CAse study
Styleframes
Research Summary
Our Limited Audience and Users Seeking “Real Connections”
Current market dating apps (Hinge & Tinder) focus on “real connections” and easy access to meet people. Meanwhile, more niche queer apps rely on inclusive and personalized features designed for users to improve their overall experience.
We soon realized that our current audience is limited and there are opportunities to be more inclusive within the LGBTQ+ community.
Proposed
Expanded Target Audience
Maintain our audience of Gay, Bisexual, Queer Men while expanding to include Lesbian, Bisexual, Queer Women.
Empathy Interviews
After 12 Interviews, here's what we heard
“Lock you into a feeling of objectification and limiting yourself to who you are, what your identity is, at a purely sexual physical state.”
“There are situations where I have to choose which bathroom you go into, either a woman's or a man's...I get stared down.”
“People who have been in the community for so long...I felt like there was a little bit of dissonance, as I was still learning everything.”
“Grindr visually is very robotic, and it feels very transactional.”
Empathy Interviews
What We Discovered
Affinity Mapping was conducted based on the interviews. The interviewees aged 20-28 are a diverse racial and ethnic group with variation in gender identity and sexual orientation to capture Grindr's diverse audience.
Users crave genuine connections and a community to call their own.
Users don’t know where to go to find genuine connections and community.
Users see Grindr as too sexual and are intimidated by the pressure to hook up.
Users are worried about their safety and the ever-increasing LGBTQ+ hate.
Personas
The full spectrum of the LGBTQ+ Community
Based on the conducted research and interviews, 4 personas were developed to tackle specific pain points from real users.
UI Design and Features
Highlight organization, transparency, safety, and user preferences
Introducing a new system of modes: Home, Community, Romance, and Hook-Ups, to help users easily find what they need. Alongside new features for the community, match transparency (romantic and sexual health), and fostering a safe environment for all.
Feature 1
Grindr Gather
Feature 2
Grindr Glimpse
Feature 3
Grindr Check-Up
Feature 4
Grindr Ground
Design System
Welcoming, Bold, and Unrestricted
Utilizing components, variables, and colorful palettes with consistent text styles and hierarchy to create a unified, yet playful system perfect for Grindr’s nature.
The KPIs
How can we determine the success of these new features?
Takeaways
Leverage Research, Importance of Language, and room for improvement
Key insights and behaviors were identified by leveraging empathy interviews and user testing, leading to intentional diction and pinpointing the user's pain.
Language is vital for users to use the app or a new feature. UX Writing must be clear, concise, and useful.
Everything is a process; it's important to receive feedback and make improvements. Next steps are capturing more nuanced identities, pronouns, and intentions.