experience.
The secretary problem
A ridiculously low percentage of matches on dating apps actually match. The apps are geared towards high retention and long session times, but are not at all conducive to actual date conversion. The main reason is the friction caused by the secretary problem.
The secretary problem describes the awkward process of matching, vibing conversationally, but then having to plan an actual date. User A may be in downtown, User B may be in the valley, that’s miles and miles of space to come up with a mutual spot. This creates a huge increase in vulnerability by forcing the users to suggest a place and then explicitly exert a relatively large amount of effort to make this date happen. It’s uncomfortable and turns a flirty conversation into something very practical/logistical. Major buzz kill.
The secretary problem describes the awkward process of matching, vibing conversationally, but then having to plan an actual date. User A may be in downtown, User B may be in the valley, that’s miles and miles of space to come up with a mutual spot. This creates a huge increase in vulnerability by forcing the users to suggest a place and then explicitly exert a relatively large amount of effort to make this date happen. It’s uncomfortable and turns a flirty conversation into something very practical/logistical. Major buzz kill.
Like meeting at the bar
Every design element was inspired by a chance romantic encounter at a bar or event. How might we take the awkwardness out of a dating app, ground it in reality, and offer the perfect ice breaker.
The goal was to limit all of the friction points that might restrict a match conversion by putting the venue first. A user can simply select a few venues/events they’re interested in this week and start matching others heading there as well. Once the plans are out of the way, matches can focus on one another and have a realistic date to look forward to.
The goal was to limit all of the friction points that might restrict a match conversion by putting the venue first. A user can simply select a few venues/events they’re interested in this week and start matching others heading there as well. Once the plans are out of the way, matches can focus on one another and have a realistic date to look forward to.
It all starts with the calendar
The user’s journey begins by checking out the suggested events in their area and checking into 5 for the week. This allows us to generate a pool of potential matches going to the same places as them, filtered by their romantic preferences.
The team works with LA tastemakers and nightlife groups to feature the most relevant/exclusive events. Through this process, we built relationships with the best venue groups in the city, to ensure that the user’s experience was to our quality bar even once they get to the venue and put their phone away.
The team works with LA tastemakers and nightlife groups to feature the most relevant/exclusive events. Through this process, we built relationships with the best venue groups in the city, to ensure that the user’s experience was to our quality bar even once they get to the venue and put their phone away.
The calendar is also available on web, without an account to create unique SEO offerings and act as a catalyst to user growth. Through this project I learned that Google is interested in surfacing unique combinations of data that matches specific queries. The calendar combines venue metadata, calendar information, location info, curated explanations, and matching activity.
Aside from the SEO justification, it offered a logged out value prop to potential users. The unique calendar bolstered our credibility and drastically increased click through rate to the app store.
Aside from the SEO justification, it offered a logged out value prop to potential users. The unique calendar bolstered our credibility and drastically increased click through rate to the app store.
A profile that lets you be you
A match on Mixer Match means more than a match on a regular dating app, simply because you’ll be likely seeing that person in the real world this week. This is incredibly exciting, but also created a series of issues that dictated the design:
01. False positives are a bad, bad thing. In any other dating app, if you swipe on someone you’re not actually interested in, you can forget about that. On Mixer Match, you’d potentially see that person this week. To combat this, we only allowed a user to like someone if they scrolled through 3 photos.
02. Privacy is incredibly important to us. We wanted to ensure that the location is only revealed to a potential match once they have indeed matched.
03. The more information, the more informed the decision is. We wanted to create a profile that was truly representative of that user. So we created a feed, interlacing photos with 3 stages of questions.
01. False positives are a bad, bad thing. In any other dating app, if you swipe on someone you’re not actually interested in, you can forget about that. On Mixer Match, you’d potentially see that person this week. To combat this, we only allowed a user to like someone if they scrolled through 3 photos.
02. Privacy is incredibly important to us. We wanted to ensure that the location is only revealed to a potential match once they have indeed matched.
03. The more information, the more informed the decision is. We wanted to create a profile that was truly representative of that user. So we created a feed, interlacing photos with 3 stages of questions.
Inspired by a great conversation
The feeds we created are inspired by the structure of a great conversation, interlacing photos with the user’s response to strategically timed questions. In order to mitigate the risk of a false positive, a user must scroll through a sizeable portion of the feed in order to say yes (but the may immediately skip). The order of the questions asked during profile creation are:
01. Light and Fun question, written to mirror an icebreaker response
02. A slightly deeper question, similar to the information that would come out mid conversation
03. A question that may evoke a mutual interest in a place or activity, something that leads to more interaction between the two.
