Today marks a major change in the direction of our project. We're switching from jQuery to Tinder for all date picking across our platform, effective immediately.
Making such a large change wasn't an easy descision. It means learning all new APIs and rewriting dozens of lines of code and possibly even some tests. We are almost certainly the largest standalone application to make this decision but this kind of bold decision making is exactly what got us to the top and its exactly what we need to keep us there.
We started using the jQuery Datepicker back in 2005. It was a different time, we were a small upstart company doing whatever it took to make a name for ourselves no matter how many friends we'd lose or companies we're leave dead and bloodied along the way, just so long as we could make a name for ourselves in the industry. jQuery Datepicker was the hot new technology on the block and it was exactly the kind of bleeding edge technology that we needed to disrupt our entrenched competition. The first few years were a beautiful union between a powerhouse technology and a powerhouse company. But, in the last few years, the rise of javascript frameworks been eating into jQuery's popularity.
At the same time, the populaity of internet Datepicking has exploded. There are more people picking dates online now than ever before in human history. And they have more options now than ever before: jQuery, Match.com, (pickadate.js)[http://amsul.ca/pickadate.js/index.html], Grindr, Tinder, OkCupid, an actual calendar, and so many others. The time came to reevaluate our position in a changing market.
Reasons: Mobile first Broader Adoption Base
- number of users Cool factor
Challenges: Lack of Tinder API Usability differences