Redesigning Chat for Quail: A Community-Driven Dating App.
/an introduction
How it
started
It all began with a simple yet profound observation: while technology has made it easier to meet people, it hasn't necessarily made it easier to connect. Quail was born out of a desire to bridge this gap, to create a space where people could form genuine relationships—be it romantic or platonic—in their local communities.
But the journey wasn’t without its challenges. As a designer, I had to dive deep into the hearts and minds of users, analyze the competition, and craft solutions that not only addressed their pain points but also brought delight and trust to the experience. This is the story of how Quail transformed from an idea into a meaningful product.
Dating has transformed with the rise of online dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge, enabling connections beyond traditional social circles. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated virtual dating, driving app usage to combat loneliness. While these platforms offer inclusivity and innovative features like AI matchmaking, users face challenges such as decision fatigue, safety concerns, and the pressure of quick judgments. Despite these hurdles, dating apps continue to grow and evolve, integrating enhanced security and personalized experiences.
/the problem
The modern
dating dilemma
Imagine this: you download a dating app, hopeful and excited. You swipe, match, and even chat—only to face ghosting, shallow interactions, or, worse, safety concerns. This isn’t just your story; it’s the reality for millions of users worldwide.
Psychologists have studied this cycle of hope and disappointment extensively. The initial optimism stems from the brain’s release of dopamine—a neurotransmitter associated with reward—when anticipating positive outcomes. However, when matches vanish or interactions feel superficial, users experience a drop in self-esteem, often accompanied by feelings of rejection or frustration. These emotional highs and lows mimic what researchers term the "slot-machine effect," where intermittent rewards keep users engaged but emotionally drained.
For example, data from a 2022 study showed that over 65% of dating app users reported feeling emotionally fatigued after prolonged usage.
What we learned
Overwhelming options
Fatigue and superficial swiping lead to unfulfilled experiences.
Ghosting and anxiety
Matches disappear without explanation, leaving users feeling undervalued.
Privacy concerns
Users, especially women, fear harassment and data misuse.
Lack of depth
Conversations often remain shallow, failing to foster real connections.
So we set the mission: redefine these experiences by prioritizing trust, empathy, and meaningful interactions. But how?
/the research
Listening to
users
To uncover the root of these challenges, I conducted extensive user research. I spoke to over 50 individuals—from busy professionals in metropolitan cities to college students in smaller towns from 18-60 age group. This diverse group provided a rich tapestry of experiences, shedding light on the complexities of modern dating.
Here’s what emerged
The Desire for Connection
Most users joined dating apps with hopes of finding a meaningful relationship. Yet, the instant gratification culture often led to impatience and shallow interactions. Behavioral psychologists note that such platforms trigger "paradox of choice," where too many options leave users less satisfied with their decisions.
Validation and Vulnerability
Many users sought validation through matches, but the fear of rejection made them cautious and selective. Neuroscience research shows that the brain’s reward centers light up upon receiving positive feedback like matches, but repeated rejection activates areas linked to emotional pain, creating a cycle of hope and hesitation.
Privacy is Paramount
Over 70% of respondents emphasized the importance of robust safety features, including verified profiles and privacy controls. Women, in particular, voiced concerns about harassment, with 60% citing prior negative experiences on other apps. Data from a Pew Research report highlighted that privacy concerns are a top deterrent for 45% of potential dating app users.
Ghosting Hurts
Users felt disrespected and demoralized when matches ghosted them, leading to mistrust in the platform. A survey revealed that 75% of dating app users have experienced ghosting, with 38% reporting it as their most frustrating experience. This erodes confidence in the platform’s ability to foster genuine relationships.
Misunderstanding Tone and Intent in Messages
Users often struggle to convey emotions or nuances in their messages, leading to awkward or unintended outcomes.
Meet Neha Patel
survey participant #18
Neha Patel, a 25-year-old software engineer from Mumbai, is a vibrant and tech-savvy individual who thrives on exploring new horizons. Her passion for technology keeps her updated with the latest gadgets and apps. When she's not coding, Neha enjoys diving into books, watching movies, experimenting with recipes, and exploring the world through travel. Her outgoing personality makes her eager to meet new people and build connections.
Neha is enthusiastic about trying dating apps but has encountered challenges in the online dating world. She values her privacy deeply and has concerns about harassment and inadequate safety features on existing platforms. Despite her optimism, she's often frustrated by the lack of meaningful connections and shared interests on these apps. She also hesitates to join local community groups online due to privacy concerns.
Her ideal dating app would be intuitive and safe, prioritizing privacy with robust user verification. She seeks a platform that helps her connect with like-minded people, whether it’s trying new restaurants, catching the latest movies, or exploring Mumbai’s vibrant cityscape. Neha’s goal is clear: to foster genuine relationships—whether friendship, community, or romance—while feeling secure and respected.
