FFWD DATING
In my time at FFWD dating, I have been heavily involved in app design and re-design, modifying user journeys to reduce friction and improve the user experience. To date, I have successfully overhauled 2 full sections of the app, as well as implemented more tool for user education throughout the onboarding process. FFWD is extremely high friction, in that it requires a lot of education and work on the part of the users. Our ultimate goal was to get our conversion rates, and engagement rates, up — and through these changes we saw over a 200% increase in engagement.
APP DESIGN
Fanbase
When I first came to FFWD, their “fanbase” page was my first issue with the mobile app. With outdated graphics and a static design (that failed to showcase the apps key video-first feature) I set out to re-design keeping key features (and more modern principals) in mind.
FanBase: ReDesign
I re-designed the app’s fanbase to be dynamic. In this design, as the user scrolled down, the videos would launch a preview (one at a time) of an admirer’s video profile, showing the person behind the picture off the bat. I included a premium toggle button up top to drive conversion. I was able to oversee the implementation of this design with our software developer, and immediately saw an uptick in user engagement.
Chats: Before
Another one of FFWD’s star features is their timing. They set users on timers to send introductions to conversations, and also to chat with their matches. The app is designed to give users a sense of urgency in taking their conversations off the app, and onto a date. The initial design was a bit dated, unclear, and messy. It wasn’t immediately apparent which users needed the most urgent responses.
Chats: Re-Design
With the implementation of this re-design, users were more readily able to see and sort their messages and chats. We cleared up the timing, as well as the responsibility of response. New user icons showed more of each matches profile, making them more distinguishable. We also introduced unmatching, as well as blocking and reporting, in this re-design.
ONBOARDING
On-Boarding
FFWD is a high friction app, in that its star features require thorough user education. To curb drop-off and improve the user experience, we included this screen, which launches when users first open the chat screen. It diagrams the different parts of the screen, and indicates the timing of each feature.
Profile Creation
Another friction point in FFWD’s onboarding is “Scene Creation,” or the video element required in profile creation. Because the average user isn’t necessarily ready to fully launch into creating a video profile at the time of download, we implemented a “scene preview” as part of onboarding. In this user flow, users had the option to “preview” three profiles within their demographic, to educate them on the best recording practices and strong profiles. At the end of this preview, they were prompted to record their own scene, or come back and record for full app access.
MARKETING AND BEYOND
Throughout my time at FFWD, I’ve had the chance to oversee everything from email marketing, to revitalizing our socials, web presence, and out of home campaigns. Below, you’ll see a gallery of some of my work.
