This gist provides an overview of ideas for a novel dating app.
When my co-founder and I dissolved our company for legal reasons unrelated to the viability of this app, we decided to give each other permission to promote our app's ideas, so that someone could use and improve our ideas, and make something that helps others.
We received a lot of positive feedback from our testers and strangers. People were excited. If you find these ideas useful, please feel free to use and/or build off of them.
This app wasn't intended to replace popular dating apps. Our mission was to nurture healthy relationships, and we were focused on a niche of users who were interested in deeper, authentic human connection. We found that people interested in mental health were often interested in our app, but I imagine there are more niches that this app would fit with too (for example, spiritual).
Authentic communication; safe dating; emotional human interaction in live dating experiences; progressive levels of connection from ice-breaker small groups, to short one-on-one in-app dates, to off-app dates; matching on the basis of core beliefs, key interests, and relationship expectations; empowered, enriched dating situations and tools; inclusion of users of various social comfort levels;
We assumed that most people who had heard of our app would be a good fit, but just in case we have an intro video.
New users provide basic information including: first name, location (if they're interested in local dating), gender identity, a picture... They also fill out a matching questionaire which asked them about their core-beliefs, relationship interests and expectations, and a few key-interests. Users are required to fill out the questionnaire before they can attend an event, but they can browse events beforehand to spark their interests.
Users don't meet people by browsing an endless list of profiles. Instead, users meet eachother through live dating events. An unlimited number of people could register for a dating event, but attendance was segmented into small groups (see next session).
Users browse a list of dating events occuring in the next week or two and enroll. All dating events include an initial activity. Depending on the dating event, this activity may need to be done before the event (for example, watch a particular movie, journal about a prompt, go on a self date), or the event may include the acitvity in the beginning before attendees meet each other (for example, a brief local and live concert, play, or poetry/comedy performance).
Having various types of dating events for people to choose from ensures that everyone who meets each other has at least one shared experience in common, good or bad, that they can relate on and talk about. All users who attend a particular dating event chose the same activity, out of all the other possibilities. Whatever the type of activity, the purpose is the same: people cluster themselves by common interests and have a novel shared-experience that they can discuss soon afterward with their dates.
Dating events are segmented into small-groups of something like 10-100 people. Even if thousands of people registered for the event, you will only see the people in your small group. We initially just use the matching questionairre to match people...but once people have indiciated liking (see below), we also use machine learning to match people based on who they've liked previously and whose liked them (mutual interest). This ensures that each small group contains people who are likely to be interested in and compatible with each other.
A day or so before the event, users are notified that they have been matched into small groups, and can now see who will be attending and indicate who they are interested in meeting. One purpose of this is to build excitement before the event.
Before and during the dating event, users are able to indicate who in their small-group (remember, they can only see people in their small group) they are interested in meeting during the event. If one user indicates they are interested in meeting another user, and visa versa, there is "mutual interest."
Users use each others' names, pictures, basic information (eg age/gender), matching crieria (eg finances and political beliefs), and/or their response to dating event questionnaires to determine whether they are interested in meeting each other during the event. This last item, 'their response to dating event questionaires', may be a short video (eg 15-60s), or a brief textual paragraph answering a question, depending on the dating event. Regardless, if the dating event requires a response, the response will be novel for each dating event, for every participant. This enables attendees to use a recently recorded/written response about their shared-experience to gauage whether they want to meet each other.
Only users who are mutually interested will have the opportunity to talk with each other during (or after) the event. So someone's interested in you and you aren't interested in them, they will not be able to meet or message you.
Users may not just reach out and message another user, they must meet by (1) being matched into a small group (2) indicating mutual interest in a dating event and (3) actually having a conversation during the event.
During the event, there are a set number of rounds of conversations for specific lengths. For example, during a 1-hour event there may be 5 x 8-minute rounds plus some breaks and an intro period.
For all the users in the small-group who have at least one person who they are mutually interested in, the app notifies them a few minutes before the round starts that they are about to meet with person X. There's a countdown timer till the next round. During this time (and during the conversation with each other), the people may view each other's profile and responses to refresh themselves.
The rounds feature meeting people one-on-one in brief live conversations using text, audio, and/or video depending on the event the user registered for. During the conversation, the copule have access to icebreakers (see below). They are encouraged to leave the conversation at any time (if they feel unsafe, for example), but to communicate considerately. Each round lasts for several minutes, and the couple receive notifications as the round is ending. The couple can leave before the end time, or the conversation will automatically end once the time has elapsed.
Users are encouraged not to share contact information during the brief date, and are informed of the built-in feature for continuing the conversation after the event if they both feel inclined. This built-in feature provides yet another way to keep the users safe... from giving out contact information, or feeling awqward if they don't feel comfortable saying no if someone asks. After the event, the user provides brief feedback about each person they met during the event. Some of this feedback is used to keep the app safe, for example, were they rude and/or do you want to report any inappropriate behavior? One mandatory piece of feedback is "do you want to talk with them again?" Users can answer: no, I'd like to meet them on another date first, or yes! If both users answer yes, the users are now allowed to text each other outside of dating events, exchange contact information, register for couples dating events, schedule one-on-one online dates together, send each other stickers, pictures, recordings, etc.. If either answers no, the users will not match together again. If both answer that they would like to meet each other again first (or one answers yes), they are prioritized for being matched in another small-group together, but are not allowed to contact each other until both say yes. The users are clearly informed of the consequences of each choice.
This form of dating event doesn't come without consequences. The first is that the time limits are static. If the dates are having a great time and want to talk more, or aren't having a good time, and want to stop talking, the time limit is the same. One reason we chose to continue with this approach is that it enables the most amount of people to match together. It would suck if you only had mutual interest with one person, but that one person was busy talking to someone else for the entire dating event and you were sitting around waiting. Another reason is that it gives people a timely way out if they are feeling somewhat disinterest but don't want to up and leave the conversation.
One fallback of this form of rounds is that there may be people who don't have a mutual interest, or whose mutual interest is unavailable until the next round. We intended to allow the people to have small breaks, continue browsing for more users they're interested in, or do solo activities to keep their spirits up and prepare them for more dating experiences in the future. This is an unfortunate but unadequately solved consequence of our approach. However, alternatives such as putting people into a room with someone they aren't interested in, or expanding the group size to hundreds, were not desirable. We were intending on sharing with the user the number of users who were interested in them who they weren't interested in (if that amount was greater than zero) to up their spirits, and informing them that our matching algorithm gets better the more events they attend and they and others indicate liking.
At the point that people are entering into a live conversation together, they have had a shared experience they are encouraged to discuss, have both indicated they are interested in each other, and have seen each other's responses to the event activity. This may be enough for many people. However, also during the events we provide ice-breaker questions and dating games people can use if they prefer.
As stated above, the user is provided with a brief feedback survey after the event about each user they met during the event. If the users both indicated "yes", they are interested in continuing to get to know each other, they then unlock a suite of ways to connect with the person they are now dating. They can message them at any time, send voice recordings, emojis, stickers, schedule one-on-one dates, see and suggest ideas for local in person dates, exchange contact information, etc.
Testing is required, but at this point people may just use the app as a place to meet people, and not continue dating, or they may be interested in the extended dating options, like couples online date events, or one-on-one dating events that become progressively more intimate, especially if they've chosen to date people remotely.
This is just an overview of the app's key intention and what makes it quite different. We had lots more ideas we were excited about and had validation on that I didn't recall in this brief writing. We kept access to all our documentation, and I may revise this in the future with more key features. If you're interested in more information, feel free to message me, I'd be happy to discuss any questions.
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