Nomad Soulmates

I redesigned a dating app for iOS to help digital nomads find meaningful romantic relationships at Nomad Soulmates.

Nomad Soulmates helps digital nomads connect and build relationships abroad. The project had successfully launched a webapp during beta, but adoption was slow as native apps were preferred by traveling nomads.

Hence a redesign for iOS was prioritized to improve the user experience and interface consistency for its biggest user base.

My Role

Content Strategy, Information Architecture, Prototyping, Visual Design

The Team

Product Manager, 1 Developer, 1 Designer (Me)

Tools Used

Miro, Figma, Zoom

Timeline

7 weeks, Q2 2020

My Process

Phase 1

Generative Research

  • UX Audit

  • Stakeholder Interviews

  • Competitive Analysis

  • Personas

Phase 2

Ideation

  • Journey Maps

  • Sitemap

  • Sketches

Phase 3

Iterative Design

  • Wireflows

  • Prototypes

  • Style Guide

 

Generative Research

Auditing the UX

I started with a UX audit in order to assess the state of the existing webapp. Compiling the usability markups into a report, I was able to talk through existing challenges and opportunities with the developer and cofounders.

Simplified Navigation - how can we reduce mental fatigue with better IA?

Intimate messages - how can we make communications non-obtrusive and helpful for the users?

Friendlier Copy - how can we make copy more concise and engaging to interact with?

 

Generative Research

Stakeholder Interviews

I held stakeholder meetings in order to grasp the business and development challenges. Speaking with the co-founders, I became aware of external factors (e.g. crowdfunding feature promises) that would alter the scope for the new app.

Interview tools: Using Loom for recordings and Zoom for video calls

 

Generative Research

Competitor Analysis

I knew the dating app space was a crowded one, but Nomad Soulmates target audience was distinct. I focused my research on the most relevant competitor apps oriented to building community among expats and travelers (Couchsurfing / InterNations), but also explore key interaction for dating-specific apps (Plenty of Fish / Bumble).

Marking up navigation, match, communication and privacy features in competitor app

 

Generative Research

Personas

Given the focus and budget constraints for the project, I decided against an in-depth research approach. Instead, I spoke with a few digital nomad friends and used the segmentation analytics data for my research. This resulted in a helpful persona to empathize and invoke user-centered solutions.

Ideation

Journey Map

With stakeholders and users in mind, I created a customer journey flow to understand how the app fits into the larger scope of digital and service offered by Nomad Soulmates.

Mapping out the user journey within the app and in-person services

 

Ideation

Sitemaps

To define the information architecture, I started with sticky notes and a content audit of the existing screens. Using Miro, I conducted a cart sort before organizing the data into a sitemap.

Showing the sitemap to stakeholders helped clarify information gaps and allowed us to talk through development priorities while keeping in place key screens from the original webapp.

Sitemap for the app with color coding for product development

 

Ideation

Sketches

After defining the content hierarchy, I created paper sketches to iterate through design options quickly. I then used Adobe XD to organize navigation and UI elements in higher fidelities.

Sketches of key screens and navigation

Iterative Design

Wireframe Iterations

Discovering Matches

Iterations of finding matches by proximity

Iterations of browsing and filtering matches

  • Reduced buttons alleviate decision fatigue while amplifying user goals when navigating across screens

  • Increased map space maximizes accessibility across different sized devices while focusing on key actions (e.g. panning map or scrolling profiles)

  • Floating filter allows saved preferences and toggling between Maps and Browse screens

  • Bottom navigation based on user goals rather than business convenience (e.g. news updates integrated into message)

Sending Messages

News updates are humanized through a real person to provide updates and offerings with more impact

Dedicated messaging tabs allow focused conversations for connections and planning dates

Iterative Design

Wireflows & Prototypes

Seeing is believing - the user flows finally clicked for the developer after I had them play with the wireframe mockups and Adobe XD prototype. The screens helped us talk through the micro-interactions and gestures in more depth.

Linking discovery screens into clickable prototypes

Iterative Design

Style Guide

I organized the design patterns in Figma so all stakeholders could have access to the design without additional software, and to simplify access for the developer. I had the team collaborate on the voice and tone of for the app which helped to align the branding for the app.

REFLECTIONS

Stakeholder touchpoints
During the discovery process, I learned the importance of touching base with stakeholders early as a means to understand the constraints and business needs. Working with multiple founders required a lot of re-interpretation and mediation of goals.


Developer Collaboration
I learned about the process of building a mobile app with a developer, and the accessibility requirements of developing on for IOS and Android platforms. Jumping into an existing product with out much skin in the game, meant I needed to establish trust with the engineer over time as I shared my design ideas.

Communications
One the challenging piece of the project was communicating with the remote team across three countries and different schedules. Thankfully, we were able to sync up on Whatsapp and Loom to touch base more fluidly.