Turning frustration
into excitement
Timeline
2 weeks - 2023
Mission
Product designer
Scope
Discovery + Delivery
The context
Make it happn
Love outside the box
Let's be real – the golden age of dating apps is slowly fading. Weary of the endless swiping, profile browsing, ghosting and so on, singles are experiencing dating burnout. Modern dating need a breath of fresh air.
Happn, as a major player on the dating app scene, is determined to take on this challenge. Follow us on a mission to transform online dating by closing the gap between virtual and real-life connections.
140
million users worldwide
Top 5
most download dating app
Two weeks
to design a solution
During my bootcamp at The Design Crew, Happn’s Head of Design, Paul-Antoine Campos, briefed us about this challenge they identified but hadn't found the time to tackle it just yet.
The challenge
Boosting conversion by rethinking the List of Likes
the list of like
the fastest way to get a crush
In the dating apps world, the 'List of Likes' is like your personal fan club, it gather all the profiles who previously liked you.
1st
driver to go premium
2nd
most popular feature
11%
of Happn’s negative reviews comes from the List of Likes
Drag to compare
The benchmark
Navigating the Competitive Scene
The page being the main driver of conversion, it used to look the same on all apps of the industry and to be available only to premium users. To encourage users to turn premium, platforms capitalize on user’s frustration by bluring the list of likes.
But lately some of the main competitors rethought the experience for free users and chose to display previously hidden information, offering them a sneak peek of the feature and increasing user's interest.
Bumble
Display a selection of 3 profiles to offer users a sneak peak of the feature
Hinge
Display the names and the comments to increase user's interest
User research
Swipe Right into CUSTOMER insights
To better understand our users, their behaviors, motivations and perceptions regarding the List of Likes, we decided to conduct qualitative user research
Objectives
The priority during the test was to understand :
#1
The needs, expectations, behaviour and habits of dating app users.
#2
What drives our male users to unlock their LOL and what holds back those who didn’t.
#3
The users perception of hidden likes in dating applications.
Testing modalities
User target
75% of the industry users being men, our target user was a 25-35 years old single men, user of multiple dating apps.
Panel
These are the key insights that defined the first version of our prototype :
Learning #1
The feature is a major source of frustration
Only available for premium user
Misbelief about the displayed profiles (bots and scams)
“No doubt it’s all fake. They are generating account and likes to make you pay ! Greedy app, they just want to earn !”
Learning #2
Users are reluctant to pay for a dating app
It reflect a bad image of themself, they feel like it’s only for the hopeless ones
They think it’s too expensive for what they will get
“Paying for that ? Me ?Seriously ? Are you kidding ? Never ! No, I’m not that desesparate !”
Learning #3
Users assimilate dating app TO a game
They feel “rewarded” by the ego boost effect
They also feel kind of addict to it and tend to automatically oppen the app when they have time to kill
“That dopamine rush you get when you feel fancy by someone, my ego likes it very much”
Reframing the problem
When the firSt driver of conversion BECOME THE most frustrating FEATURE
The inaccessibility of the LOL for free users exacerbate their disappointment and distort their perception of the feature. They feel even more dissuaded to pay not knowing what to expect for their money.
This begged the question :
THE first draft
INTRODUCING WINK TIME
WinkTime is a gamified feature accessible to all users on the app with no additional cost,
allowing them to preview the feature in an understanbable and interactive way.
GivE them a glimps of
what they can get
The game operation is simple :
Display of a grid of 9 blurred profils from the LoL
Unveiling of the profils for 3 second
Possibility to reveal temporarly 3 profil
Choose the one you like the most, trigger a crush
and start a discussion right away.
CreatE excitement
with regular occasions
The feature is available once a week
to boost the visibility of the LoL
and create momentum.
InducE conversion
with micro transaction
User can unlock LoL profils one by one by buying unitary revealed.
The idea is to break down the psychological barrier of payment
through microtransactions to seduce the user step by step.
user-test
DE-RISKING the new flow
We feared that the new feature wasn't enough understandable.
In order to de-risk some of our assumptions, we test an early prototype of the design.
What worked
Microtransaction are a big hit
5/5 users found the system of micro-payment engaging and fun
4/5 users would buy "Winks" if it was implemented
The game makes the LOL more interactive and appealing to users
5/5 users found the game recreative, funny
4/5 users wanted to see more of the LOL after playing the game
What didn't worked
The game isn't
visible enough
4/5 users didn't see the game
5/5 users mistake the banner for an ad
Solution
Addition of a pop-up and a modal to feature the game
Re-design and re-size of the banner
The game is too fast and instructions lack clarity
4/5 found that the game was too fast
3/5 didn't understand the instructions
Solution
Creation of an intermediate screen to explain the game's operation
Re-design of the carousel
Game slowdown
