A designathon (design-hackathon) sponsored by Bumble and Adobe in collaboration with Design@Berkeley Bumble's mission is to create a world where all relationships are healthy and equitable. Bumble is best known for Bumble Date, its dating mode, but it also offers modes for making new friends and finding professional connections.
DURATION
12 Hours
AREA OF WORK
Product Design
YEAR
2023
TEAM
Tarun Mugunthan
Abhinav Subramaniam
Preview
Problem Statement
On Bumble, women make the first move, putting them in control of their experiences and interactions. However, members of Bumble often have concerns about their safety, whether that's fear of being catfished, scammed, or otherwise.
These concerns often prohibit a transition from the app dinner table, squashing relationships that once had budding potential.
How might Bumble help college students feel safe enough to take their digital connections offline?
Research
We began with our initial research and found that there were 4 important components we need to consider when designing the features and answering why conversations die out and do not convert into offline interactions. Safety being the key reason for decreased conversion rates.
Disclosure
Safety
Verification
Human Touch
Brainstorm
Brainstorming was essential as we were able to generate a wide range of ideas and perspectives within a limited time frame. It facilitated rapid idea generation, allowing the team to explore various possibilities and identify the most innovative solutions. It was awesome to see everyone collaborating and bouncing ideas off each other, and it made sure we met our deadline with some unique solutions.
We used the colored round stickers to segregate each idea into one or more of the initially decided components of safety, disclosure, verification and human touch.
Key Features and Final Design
Friendly Recommendations: The user could appoint a few friends to write something about them that would show on their profile. This would add the human touch which is missing in today's online dating applications. It would also act as a verification step to know if the person is really looking to build a connection/relationship.
Safety Checks: Once the date is set, you could share the entire itinerary, from time to place, with your trusted loved one to let them know where you'd be. Additionally, there would be safety checks before, during, and right after the offline meeting.
Date Guard System: The DGS allows users to fully outline the date and delineate expectations to share with your emergency contact. It will also follow up with users on their status, tracking for any danger
Partnered Locations: When deciding upon the details of the first meeting, the app would provide a curated list of recommendations for the most popular locations around campus according to your interests. These locations would have appointed volunteers from Bumble to keep your safety in mind.
Date Generating Algorithm: By streamlining the logistical aspect of dates, users can focus more on building trust with each other.
All the things I learned during this project
This project was intense. Working safety features in under 12 hours was a task I was not prepared for. Hence, the team really came through shooting down lacking ideas and bouncing off of innovative and feasable ones.
Have a strategic design-athon timeline
Because the project was on a sensitive topic with so little time, moving forward we would create quick tasks for everyone beforehand that would help us achieve things in a timely manner.