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12 common mistakes I see founders of dating apps making.
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Removing photos, blurring photos, moving photos to the bottom of the profile. Generally making it hard to see how someone looks. The rationale behind this is well-meaning, but when it comes to dating, physical attraction is important. @lex_app_ seems to be the exception to this
Orienting the product around video. Video calls, video dates, videos in profiles. Video is high effort. We know we& #39;d learn much more about a person with video, but we prefer to use dating apps in bed, no makeup, in an oversized Google tee. No one wants to video date in this state
Mandating specific times users must be present in the app. Speed dating, happy hours, etc. Feeling lonely is what often triggers people to open dating apps, & that usually happens late at night or early morning, not at 6pm EST. We like using dating apps passively, in our own time
Drastically limiting the number of people/matches I see each day. This choice is also well-meaning, and I understand the issues with choice paralysis. But online dating is a numbers game, and the reality is, we need volume to get to the 1 or 2 people who are really great for us.
Building features that increase accountability. Dating apps allow us to be more bold than we are IRL. Moderation in moderation is essential, but too much is a roadblock to participation. We want spaces to take risks & explore diff parts of our sexuality w/out IRL consequences
Building for everyone instead of building for a niche. The former means you& #39;re competing with @Tinder @bumble @hinge who have backing from Match, Badoo, Blackrock, to spread their message far n wide. Many niches are underserved by these giants, & they& #39;re desperate to connect
Automatically setting people up on dates, or orienting the product around proposing specific dates to opt-in to. 9 times out of 10 the people who are interested in your proposed date aren& #39;t the people you want to date. Single people want agency when it comes to their dating life.
Removing "rating" (x-ing and liking). Rating people is fun, it makes us feel empowered and in control. It also makes us feel like we& #39;re making progress, putting good work in, and helping the algorithm to learn our preferences.
Not forcing their users to make decisions (building a feed containing many profiles vs one-at-a-time profiles). People will put off decision making as long as possible, so feed-style designs result in low engagement.
Getting friends to do the swiping. Your friends definitely know you best, but your friends don& #39;t experience the emotions (loneliness, horniness) that drive regular use. Not convinced friends are altruistic enough to keep this up for the weeks/months/years a user may be single
Adding countdown timers. Users don& #39;t respond well to added pressure in a process that is already high pressure!
Charging everyone to use the product. We& #39;ve all grown accustomed to free dating products, it& #39;s a tall order asking people to pay when they can find the same people on other free apps. Charging everyone only works if you& #39;re creating a gated community around a niche (like Raya)
All this said, I& #39;m cheering for founders out there building dating products. Finding love and connection will always remain a big problem people face. I& #39;m excited to see what the future of this important industry holds https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="❤️" title="Rotes Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Rotes Herz">
