Tinder Analysis: User Experience, Algorithm and Psychology (1)

Tinder, isn't it a fire? between you, and me?

Tinder's Founders, Sean Rad and Justin Mateen

Launched in September 1st 2012,

founded by Sean Rad and Justin Mateen, a pair of 27-year-old entrepreneurs, 

spots on the Forbes 2013 “30 Under 30” list.

By December of 2014, 

the app had been downloaded more than 40 million times 

with users swiping 850 million times per day,

also, 1 billion matched per day. 

New research shows that there are 50 million active users on Tinder (2015/09),

who check their accounts 11 times per day 

Women spend as much as 8.5 minutes swiping left and right during a single session; 

men spend 7.2 minutes. All of this can add up to 90 minutes each day.

Analysis from three aspects: User Experience, Algorithm and Psychology

Why is it on fire? 

Whats' the reason and why people are addicted to it?

I'm always curious about why there are so many dating apps keep coming out to the market.

Hence, I started to google as much as information I can and get my hand dirty!

I tried to analyze in 3 major part: User Experience, Algorithm and Psychology

and definitely to share my personal experience :)

Let's get started!

I. User Experience / User Interface

Tinder Key User Experience

First of all, lets get through the user's process. It seems pretty simple and clear.

Tinder Framework

Then, we could take a look for the structure.
There are four main interfaces: Setting, Swipe, Chat and moment

Tinder User Flow

Basically the flow is pretty much like the traditional dating site.

Set your profile (photos and descriptions), like others, chat and decide to hang out or not.

However, why is it special? There are still some magic happened. 

I concluded in 3 innovative parts:

1. Swiping gesture and card interface is attractive for young people

2. "It's a Match" is powerful

3. Moment got you attention back

1. Swiping gesture, card interface is attractive for young people

Swipe gesture and Card system

With more than half of its user base comprised of those between 18-24. 

The game-style format of the app is a key reason that the average user spends 90 minutes ‘playing’ per day.

It is pretty easy to use that we could hold a phone in one hand. 

If you're a lazy person, you could definitely use this app while drinking your beer or talking to your friends or even calling your mom with earphone. The content is done with the minimum amount of motion. We could swipe, rather than tap. we could use less effort and get the purpose we want.

Also, it only show one thing at a time, which could imply to the psychology perspective.

It delivered well-formatted information that’s readable at a glance. You'll have no chance to get back, once in a lifetime shot. It's more like a game, rather than serious dating site. 

The other interesting question is that why does Tinder create nope, rather than just say yes to several people you like in a large pool of pretty boys/girls? 

Which could reduce the guilt for rejecting others also enhance the fun part if you match somebody(we'll discuss later). In real life, it's quite tough to say no to others. We worry that saying "no" will change the way the other person views us, and make him or her feel badly. Just swipe left and we have no idea that who said no to us, we hardly feel threatening to our relationships.

Besides, we feel we're superior. It's totally true. When there are tons of candidates, we could easily and effortlessly turn things down. How do you feel? Don't you think you have the power to control and selection makes you feel good. Somebody could be addictive to this power that they're lack of in real life.

2. "It's a Match" is powerful

Screenshot: It's a Match

   

"It'a match!" How do you feel?

I feel quite romantic and believe destiny happened. 

After swiping left for a long time, boring, not interested, nothing special, then, we find out a cute boy/girl and tap into his/her profile to get more information. We swipe right and BANG!

"It's a Match!" you both like each others. How couldn't you feel good?

We never know if the person like us or not. It's kind of a gambling, we feel nervous and excited, waiting for the result. Therefore, when "It's a Match!" show up to the screen, we get more excitement than we expected. It's like an instant reward or Christmas gift from your beloved grandparents.

What's more, Tinder even launched “Super Like,” a third swipe option which lets you tell someone you really like them on October 1st. 

Tinder has been testing out the feature for the past three weeks in Australia. According to Tinder, 

Users are three times more likely to match with someone they Super Like and conversations initiated by a Super Like last 70% longer. To make sure that Super Likes don't lose all meaning and become a cheap ploy to get more replies from hotties, Tinder limits users to one per day.

It's not only about user experience, it's also related to business strategy, how to monetize dating app instead of inserting lots of advertisements. How smart it is!






3. Moment got you attention back

Screenshot: Moment

Here’s how it works:
You can take a photo using the app, that will then be broadcast to all of your matches. Each photo has a 24-hour extinction date, and matches won’t be able to see these photos after one day.

Why Tinder add this function? and why it could only access to matches? Rarely, there is no dating app think about that. 

CEO Sean Rad said this feature will be a big step towards helping people get to know each other. " “Moments” allows people to share special moments with each other, and thus connect in a more meaningful way.", he said. From the photos themselves, people can also start a conversation. This "might" encourage people to use the app for more than just dating and hook-ups. You know, there's always pros and cons. 

However, It's a clever way that you want to be cool and get attention from others but you don't need to be the one to start conversation.

In conclusion, These three features are what I think Tinder differentiate itself from the crowed dating site market. While traditional dating sites require extended periods of time in front of the desktop writing and browsing long bios, Tinder can be played in short bursts on the go.The co-founder comments that on one hand people join Tinder, not because they’re looking for something, but because they “want to have fun”, it's a social discovery platform. 

We'll discuss more in the next article, about the algorithm and psychology, pls be patient...

References:
1. Inside Tinder: Meet the Guys Who Turned Dating Into an Addiction

http://time.com/4837/tinder-meet-the-guys-who-turned-dating-into-an-addiction/

2. What to Know About Tinder in 5 Charts (Get brief insight)

http://www.globalwebindex.net/blog/what-to-know-about-tinder-in-5-charts

3. By the numbers: 17 impressive tinder statistics (wow!)

http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/tinder-statistics/2/

4. What Ignited Tinder's Explosive Growth? (highly recommend)

https://growthhackers.com/growth-studies/what-ignited-tinders-explosive-growth

5. Tinder: The Online Dating App Everyone's STILL Talking About

http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/543941/tinder-the-online-dating-app-that-everyone-s-talking-about.html

6. Tinder, the Fast-Growing Dating App, Taps an Age-Old Truth 

(it's more about psychology side, highly recommend)

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/30/fashion/tinder-the-fast-growing-dating-app-taps-an-age-old-truth.html

7. For Mobile Apps Like Tinder, Cards and Swipes Rule the Day
(if you're interested in card game mechanism)

http://recode.net/2014/03/14/for-mobile-apps-like-tinder-cards-and-swipes-rule-the-day/

8. Why It's So Hard to Say "No"

http://lifehacker.com/why-its-so-hard-to-say-no-1543029041

9. Tinder: The Swipe to Success

http://www.sammpress.com/2015/08/tinder-the-swipe-to-success/

10. Tinder announces ‘Super Like,’ a third way to swipe (and crush on) a person

http://www.hypable.com/tinder-super-like-new-swipe/

11. Why Tinder’s Super Like May Undo The Dating Apocalypse

http://thefederalist.com/2015/10/02/why-tinders-super-like-may-undo-the-dating-apocalypse/

12. With Moments, Tinder Decides Photos Shouldn’t Always Last Forever
(About "moment" feature)

http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/05/with-moments-tinder-too-decides-photos-shouldnt-always-last-forever/

13. Tinder adds Super Like option

http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/01/technology/tinder-super-like/

14. Image: tinder logo

http://cdn.hellogiggles.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/15/tinder-logo.jpg