Design of a dating app for Ghanaians to find more matches effectively
To design a mobile dating app for use in Ghana where matches are more effective for users
Create a dating app for Ghanaians to effectively find dates
In Ghana, the dating scene is evolving due to technology. More and more people are going online and find dates and getting married. But dating apps themselves haven't really taken off in Ghana.
Apps like Tinder and Bumble are available but it can sometimes be a ghost town and more often than not, there can be some “suspicious” characters on these apps.
So I set off on a design challenge to try and design a dating app specifically for Ghana.
The first thing I needed was a bit of data about what dating in Ghana was like. I designed a survey and sent it through various social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter.
From the data I gathered, I could see there was an opportunity to design something that most young people might be interested in. Most participants in the survey stated that they didn’t really use dating apps. Some had dabbled in the Tinder and Bumble app but not many had actually found good enough matches.
Most cited their mistrust of dating apps as it seems that the people on there are more into hookups, which can be a turn off for people who want more things like casual dating. Here's an infographic containing most of the data: 2018 Dating In Ghana stats
Key Takeaways from the survey:
- Most respondents said they had not used a dating app before
- Respondents who had used dating apps did not fully trust them because some profiles on the apps were "fake"
- If they used a dating app, respondents said "Interests" would be something that they would like to be matched on
- Most respondents were active on Twitter and Instagram
From the data gathering from the survey, it looked like the design of the onboarding process would be crucial.
With that in mind, I took into consideration that users would want options as who they would want to be matched up with on the app.
I also took into consideration a “Verification” process. Most users on Tinder in Ghana tend to be “fake” so creating a realistic experience would make sense.
Verification Screen where users would have a chance for optional verification* to prove their authenticity. Users could very with their Facebook accounts or use a Physical ID
*Why a Verification process? Most respondents in the survey stated that they had a mistrust of dating apps and so having users verify themselves could help create a more authentic experience. Bumble also has a somewhat way of “verifying” people but making them take selfies
After the onboarding experience in which users answer some basic questions and select their preferences, a screen is displayed with some potential matches.
The menu items include: Matches, Likes, Favorites, Chats, and Profiles. The Match menu item is self-explanatory. The Likes menu is where all the people you’ve liked and have also liked back appear.
With the Favorites, you can actually “favorite” a match in case you want to come back and check out their profile. (I did get feedback that a Favorites section wouldn’t make sense
Once you get matched up, you get a prompt asking you to start a chat. But you can opt to do that later. Again, your “Likes” will appear in the “Likes” menu section on the navigation bar on the bottom
Matches appear in the Chat menu. You can only chat with someone you've matched with.
This what the in-app chat screen looks like. Very clean. Simply type and send.
The more matches you get, the more chats appear in your Chats menu. You can always dismiss a chat if you’re done.