01. Light and Fun question, written to mirror an icebreaker response
02. A slightly deeper question, similar to the information that would come out mid conversation
03. A question that may evoke a mutual interest in a place or activity, something that leads to more interaction between the two.
Bold. Inspired. Fun
The goal was to build a brand and visual identity that matched our vibrant community of inspired users and exclusive venues. I had an opportunity to work with incredible influencers, venues, and artists.
The whole experience needed to feel so different from other dating app experiences. We wanted to build something that you were excited to be a part of, not something you wanted to deny using. We learned a ton from the visual choices private membership clubs, premium retail experiences, and our venue partners make.
The whole experience needed to feel so different from other dating app experiences. We wanted to build something that you were excited to be a part of, not something you wanted to deny using. We learned a ton from the visual choices private membership clubs, premium retail experiences, and our venue partners make.
The inspiration for the logo was something that felt clean and refined, had a touch of tech/appyness, and told a story. We wanted to convey the idea of embrace or of actually meeting, so I came up with our M styling, inspired by a couple holding hands.
The web experience
We’re a 4 person team, so I was also the front end web developer on the team (I’m not a front end web developer, but I'm dangerous enough). I really wanted to hit the sweet spot between mobile app and private, social club. I relied heavily on negative white space to create a clean, refined look, while still leveraging bold colors and typography.
We really wanted the video to be the main focus, after spending so much time shooting and editing it, we thought it cleanly conveyed the "happy path" journey. The goal was to create a meaningful, realistically enviable night shared between two “users”. The video felt inherently “LA” (our launch city) which was great and I was stoked with our final product. This video was shot entirely by our small team and a talented cinematographer buddy, we spent under $200, and ended up with something rad.
So the cite prominently showcased this video with more context available on scroll. In case you missed it, here’s the video again:
We really wanted the video to be the main focus, after spending so much time shooting and editing it, we thought it cleanly conveyed the "happy path" journey. The goal was to create a meaningful, realistically enviable night shared between two “users”. The video felt inherently “LA” (our launch city) which was great and I was stoked with our final product. This video was shot entirely by our small team and a talented cinematographer buddy, we spent under $200, and ended up with something rad.
So the cite prominently showcased this video with more context available on scroll. In case you missed it, here’s the video again:
Learning fast
We launched our initial alpha incredibly quickly with no resources and learned a ton. We made a ton of mistakes, both from a strategic and a design perspective. The app was based on checking in the day of for that night, which was an incredibly limiting model. Furthermore, it was far too reliant on free deals, which stripped away the intrinsic motivation and had users there for the wrong reasons. Lastly, the design was dark themed and based on the aesthetics of the venues. However, after several rounds of testing, we found that users reacting more positively to a light theme. Here is the original experience and branding:
The community is everything
No matter how great the app was, no matter how incredible our venues were, it came down to the community. We needed to offer something our user’s couldn’t get on any other service. To do this, we controlled every part of the experience. Every touch point on a user’s journey was heavily designed. From the marketing page, to the onboarding experience, to the app, to the line at the venue, to the branding at the venue. It needed to feel like a concierge, curated experience, not an awkward dating app.
One of the awesome ways we drove this home was by hosting members only events. We had the luxury of partnering with exclusive venues, locations, and influencers to make the events incredible. We hosted a pool party DJ’d by Justin Jay and Baron Davis overlooking the ocean in Malibu. We threw a slip n slide party with over 400 guests and guest appearances by Justin Bieber and Sophie Turner. We featured several exclusive Malibu beach days and club nights hosted by Romeo Miller, Alli Simpson, Gregg Sulkin, and many more.
The community made us more than a dating app but rather a place to connect with the most inspired individuals in LA around incredibly fun events. These events garnered us a waitlist and an invite only, initial userbase of ~4,000.
One of the awesome ways we drove this home was by hosting members only events. We had the luxury of partnering with exclusive venues, locations, and influencers to make the events incredible. We hosted a pool party DJ’d by Justin Jay and Baron Davis overlooking the ocean in Malibu. We threw a slip n slide party with over 400 guests and guest appearances by Justin Bieber and Sophie Turner. We featured several exclusive Malibu beach days and club nights hosted by Romeo Miller, Alli Simpson, Gregg Sulkin, and many more.
The community made us more than a dating app but rather a place to connect with the most inspired individuals in LA around incredibly fun events. These events garnered us a waitlist and an invite only, initial userbase of ~4,000.
