Co-op
Dating App
Dating apps have become more normalized in the past couple years. They're a convenience and for some people they're effectively the only way to meet new people. Gaming communities have been online for a very long time now and it's a community that doesn't have much of an in-person social aspect so I felt it made sense that there's a dating app focused on finding conventionally introverted people who don't have the same opportunities to meet people with common interests in an in-person setting. In the future I might add an option to pick between romantic or platonic relationships for those who are just looking for friends to play with.
The Design
I've always been a fan of pixel art so I thought this would be a fun project to make. The demographic targeted for this app is the more hardcore gaming community. It's definitely an art direction that would alienate the more general public but this is intended for people with a passion for games and gaming culture, people who are more accustomed to this style.
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Not super original but red is chosen as the main colour because of it's association with hearts, romance and passion. Additionally red is often used in co-op games to designate player 2
Finding People
I looked at Tinder but mostly at Hinge for ideas on what they did and what I could do. I came up with my own way to scroll through a profile, the first tile has a main image for the user and basic info. Scrolling horizontally on the first tile will reveal other tiles with unique prompts users can select and write their own response to. Hinge has a great UX that involves getting to know someone but for my app I wanted to person's character to be the first thing you see. This community is looking for common interests and personality. Scrolling down vertically will reveal more images of the person.
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I also didn't like how negative dating apps usually depict not liking someone so I used green for likes and a neutral colour for dislikes.
Matching and Messaging
I wanted the whole app to be riddled with gaming culture and slang. I wanted to find the right balance between the app looking and feeling like a game while still being functional. I was debating using a pixelated type face for the messaging aspect but my conclusion was that these apps are meant for meeting people and not communicating. Dating app users will move onto their preferred messaging platforms after enough time so I didn't think it was necessary to break the immersion here.