The document provides details about a project for a dating app called Hinge. It includes information on Hinge's business and user goals which are focused on quality matches and expanding the user base. It also outlines the project plan, research activities, personas, competitor analysis, user flows, and usability testing results. The team created wireframes and prototypes of the Hinge Matchmaker feature which allows users to match their friends.
2. Hinge: What is Hinge?
PROJECT 4 BUSINESS & USER GOALS
Anti-Tinder
Realistic
Matches
“Elite” User
Base
Quality Dates
"If Tinder feels like meeting a stranger at a bar, Hinge feels like getting
warmly introduced at a cocktail party."
3. Hinge: Project Plan
PROJECT 4 PROJECT PLAN
Surveys
Brief
Interviews
Personas
Research
Rough Sketches
Sketch Iterations
Wireframes/Sketches
Usability Testing
Final Protyping
Presentation
User Journeys
Prototype
Prototype Iterations
User Flows
Appmap
Comparative
Analysis
Affinity
Mapping
Scenarios
4/20 4/21 4/22 4/23 4/24 4/25 4/26WK 2 4/27 4/28 4/29 4/30 5/1
4. Hinge: Business Goals
Expand user base while maintaining quality of
experience.
Maintain high user retention rates as new features
are added.
Build greater brand awareness to match or
outpace the growth of Tinder’s user base.
PROJECT 4 BUSINESS & USER GOALS
5. Hinge: User Goals
Match and meet with high caliber dates and
potential partners.
Meet and expand dating pool and social group to
third degree relationships.
Enjoy the experience and thrill of finding a
potential match.
PROJECT 4 BUSINESS & USER GOALS
6. Hinge: Meeting Goals
PROJECT 4 BUSINESS & USER GOALS
Expand
User Base
Enable
Quality
Matches
Safe &
Secure
Maintain
Positive
Brand
Image
High
Retention
Rate
Meet
Quality
Matches
Expand
Dating
Circle
Trust
& support
Hinge
Brand
Enjoy
Using
Hinge
Business Goals User Goals
Hinge Matchmaker
7. Hinge: Screener & Interview
PROJECT 4 SCREENER & INTERVIEW
78% of dating app users downloaded dating apps after
friends recommendation
20%
30%
50%
18-24
25-29
30+ Mobile Device
% of 100
0 20 40 60 80
iPhone
iPhone
Other
Dating App Users
% of 100
0 15 30 45 60
Tinder
Hinge
Happn
8. Hinge: Screener & Interview
PROJECT 4 SCREENER & INTERVIEW
"I hear most about Hinge. You get set up with people who you have
mutual friends with, and it’s one step closer to being less random."
“I went on a few Hinge dates but I wouldn’t meet up with someone
from Tinder."
"I love setting up my friends, mainly because I'm in a relationship
and I love it and I want all my friends to be in relationships too."
“I often screenshot potential matches on Hinge and ask my friends
before I accept or reject them."
9. Hinge: Screener & Interview
PROJECT 4 SCREENER & INTERVIEW
Pain Points:
• Security
• Privacy
• Misrepresentation of self
• Lack of quality matches
Pleasure Points:
• Easy to meet a lot of people at once
• Rejection is easier to handle
• Can seek people in the comfort of own home
• Getting to know someone more before going on a date
10. Hinge: Personas
Tara
Tara is a young and socially active female who works at an advertising agency as a Media
Planner. She has a large and diverse network of friends who are always asking to be set up.
She still loves playing cupid and is always up for helping a friend out. Tara is currently in a
relationship but it is still in the casual phase. She’s not in a rush to settle down, but she
enjoys the companionship of her boyfriend. Regardless of her relationship status, Tara always
likes to know what’s going on and checks Facebook, Instagram, Tinder and Hinge regularly
just to see who’s doing what, who’s single, who’s not and whatever other social info she can
pick up on.
“TARA IS MY NAME AND MATCHMAKING IS MY GAME!” Cares About: Having a good time, trying to
match up her friends so they could also be in
happy relationships
Favored Dating Resources: Tinder, Hinge,
Happn
Dating Habits: Usually meets guys through
friends, friends of friends, or every now and
then a dating app. Currently in a casual
relationship
NEEDS FROM DATING APP
Easy access to others’ information in her
network
Easy way to organize and keep track of
friend’s relationship activity
A variety of people from all different
backgrounds and places.
THE MATCHMAKER
Age: 23 Occupation: Media Planner
PAIN POINTS
So many different dating apps and services.
Security - knowing if the other person is safe
to meet
Date failures - going on a date with
someone who has completely
misrepresented themselves
HOW CAN WE SERVE?
Use the Tinder user base and add a filtering
feature/extra security layer by allowing
mutual friends to match people together
Try to bring more features into Tinder that
helps improve its quality to match its
impressive quantity.
PROJECT 4 PERSONAS
11. Hinge: Personas
Valerie
Valerie, a 20 year old college student at NYU, is ready for love but is having a hard time
finding Mr. Right. Even though she has a large social network, she is very busy with classes
and hasn’t met anyone yet. She wanted to meet someone “naturally” but hasn’t been very
succesful. Valerie recently downloaded a few dating apps after some friends met their
significant others through them. Now, she uses these apps regularly— Hinge is her favorite
because she can text her friends and ask about potential matches.