“Sometimes it feels like I’m talking to a wall. Messages like ‘Hi’ don’t really help start a conversation. I wish there were prompts or ways to make chatting less awkward and more fun.”
– Female, 29
82%
of users (18-30 age group) prefer in-app messaging over sharing personal contact information.
60%
said they find it easier to start a conversation when there are prompts or icebreakers.
74%
want a feature that shows mutual interests to initiate conversations easily.
With these insights in hand, I set out to design a solution that not only addressed these pain points but also added a touch of magic to the user experience. By blending psychological understanding with empathetic design.
/the design
Connection-focused pixels
Empathy lies at the heart of great design. It’s about understanding user pain points, emotions, and desires to create solutions that not only address their needs but also resonate on a human level. With Quail, we embraced a design philosophy rooted in connection, clarity, and trust, ensuring every interaction felt intuitive, meaningful, and safety.
Tone Detector: Saying It Right
Text messages can often lack tone and come across as blunt or rude, leading to hurt feelings and miscommunication. It can be easy solve using emojis or stickers to convey tone and emotions more clearly, or adding voice messaging. Even though these feature helps to convey emotions correctly not everyone and not every time we will be using emojis or voice message.
I designed a tone checker that will always check the tone of the text and gives a hint about how the other person feels about it. This will helps to make a smooth conversations and convey message clearly and apps to understand how each person react and texts.
Messages are analyzed for tone, offering constructive suggestions on how they might be perceived. This reduces instances of unintentional negativity, aligning with the "Negativity Bias" that often distorts interpretations.
By fostering clearer communication, the tone detector builds trust. This design element also supports the "Feedback Loop," where users adjust their messaging style for better outcomes.
Tone detector: Giving feel of trust and authenticity, helps to build confidence level to initiate and continue with chat
Initiating Conversation:
Safety First, Building Trust
Users may feel anxious or unsure about how to start a conversation with someone they have matched with, which can lead to missed opportunities for connection.
I come up with motivation and comparison with two users to
increase the confidence. To display whats mutual to both and hints about initiating a chat based on other users public profile.
Users decide what to share and with whom, addressing concerns tied to "Loss Aversion."
Location data can be concealed, reinforcing a sense of safety.
A quick warning: Helps to build an idea about
to mind the conversation
Verified profile: Giving feel of trust and authenticity,
helps to build confidence level to initiate chat Verified profiles
are prominently marked, increasing trust by 40% as reported
by users. This taps into the "Authority Bias," where visible
credibility influences perceptions.
Behavioral Alerts: Giving hint about her loved things
Hint about if they have any common factors or
mutual likesHelps to build an idea about how to
initiate a conversation and feel connection.
Ghosting
Users may experience ghosting, where a match suddenly stops responding or disappears altogether, which can be hurtful and frustrating. Users want to feel respected and valued by their matches and not be left wondering what went wrong.
Solution: Only thing we found to solve ghosting is try to notify user
that you have not replied. In the meantime we can also notify the other user about the average response time. This can be very time sensitive and when exceed response time can be pushed to unmatch.
Push notification and unmatching: Users can unmatch at any time if they feel so, this will help the other person to move on and quit waiting. The push notification will send out to the user if
other person found checking personal messages frequently. This will reduce notification clutter and add more personality and meaning to notification
Notifying the user: In-Chat notification will help user to be optimistic rather than unmatching if no follow up taken.
Lack of Chemistry
Users experience a lack of chemistry with potential matches, which can lead to disappointment and frustration. Users want to feel a connection with their matches and not waste time on people they don’t have chemistry with.
I like to stick with the traditional approach for the matchmaking a classic comparison quiz both users have to answer this same time and find how good they can be. this is an gamified solution to initiate better communication.
A compatibility quiz! Classic solution: Quiz is just one aspect of analysing compatibility, and other
factors such as shared values, interests, and communication style should also be taken into consideration. Here I provided
users with a summary of their quiz results, highlighting areas of compatibility, and offering conversation starters based on their
shared interests and values to help facilitate a more meaningful conversation. The quiz appear in middle of conversation adding
some gamification element and also give users a hint about with they need to continue or not. Both users have to take quiz at same
time this will helps to get more natural answers in real time also provide topics to talk about if they continuing.
/other Interfaces
More pixels
This message flow was part of multiple features offered by this app.
Due to the lack of available technology for analyzing tone in messages back in 2016, it was never implemented. However, with the ease of availability of AI models now, it can be implemented easily.
Thank You!
Thats it on Quail.
