The Love Mate
I worked on redesigning the Into the Gloss blogging platform, parent company of Glossier
Project Type
Class Project
Duration
Feb 2022 - April 2022
Role
UI Visual Designer
Market Research
Interaction Designer
Visual Designer
Tools
Figma
Adobe Illustrator
The Context
On average, long-term relationships last about 2 years and 9 months. Having been in a relationship for 3 years, I understand how things can become monotonous. Since starting college, planning dates has become even more challenging due to our busy schedules. It's no one's fault, but it can easily create strain in a relationship. How can we provide a simple solution to support couples during their hectic lives?
The Objective
The Love Mate came about to help couples maintain their love for each other whether it be finding nearby events, finding restaurants to eat at, or a combo of both! There is also a live couples chat that allows users to chat with other people in relationships to discuss and reflect on relationships.
Plan out your next date with The Love Mate
There are 3 distinct features designed to help couples plan a date for themselves, along with an additional feature that allows users to engage in live chat discussions with others about relationships.
Find a Restaurant in Your Area
Users can Find a Restaurant near their area and discover place they have never been before!
Generate a Date
Maybe the user wants to plan out a date with an activity + food planned out... then they can generate a date!
Splash + Walkthrough Screens
Background
In my Research and Development class, I chose to explore the pain points in long-term relationships, a topic close to my life. I aimed to identify key issues and provide solutions, focusing heavily on user research and employing multiple methods to gain insights.
Desk Research
Insecure vs Secure Attachment Styles
Attachment style affects relationships in numerous ways including support, intimacy, sex, commitment, faithfulness, and emotional stability
Secure attachment is approaching a relationship with confidence, trust, and independence in each other
Insecure attachment is a way of approaching a relationship with fear or uncertainty. There are 3 styles of insecure attachment styles. These issues, if unresolved continue into adulthood.
Sustaining satisfying long‐term relationships in adulthood requires a combination of comfort with intimacy, competence in managing conflicts, and maturity to sustain commitments over long periods of time
About the map: I created 4 different foundational relationship hubs These hubs define the various needs a partner could have to form a healthy relationship. Within the hubs includes the initial stage and the commitment stage Before a couple commits, you have the initial stage or the "talking" phase. I try to show what might be needed in the initial stage and what is needed in the commitment stage to have a successful longterm relationship. The overlapping bubbles shows how the different points relate to each other.
New Objectives
1
Identify what the majority of people fear and are excited about when discussing long-term relationships
2
Identify what the majority of people fear and are excited about when discussing long-term relationships
3
Identify what the majority of people fear and are excited about when discussing long-term relationships
User Research and Testing
Identifying Relationship Experiences
Into the Gloss has no e-commerce incorporation although it is tied to Glossier. Got some inspiration from the Milk Makeup and Goop blogging site on what the standard is like and where to place it within the page.
1. Probe Kit
Probe Kit Title Screen
Example of a Probe Kit Response
2. Surveys
Survey Demographics
Some survey responses
All the survey takers emphasized the importance of effort from both parties.
For context:
On the Reddit discussion board, I posted a survey for those that were open to speaking about relationships, I received great insights and pain points that a lot of people shared.
Some things I learned specifically from the Reddit post are that...
A good majority of people find relationships to be difficult, as in, it is a lot of work. In my survey, 48% agreed with this feeling. Even if the relationship didn't work out, there are a lot of impactful takeaways. The biggest point that was taken from the survey was that communication was key... and it was the lack of communication that caused the relationship to fail.
Personas
Utilizing the feedback gathered from surveys and desk research, I crafted three personas. Given the diverse nature of relationships, these personas illustrate the primary challenges addressed by The Love Mate.
Wireframing
Visual Design
Design Systems for The Love Mate
Key Learnings and Next Steps
1. Expand on wireframes and essential user pathways to enhance the app's visual representation.
2. Gather crucial usability insights to determine the necessity of incorporating new or altered features.
3. Persist in exploring market gaps and emerging trends to ensure optimal alignment with our users' requirements.