“I WANT A BOYFRIEND.”
Cares About: Seeing quality matches, going
on dates
Favored Dating Resources: Friends, Tinder,
Hinge, Happn, How About We
Dating Type: Active Dater, Seeking Boyfriend
NEEDS FROM DATING APP
Needs high quality matches that are reliable
Needs ability to like or pass
Wants personal information about matches
Wants to see photos (preferably from
Instagram)
THE POWER DATER
Age: 20 Occupation: NYU College Student
PAIN POINTS
Too many random people
Nothing comes from dates because quality
of matches is too low
High risk of meeting unsafe characters
HOW CAN WE SERVE?
Help make matches less random
Validate matches through mutual friends
Optimize compatibility
PROJECT 4 PERSONAS
12. Hinge: Personas
PROJECT 4 PERSONAS
Jake
Jake is a single, young male who wants to meet someone special. But he works long hours
at a start up and focuses solely on work throughout his day. What few free moments he has
are spent relaxing and hanging out with his coworkers due to the nature of start up culture.
He wants to meet someone on his rarely found free time so he uses Tinder and occasionally
checks in on OKCupid. He usually finds a date for the week(end) and tries to only pick
people he could be serious about. He doesn’t have any problems meeting people in person
and generally uses the apps only because it’s the easiest way for him to meet pre-filtered
people from social circles he would normally not be exposed to.
“I WANT TO MEET SOMEONE SPECIAL.” Cares About: Meeting new people, having a
good time
Favored Dating Resources: Tinder, OKCupid
Dating type: Casual Dater, looking for serious
relationship
NEEDS FROM DATING APP
Flexible searching for possible dates
Trust of the brand
Ease of search
Easy way to communicate with date
THE CASUAL DATER
Age: 24 Occupation: Financial Analyst
PAIN POINTS
Hard to find good people in person with
limited time
Not being able to secure a date in his rare
free time
Having too many options to filter through
HOW CAN WE SERVE?
Add filters to help narrow the search process
(save time)
Make getting to know someone before
meeting easy
Better match daters based on ultimate
relationship goals
13. Users
Unknown -
20% growth per
month
50,000,000 250,000 6,000,000 30,000,000 150,000+ 2,300,000
Target
Demo.
22-36 m/f 18-24 m/f 28+ m/f 18-50 m 18+ m/f 18-40 m/f 20’s-30’s m/f
Matched By
Facebook
Friends
GPS
Facebook
Friends
GPS
Questions &
Calculated
Formula
GPS Interests
Price Model Free
Free, $9.99
Plus, $19.00
for 29+
“Coffee
Bean”
Currency
Free, $12.00
Xtra
Free
Free,
Charms for
$2.00
Free, $8.00
Premium
Known
For…
The better/
safer version
of Tinder.
Everybody’s
on it…
(under 25
that is)
Very small
pool of
users.
“Quality”
Men looking
for men,
slightly
shady
Relatively
good match
selection
New in the
dating app
market
“Real
Dating” not
online
interaction
Hinge: Competitor Chart
PROJECT 4 COMPETITIVE INFO
14. Hinge: Heuristic Evaluation
PROJECT 4 COMPETITIVE INFO
Hinge
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Tinder
X
X
X
X
X
Grindr
X
X
X
Happn
X
X
X
X
Visibility of System
User Control
Standards
Recognition/Recall
Flexibility/Efficiency
Help/Documentation
15. Hinge: Heuristic Takeaways
PROJECT 4 COMPETITIVE INFO
Keep Design
Simple & Easy to
Use
Design Feature to
Match Hinge
Brand
CON
No Undo
Feature
PRO
Clear
Visibility in
App
PRO
Consistent
Branding
16. Hinge: App Map
PROJECT 4 APP MAP
Home Screen
Matches Profile Page More
My Profile Support Preferences
Matches I’ve
Made
Profile
Page 2
Profile
Page 1
MatchMaker
17. Hinge: User Flows
PROJECT 4 USER FLOWS
Home Screen
Tap on
Matchmaker
Button
Matchmaker
Screen
Tap
on Either
Person
Profile Page
Tap on
Match
Button
Link
Confirmation
Updated
Matchmaker
Screen
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Ben L.
24 Queens, New York
Ben L.
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
MATCH
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
23 Hoboken, NJ. Friends with KC Tara. Attended
New York University.
Alex M.
A 1st Degree Connection Matched You
Matchmaker
Matchmaking Flow
18. Hinge: User Flows
PROJECT 4 USER FLOWS
Match Flow
Home Screen
Tap on
Match
Available
Matches
Tap Heart
Match Profile
Heart Sent
Confirmation
Updated Match
Screen
Repeat
Process
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
23 Hoboken, NJ. Friends with KC Tara. Attended
New York University.
Alex M.
A 1st Degree Connection Matched You
Matchmaker
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Alex M.
23 Hoboken, New Jersey
Want to match with a friend instead?
