Friendwise

The product

Friendwise is a social networking app that allows people 55+ to safely connect with others for the purpose of finding friendship and/or romance. Unlike other dating apps, Friendwise has a built-in screening process to protect users and keep the community honest.

The app requires all users to pass a background check prior to communicating with those they've matched with. The added security measures afford older users peace of mind; a group that's often victimized by digital fraud and identify theft. Verified users can communicate with their matches via in-app chat, VoIP, and video chat.

The process

define

Create an iPad app that facilitates safe, healthy conversation to foster and encourage in-person relationships among mature adults.

"Whether you're looking for a travel companion or a potential partner, we've got you covered. We aim to provide a curated experience that's honest and organic."

empathize

Research Part I: Heuristic eval

We began the research process with a heuristic evaluation to determine the primary competitors in the online dating sector. Based on our findings, we were able to identify areas for improvement and growth opportunities. We then summarized our assumptions and set off to test their validity through user interviews.

Research Part II: User Interviews

We conducted 6 interviews with potential users to validate our assumptions and gain additional insights. Through this process we gained the following knowledge:

InsighT #1

Unlike younger online dating enthusiasts, users 55+ prefer to communicate via phone and video chat and are comfortable quickly moving towards face-to-face methods of communication .

Solution #1

Once matched, users are given the ability to request to communicate via VoIP and video chat. To protect our users, this additional functionality is only unlocked if both users submit their consent. Users can block communication at any point.

Insight #2

Interest-based activity is a huge factor for companionship among the target demographic.

Solution #2

Profiles are heavily weighted towards identifying someone's interests, hobbies, and things that are most important to them.

Insight #3

Apprehensive about providing personal info unless they know the company is a trusted, secure source and other app users have been vetted for criminal activity.

Solution #3

All users must pass a background check prior to using the app.

Insight #4

There's a real need for a dating service that does more of the heavy-lifting for the users upfront in terms of algorithmic matching.

Solution #4

Identifying deal-breakers during the onboarding process allows users to flag incompatible qualities. This affords the user a more enjoyable, curated experience from inception and increases the quality of matches.

Ideate

Brainstorming, sketching, & User Flows

Once we had determined primary insights from research and user interviews, we mapped out a user flow and then broke off to individually ideate and sketch low-fi wires.

low-fidelity wireframes & visual exploration

The team then came together to present our individual ideas and sketches and used stickers to vote on the ideas and functionality that we wanted to explore further. Based on the results of the vote we built out low-fidelity wireframes and a prototype. In parallel, we did some visual exploration and got sign off from the client.

prototype - round 1, Low-fidelity

Test - Round 1

We tested the low-fidelity prototype on 6 potential users and received feedback on 3 primary topics: deal-breakers, background check, and the act of searching for friends vs. romantic companions.

Insight #1

Allowing users to (a) opt out of the background check, as well as (b) allowing those who hadn't passed to use the app, undermined any trust the app had established.