DateVenture Prototype
A personalized date idea app that assists couples in finding, planning, and recording delightful adventures tailored just for them.
Duration: 12 weeks Team: Independent project Design Tool: Figma, Miro
Overview
Finding unique and enjoyable date ideas can be a daunting task for individuals seeking to create memorable experiences with their partners. While there are various sources of inspiration, there is a lack of a dedicated platform that seamlessly combines personalized date idea generation, user-generated content, and couple interaction. I want DateVenture to be the app that helps couples find exciting date ideas tailored just for them.
Design Process
Empathize
background research, identify problem, user interview
Analyze
user persona, competitive analysis
Ideate
feature prioritization, user flow
Design
wireframing, prototyping
Test
usability test, redesign
EMPATHIZE
The Problem
Relationship Boredom
Boredom is one of the most common reasons behind failing relationships. When couples start putting less effort into joint activities together, relationships can become stale. It can be discouraging because it makes people question whether they are compatible and develops into a more serious issue in the future.
Potential Solution
According to various studies, there are several things couples can work on to break the feelings of boredom:
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Go on dates and remember the feeling of first meeting each other
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Create a bucket list consisting of all the things you’d like to do together
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Consider taking up a new hobby together
EMPATHIZE
User Interview
I interviewed 6 people who are in a relationship to learn about their experiences with relationship boredom. I explored how couples discover exciting activities together and tried to understand the challenges they face when trying to find enjoyable shared experiences.
Research Insights
To overcome relationship boredom, all of my participants have tried the following:
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Go on constant dates, try new activities, and engage in new routines together
Factors that influence my participants' choices of activities:
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5/6 participants mentioned budget and time
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4/6 participants mentioned interests
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Other factors included location, ease of access, and seasonality
Challenges of my participants' activity selection process:
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All participants use digital tools to assist with their activity planning, however, 5/6 participants encounter challenges such as the suggested activities being too generic, non-personalized, and uninteresting
PROBLEM STATEMENT
How might we design an app that guides couples through the process of discovering, planning, and recording date activities tailored just for them?
ANALYZE
User Persona
ANALYZE
Competitive Analysis
After understanding the users' needs, I analyzed 3 activity-seeking platforms my participants mentioned during the interviews: Yelp, the Dative app, and Reddit.
Opportunities
I identified potential areas that I could implement into my app based on my research:
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Personalized date ideas and suggestions
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Detailed activity descriptions
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Sort and filter, ratings and reviews
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Allow uploading images to save memories
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Exploration page seeing what activities other couples engage in
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Features to connect with partners, save activities, and plan dates
IDEATE
Feature Prioritization
Positioning features I had in mind into this prioritization matrix helped me organize my thoughts before jumping into design.
IDEATE
User Flow
Below is the user flow of how users can use this app to achieve their goals. The main features I have here include activity search, generating date ideas, exploring, saving and planning activities, and creating posts.
DESIGN
Wireframes
With a clearer idea of the user flow of the app, I started designing the potential look of each tab. This allowed me to better understand where each feature should be located.
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Home: search and generate date ideas, connect with partner
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Explore: discover activities through posts
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Dates: see activities liked by themselves and their partners
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Plans: plan and see upcoming dates, add images afterward
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Profile: edit user information, see or add ratings and reviews
DESIGN
First Iteration
Based on my wireframes, I designed my first iteration with the goal for users to easily complete a list of tasks identified in my user flow.
TEST
Issues found in Usability Tests
After conducting several usability tests of my Figma prototype, I found areas where I could continue improving the user journey of DateVenture to be smoother and more enjoyable.
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Each feature should have a distinct and clear purpose to avoid confusion and enhance usability
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Provide users with hints or cues about the next steps to guide them through the interface more intuitively
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Consider the logistical and practical aspects of features to ensure they align with users' real-world needs and scenarios
ITERATE
3 major improvements in my designs
1. Differentiate each feature
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I made "generate date ideas" serve as a feature to filter down users' activity options based on their preferences
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Based on users' feedback, "generate date ideas" is very similar to "search" because both bring them to suggestions of activity types
2. Guide next steps
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To guide users on what their next steps could be, I added this pop-up screen as a hint
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During usability testing, I found users did not know what else they could do with this app after saving activities they like
3. Work on logistics
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Since people have their events marked on their own external calendars, giving them the option to add date plans to these calendars helps them schedule their real lives better
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Most users think the feature of marking their status on the calendar can be potentially useful but is not realistic to maintain
DESIGN
Style Guide
The color palette was chosen with consideration to evoke the excitement and joy of going on dates. I chose the vibrant combination of orange and pink to symbolize energy, enthusiasm, and romantic moments. To balance the lively tones, I picked dark blue and beige for a sense of calm and sophistication.
THE FINAL SCREENS
Final Designs
Onboarding
Search, Sort, and Filter
Activity Details
Generate Date Ideas
Connect with Your Partner
Explore
Plan a Date
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Edit a Scheduled Date
Add a Post to My Memories
INTERACTIVE PROTOTYPE
Final Design Demo
REFLECT
Takeaways
1. Don’t be afraid to make decisions while iterating
Throughout the iterative process of crafting the date idea app, I found myself being indecisive with making choices. I spent a long time going back to explore and reiterate. Later, I realized there are no perfect designs without testing and gathering user feedback so I should prevent the trap of indecision that could stall the project in the beginning. Learning not to fear decisions but to view them as integral steps in the creative process is one of my biggest takeaways from this project
2. Knowing priorities and keeping design goals in mind
Understanding the importance of setting priorities and always keeping design goals in mind has been a guiding principle in this project. I found creating feature prioritization helpful because it prevented me from getting distracted by ideas that are good to have but don't align with the purpose of my design goals. This awareness kept the design process focused and assisted me in creating a more purposeful app.
REFLECT
Conclusion
It was my first time creating an app from scratch, and I believe I truly learned a lot. Embracing the principle that each feature should serve a distinct purpose has not only refined my design skills but has also instilled clarity and purpose into the app's functionalities. This project pushed me to think critically about designing smooth user interactions and considering real-world usability. I was glad that DateVenture ultimately resulted in a more user-centric date idea app after revision.