Search
19. Hinge: User Flows
PROJECT 4 USER FLOWS
Search Friend to Match Flow
Home Screen
Tap on
Match
Available
Matches
Match Profile
Tap on
Search
Start
Typing
Name
Name
Autopopulate
Screen
Tap
Name
CTA Buttons
Appear
Tap
Match
Button
Confirmation of
Match
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
23 Hoboken, NJ. Friends with KC Tara. Attended
New York University.
Alex M.
A 1st Degree Connection Matched You
Matchmaker
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Alex M.
23 Hoboken, New Jersey
Great Choice!
Joanna Carson
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Alex M.
23 Hoboken, New Jersey
Want to match with a friend instead?
Search
20. Tinder: User Flows
PROJECT 4 USER FLOWS
Match Flow
Home Screen
Tap on
Match
Available
Matches
Tap
“Like”
Button
Match Profile
Like
Confirmation
Home Screen
21. Hinge: User Journey
PROJECT 4 USER JOURNEY
Time (months)
Matchmaker Journey Map
User In Relationship & Little To No Hinge Experience
Emotion
-
+
User is happily married
Sad that single
friends do not want
to double date
Realizes
matchmaking is
time consuming /
hard to think up
potential matches
Decides to set
up friends &
gets excited
Match made
through app pans
out! Double date
is planned
Sad that no
matches have
worked out yet
Discovers “Hinge
Matchmaker,” and
has fun setting up
friends
22. Hinge: User Journey
PROJECT 4 USER JOURNEY
Hinge User Journey Map
User Is Single & Regularly Uses Hinge
Time (months)
Emotion
+
-
User is sad and having
little success with
dating apps
Gets some quality
matches and goes
on a fun date
Feeling down,
dates were ok but
nothing special
Wonders whether to to contiinue
wiith dating apps
Discovers “Hinge
Matchmaker and
has fun setting up
friends
Goes on more
successful dates
with
recommended
matches
25. Hinge: Wireframes
PROJECT 4 WIREFRAMES
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
23 Hoboken, NJ. Friends with KC Tara. Attended
New York University.
Alex M.
A 1st Degree Connection Matched You
Matchmaker
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Alex M.
23 Hoboken, New Jersey
Want to match with a friend instead?
Search
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Alex M.
23 Hoboken, New Jersey
Want to match with a friend instead?
Joan King
Joanna Carson
Q W E R T Y U I O P
A S D F G H J K L
Z X C V B N M
123 space return
I The I’m
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Alex M.
23 Hoboken, New Jersey
Great Choice!
Joanna Carson
26. Hinge: Wireframes
PROJECT 4 WIREFRAMES
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Matchmaker
24 New York, NY. Friends with Andrea Lewis.
Attended Harvard University.
Tom B.
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Matchmaker
24, Queens, NY. Attended Vanderbilt University.
22, Brooklyn, NY. Attended Vanderbilt University.
Emma C.
Ben L.
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Matchmaker
25, New York, NY. Attended
Dartmouth College.
20, Brooklyn, NY. Attended
Brown University.
Steve P.
Stef G.
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Ben L.
24 Queens, New York
Ben L.
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Emma C.
22 Brooklyn, New York
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Ben L.
24 Queens, New York
Ben L.
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Ben L.
24 Queens, New York
Ben L.
27. Hinge: Wireframes
PROJECT 4 WIREFRAMES
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Matchmaker
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Matchmaker
While we look for more great people…
Check Out
Matchmaker!
Keep playing and match your friends.
Matchmaker
Matchmaker
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Matchmaker On
Matchmaker
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
Matchmaker On
28. Hinge: Usability Testing
PROJECT 4 USABILITY TESTING
Version 1 Version 2 Version 3 Final Version
“Does the heart
mean I liked him?”
Matchmaker
Users found symbol
confusing
60% of users
tested mistook the
“Match Your
Friends” button for
a banner.
100% of users
tested tapped the
“Matchmaker”
icon almost
immediately.
Created “Matchmaker” button
leading to new section.
Home Screen Iterations
Version 1 Version 2 Version 3 Final Version
29. Hinge: Usability Testing
PROJECT 4 USABILITY TESTING
The search bar was too
close to the CTA buttons
Users were confused what
CTA buttons corresponded
too.
Made search bar larger.
Added CTA buttons specific
to new feature & grayed out
standard Hinge CTA
buttons.
Match Search Iterations
30. Hinge: Usability Testing
PROJECT 4 USABILITY TESTING
Matches I’ve Made Iterations
Users thought red link
indicated something negative.
Users understood green
indiciated success.
31. Hinge: Prototype
PROJECT 4 PROTOTYPE
Sketch 9:41 AM 100%
23 Hoboken, NJ. Friends with KC Tara. Attended
New York University.
Alex M.
A 1st Degree Connection Matched You
Matchmaker
Prototype
32. Hinge: Next Steps
PROJECT 4 NEXT STEPS
Update “Check Back Soon” page to match app
features.
Continue to iterate friend matching page/process.
Measure success of current prototype through
surveys and user feedback.
Add different methods of matching friends based
on user interest and preferences.