For couples or those looking to find date ideas, it can be quite difficult to sift through many blogs, forums and activity sites to find things that fit your criteria.
People have different needs and wants depending on what they’re looking for. This app aims to remedy this by providing personalized date ideas so that you can find date ideas quickly.
Duration
July - Nov 2023
Role
Product Designer
Tools
Figma
Zoom
Miro
Background
Dates are so hard to plan
This project came about because my partner and I actually struggle to find date ideas that appeal to us but also fit our budget and are local. Having all this criteria makes the process time-consuming and difficult.
Image of 2 people kayaking (Source: Levi Stute, Unsplash)
The Process
Discover
Does anyone else have this problem?
I conducted some secondary research in order to understand the problem space surrounding couples or individuals looking for date ideas and what their concerns and needs are.
Main Questions
1. How do users find date ideas and where are they finding them?
2. What are some things that people consider when planning a date?
3. What are some challenges they face?
Image of 2 people looking at phones sitting on a bench (Source: Ling_Gigi, Unsplash)
Insights
Key Learnings from Interviews
I interviewed 5 users: a mix of those who were single and in relationships to get an overall idea.
01
Top considerations for finding date ideas were location, time, weather, and budget
02
Biggest challenge for those in relationships is choosing what to do
03
Users typically don't plan ahead and are more ikely to look things up the day of or within a day
04
Social media is the predominant source for looking up date ideas and restaurants, followed by map apps (Google Maps) and then word of mouth.
How might we make the process of finding date ideas more informative, personalized, and engaging, so that users can find ideas quickly?
Define
2 User Types
From my interviews, I learned that users in relationships often struggle with choosing date ideas, with some planning in advance and others deciding on the day.
Both groups are concerned about money and tend to adopt a "go with the flow" mentality.
Samantha, 21
Single
Goals
Find unique places
Make flexible plans that are affordable
Pain Points
Limited by public transportation
Tight budget
Ida, 24
In a relationship
Goals
Find local date ideas
Spend time with significant other
Decide on an idea
Pain Points
Not enough time to hang out
Doesn't have time to be sifting through multiple sources
Ideate
Lots of Sketches
Even after researching, it was tough to decide on the layout and what it should look like because there’s not quite anything like this out there, so I referenced many unrelated apps like Yelp and Alltrails.
Image 1: 3 initial explorations of layouts for home page Image 2: sketches of the map section
Moments: Date Idea App
Forget endless searching–get date ideas you actually like, fast
Flow 1
Questionnaire
The onboarding flow collects data about the user to generate a personalized home feed of date ideas.
Flow 2
Find an Activity / Restaurant
The main flow for finding a restaurant or activity is through the home page. The video showcases the user finding an activity.
Flow 3
Find a Restaurant - Map
The other way to find a restaurant would be through the map page. Similar to a map app, you can search by nearest location or use one of the predetermined filters for faster searching.
Testing
Usability Testing
In the first test, prototyping issues were noted, but all tasks were completed. The second test identified structural changes, but again, all tasks were successfully completed. Below is the feedback given by users from each round.
Round 1
Not all items were prototyped, which was confusing
Did not turn off option to highlight prototyped items in Figma, this influenced results
Inconsistency errors
Round 2
Combine questions in onboarding section
Change wording of some buttons
Takeaways
Main Challenge
A significant challenge in this project was visualizing a unique approach to finding date ideas, as existing apps didn't solve the problems the users I interviewed had. I spent considerable time researching and exploring different solutions.
Cut Out Flow
While the app successfully addressed finding date ideas, it fell short on the planning aspect. I initially intended to include an itinerary flow where users could save activities or restaurants and organize them, but this would have needed more time and research, so it was scrapped.
