Skip - Dating App

In-App Date Scheduling for
User Safety and Flexibility

MY ROLE

Lead Designer

TEAM

1 Product Designer

1 Product Manager
1 Engineer

1 Product Designer

1 Product Manager
1 Engineer

TIMELINE

Jan 2024

STATUS

Shipped

My Role

Lead Designer - Interaction Design, Visual Design, Usability Testing, Product Strategy

Team

Scott Avy, PM

Zach Barnes, Engineer

Timeline

Jan 2024

Overview

Skip is a chat-free dating app that beta-tested in Austin, Texas in 2023 and launched nationwide in Jan 2024.

I led the design of "in-app date scheduling" from 0-1, from identifying problems, to designing and handing off for implementation. "In-app date scheduling" will help users land quality dates IRL faster and safer without sharing each other's contact information.

New features that have been shipped include Date Availability, Date Parameters, Date Proposal, Reschedule, and Location Lock-in.

Context

Skip's mission: help users land dates IRL faster and safer

After matching with someone, users can go on a date using an in-app date scheduling feature without sharing contact details or chatting.

Problem

In-app date scheduling is inefficient and inflexible

When users could not make it to a pre-planned date for some reasons, there was no way for them to notify their match or reschedule it. This situation led to multiple cancelled dates without providing any explanation to their match and caused frustration on both ends.

When users had to cancel a date for some reasons, there was no way for them to notify their match or reschedule it. This situation led to multiple cancelled dates without providing any explanation to their match and caused frustration on both ends.

Goal

Optimize in-app date scheduling for increased user flexibility and control

Success Metrics

Increase success dates rates

Streamline the date scheduling workflow so that users can land a date easier.

Validate Skip's concept

It's crucial to validate the product concept as an early stage startup and it can only be done with successful dates.

Reduce the number of user complaints

Remove potential friction points and enhance user journey in landing a date IRL.

Audit

Auditing the current workflow

Analyzing the current flow helped me discover what's wrong and how I can improve it.

💡 How might we optimize date scheduling to enhance flexibility?

Product Ideation

Adding flexibility to the old workflow

Users can now suggest a different plan if the plan doesn't work for them.

Creating a high-fidelity mockup

Workflow: When John's date plan doesn't work for Lily, so she wants to suggest a new plan.

Discussion with PM: What if the user prefers to initially choose the date location for safety reasons?

Discussion with PM: What if the user prefers to choose the date location for safety reasons?

With the new workflow, users now have more flexibility in adjusting their date plans. However, I aimed to optimize it by giving them more control over selecting a location where they feel comfortable.