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Loop Redesign

Client
Loop
Category
UI/UX Design
DURATION
4 wks
YEAR
2023

The challenge

Modern dating presents a set of unique challenges that previous generations never faced. The combination of an increasingly individualistic and isolated society with a focus on digital experiences and the growing popularity of dating apps has created a dating scene that is complex, lonely, and painfully temporary. The unhumanizing of a person that happens when they are resolved down to the swipability of their photos or originality of their messages reduces the importance of an interaction that used to be considered sacred. Loop is a dating app that aims to bridge the gap of anonymity and superficiality in traditional dating apps by putting the focus on matchmaking within two degrees of separation. By being part of someone’s loop, you agree to allow them to set you up with people within their loops or their friends’ loops, and vice versa. After beta testing the app, the client realized that although the app was surpassing expectations for success, there were some foundational issues that many users were running into.

The goal

Rethink and redesign the current matchmaking paradigms and user flows in order to provide matchmakers and singles more clarity into the historical records of their set ups, promote conversation about set ups between matchmakers and singles, increase the match success rate, and increase engagement for new and current users.

The Solution

To create a more seamless and comprehensive experience for both singles and matchmakers, we redesigned key features of the Loop mobile app including, but not limited to:

  • A new homescreen with modules that drive more meaningful engagement
  • An integrated in-app messaging feature that prioritizes matchmaker-to-single conversations
  • A new communities feature that solves a current cold start problem in order for new users to be able to make organic connections

Most notably, we added two new tabs to the main navigation: 

Set ups
Subdivided by “For you”, which displays the sets ups that a matchmaker friend has suggested to the user, and “By you”, which displays the sets up that the user has suggested as a matchmaker to their friend. 

Messaging
Similar to traditional direct messaging platforms, with the addition of relevant milestone moments within message records and access to previous set ups made by the user within the context of a specific message thread.

We also added a new section to the “Loop” tab, which originally displayed a user’s friends categorized by singles and non-singles. We brought singles and non-singles into a single “Your loop” tab and used the other tab for “Pop-up loops”, which are temporary loops for events like weddings, festivals, and community meet-ups. We designed the interface for the hosts of these events to manage their pop-up loops and associated set-ups, as well as for the pop-up loop participants and their associated set-ups.

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View the interactive prototype
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the process

At the time of starting this project, the Loop app only had four main screens:

  • Home
  • Your Loop
  • Notifications
  • Profile
Home
Your Loop
Notifications
Profile

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One of the main barriers that users were running into was within the notifications tab. There were over 10 different kinds of notifications that users could receive and they all resided in the notifications tab so it was difficult to keep track of notifications that required an action from the user. This led to a high volume of set ups being left unanswered and abandoned as they got buried in the notifications tab. 

The app also lacked a direct link between singles and matchmakers, despite matchmaking being a major pillar of the app’s success. In order to promote more personalized set ups and successful matches, there was an evident need to connect singles and matchmakers via direct messaging.

Moreover, a lack of historical records had led to many redundancies for singles who were often receiving the same set up multiple times from the same matchmakers.

View the full process book

Conclusion

In conclusion, the redesign of the Loop dating app tackled the challenges of modern dating by creating a more personalized and meaningful experience for users. By introducing new features such as the Set ups and Messaging tabs, we improved clarity and communication between matchmakers and singles. The integration of the pop-up communities feature addressed the cold start problem, facilitating organic connections for new users. Consolidating the Your Loop and Pop-up Loops tabs streamlined the user experience, while enhancing event-based connections. Overall, the redesign aimed to increase match success rates and promote genuine interactions, which has the potential to ultimately revolutionize the dating experience in the digital age.

CREDITS

DRAG