UX Design: Baby App
Final Project for User Experience Design, NYU Tandon, 2024
In the course User Experience Design, I researched and designed a prototype for a dating app intended for single parents.
Project Timeline: 8 weeks, 4 research weeks (surveys, competitive analysis) + 4 design and prototyping weeks
At the project’s conclusion, I presented a digital product that attempted to ease the complex dating experience single parents endure.
Baby is a dating app that promotes authenticity and community, and generates user value as a solution for the complex and difficult experience single parents endure when navigating romance. It focuses less on the gamification aspect typically attributed to popular dating platforms by utilizing engaging, whimsical UI, branding, and thoughtful human-centric design.
Today’s digital dating world offers diverse platforms for every demographic - look to eHarmony if you’re Christian and single, look to HER if you’re queer. Single parents who want to date, however, face unique challenges. Balancing parenthood, time constraints, and the need for supportive partners, they often encounter barriers overlooked by traditional dating apps.
Problem Statement
Surveys: I first wanted to analyze general user opinion on dating apps. Starting with the survey provided a strong foundation for designing an app suited for the competitive dating app landscape.
Empathy Maps: I wanted to understand the thoughts and feelings of single parents. Even removed from a dating world context, this methodology gathered insight into the overall single parent mindset to better inform the app’s design.
Competitive analysis was a key methodology for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of potential competitors like Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, and Stir (currently marketed as the preferred dating app for single parents). This final and crucial step synthesized insights from the survey and empathy map, providing a benchmark to contextualize my findings.
Research Plan: Survey, Empathy Map, Competitive Analysis
For single parents as users, dating involves higher stakes, with logistical, social, and emotional complexities that today’s dating apps do not account for nor accommodate.
Title
The Dating App Experience
Goals
To situate the project by gathering insights on the overarching dating app user experience (non-specific to single parents)
Methodology
Google Form
17 Questions: fill in the blank, multiple choice, multiple selection, ranking questions
Shared on Reddit forums, Instagram stories, Survey.io, word-of-mouth
Released for 50 days
108 responses
Research Summary: Survey
Of the dating apps listed, please pick your favorite or the one that you use the most.
This question revealed which current dating platforms I should assess for my Competitive Analysis. Users abundantly responded with Hinge, Tinder, and Bumble as their most preferred dating apps - 32.3 % majority, 27.4%, and 24.2 % respectively.
Demographically, the majority of respondents were women, accounting for 59.3%, while male and non-binary respondents trailed at 38.9% and 1.9%, respectively. Of all 108 respondents, only 5.6% were single parents (approximately 6 people). I found three questions to be the most comprehensive of the entire survey, and accurately captured the object of my goal.
What do you think is the purpose of a dating app?
The leading response, accounting for 39.8% of answers, was “To find love/a romantic relationship”. The overwhelming majority of this response reflected the authentic and wholesome intention of dating app users, clarifying the personality type of the user, single parent or not, for whom I should be designing my app.
Rank these common dating app features in order of necessity/importance to you.
This question directly influenced the feature prioritization for Baby by asking users to rank six common dating app features by necessity. The most valued features were filters, profile verification, and notifications/reminders. Given my target users' emphasis on authenticity and genuine connection, I interpreted these highest-ranked features as indicators that translated users’ preference for safety and consistency.
Title
Empathy Mapping: Researching the Single - Parent Dating Experience
Goals
To gather specific insight into the single-parent mindset by framing a survey as responses for an empathy map, to assess what users say, and how they think, feel and act.
Methodology
Google Form
10 Questions: fill in the blank, multiple choice, multiple selection, ranking questions
Shared on Reddit forums, Survey.io, word-of-mouth
Released for 50 days
13 responses
Research Summary: Empathy Map
Title
Competitive Analysis
Goals
To assess the strengths and weaknesses, and strategies of the currently competitive dating platforms - Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, and Stir (cited as the premier dating app for single parents on the market)
Methodology
Compare and contrast based on established metrics
Research Summary: Competitive Analysis
References
https://www.forbes.com/health/dating/hinge-review/#:~:text=Hinge%20is%20a%20dating%20site,%2D%20or%20long%2Dterm%20relationships.
https://roast.dating/blog/tinder-statistics
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/lifestyle/many-online-daters-arent-seeking-actual-dates-rcna94163
As of this point in the design process, my immediate next steps would be to engage in user testing, in which I test the prototype with single parents and other potential users to gain live feedback. Upon receiving these insights, I would make improvements to my design and flows. Further, though this has yet to be delineated, it would also be important to consider metrics and methodologies for how to measure the app’s success. Considerations that would be indicative of success could initially include high numbers of long-term relationships sustained from and beyond Baby’s usage, a high match-to-date conversion rate for users, and a large amount of premium memberships purchased. All in all, this project was my first time thoroughly prototyping in Figma. This project allowed me to incorporate invaluable research, design process, creative, and marketing skills.
Conclusion, Metrics of Success, Next Steps
This can lead to feelings of isolation and frustration, affecting both them and their children. So, how can single parents have an easier and more enjoyable experience finding love? What resources already exist, and how can they be innovated? How can platforms understand the needs of single parents, beyond just matching? Where does Baby come in?
Tools Used
Figma
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator
Canva