Sense "Dating Beyond Vision"
Sense is a dating app that leverages the wants and needs of people with visual impairments when dating.
The challenge
There are currently no mainstream dating apps that are accessible to people with visual impairments, while engaging sighted people. Today’s mainstream dating apps are highly focused on visuals as well as incompatible with assistive technology, which essentially makes them useless to blind users. Despite high isolation rates amongst people with disabilities and a decrease in marriage rates, people with visual impairments are still excluded from the most common way couples meet in 2022. How might we flip the hierarchy, and leverages the wants and needs of people with visual impairments when dating, in hopes of creating a more inclusive space?
The solution
Sense is a dating app that is designed with the needs of people with visual impairments in mind, while engaging sighted people. This is achieved by addressing problems with mainstream dating apps, leveraging accessibility needs and exploring new ways of making connections. Sense guides its users through sound and touch (haptics), making it possible for people with visual impairments to have an accessible and seamless experience.
Role
Entire product design from research to conception, prototyping to final product
Timeline
8 months
Team Type
Individual work
Awards
ACIDO Rocket Awards, 2022 | Finalist
Exhibits
Future Perfect, Rosalie Sharp Pavilion | OCAD University's Annual Graduate Exhibition
Features
Interview about project on CBC Radio
Introduction
Although the use of mobile apps are a part of our everyday lives, they are often widely inaccessible to users with disabilities. This has left large groups of people excluded from many of the benefits able-bodied people have full access to. This inaccessibility is particularly evident in dating apps.
Primary Research
Why did I do primary research?
I completed preliminary research in order to better understand my audience and what problems they where experiencing, specifically when it came to communicating online. This research helped me understand some of the types of visual impairments that exist. How they where experiencing online communication, how accessibility features work and how current technology accommodates for their needs.
Insights
An estimated 91% of people with disabilities use a smartphone or a tablet on a daily basis. Web accessibility refers to websites, tools, and technologies being designed and developed in a way where people with disabilities can use them.
Approximately 253 million people live with a visual impairment worldwide. Of these, 36 million live with blindness and a further 217 million have moderate to severe visual impairments. Visual disability is one of the top 10 disabilities among adults over 18 years old, and is one of the most common disabilities among children according to World Health Organization.
Secondary Research
Why did I do secondary research?
I completed secondary research to determine where this inaccessibility was most prevalent. Throughout my project I spoke with various people who had knowledge related to this topic. I spoke with people to not only to validate (or negate) with my findings but to also gain new insights and perspectives that would then lead me into further research. My research led me to wondering what dating looked like for someone with a visual impairment, both in-person and online? Below are some initial findings.
What are the root problems of mainstream dating apps not being accessible?
The dating app narrative: Mainstream dating apps are designed for the wants and needs of sighted, able-bodied people making them photo-driven and inaccessible with VoiceOver.
Inaccessible UI: In addition to photos being the main focal point within these apps, graphics such as icons and colours are often used to communicate information.
Why is this a problem?
Isolation: Dating apps exclusively for people with blindness don't cast a wide net and are seen as creating further isolation. Meanwhile, there has been a decline in marriage rates for people with disabilities and increasing rates in physical isolation.
Exclusion: 36 million live with blindness and a further 217 million have moderate to severe visual impairments, which makes for a large group of people that are excluded from the most common ways couples meet (2022).
Summary
During my research I defined...
My target user group: People living with low vision or blindness while engaging sighted people.
Key issues: Dating app narrative and inaccessible UI design that is incompatible with VoiceOver.
Define
Opportunity
How might we flip the hierarchy, and leverage the wants and needs of people with visual impairments when dating, in hopes of creating a more inclusive space?
There are currently no mainstream dating apps that are accessible for people with visual impairments, while engaging sighted people. The conclusion and found opportunity of my research was that there are dating apps designed for sighted able bodied people, and there are dating apps designed specifically for people with disabilities. However, there are no dating apps that cater to both sides.
Market Research
I researched existing solutions on the market to better understand where current solutions are failing. My findings would help inform my design criteria.
Design Criteria
Must: Directly speak to the wants and needs of people with visual impairments. Must prioritize users that utilize assistive technologies such as VoiceOver.
Should: Engage other audiences as well and not be exclusively for blind or partially sighted. Should offer a new way of meeting people for users that struggle with mainstream dating apps.
Could: Offer a UI design solution for accessibility settings such as magnification, large print and high contrast display. Could engage other senses.
Ideation
Feedback
"People are not connected to the product itself, they are connected to a feeling."
- Eric Nilsson, Web Developer
"Who says you need to have buttons?"
- Ranee Lee, Designer and university professor
"What other senses could be included?"
- Wesley Chau, Designer and university professor
Solution
Sense "Dating Beyond Vision"
Once I had finalized my concept, I started to map out all the features and flow of the app through a user journey map and a flow chart demonstrating how the app will work and its components. The next step was to start building a brand. I started by giving the app three values.
(Prototype details coming soon)
(Watch the app demo below for now)
App Demo
The video below demonstrates how the app works, and it is narrated by the voice of the accessibility feature VoiceOver.
Addressed Needs
Removal of the “Match” feature commonly used in mainstream apps
Why?
Removing the "Match" feature is in response to some of the pain points of mainstream dating app users. The "Match" feature has been compared to gambling and slot machines turning online dating into a game rather than finding true connection. With Sense, instead of a match, two users need to start talking to each other before a chat opens up.
Quotes from my interviews with sighted dating app users:
“The majority of people I match with I never even talk to.”
“The match has lost its meaning. It’s too easy to just swipe right for it to mean anything.”
Filter feature. Remove any of your deal-breakers from the dating pool
Why?
Since online dating is the most common way couples meet, there's a huge amount of people to sift through when using these apps. Using the filter to find people (an optional choice) is meant to be a way for people to find what they are looking for more easily and more efficiently as it offers a way to remove any deal-breakers that the person might have. These deal-breakers could be anything from political stances to their favourite sport.
The feature is also meant to be a way to spend more time with fewer people.
Quotes from my interviews with visually impaired people:
“I only date people that check off the right boxes in terms of personality.”
“The problem is infinite choice. You’re comparison shopping.”
This is also something that mainstream dating apps do not offer.
UI that does not require users to see
Why?
The app utilizes features in which users do not need to know where buttons are located. Instead of navigating users through the app using visuals such as colours and icons, it forces users to put more emphasis on using other senses.
Removing typical buttons and making it possible for users to use the app with to without VoiceOver, was a way for me to flip the hierarchy of whose needs I was prioritizing.
New ways of learning about someone
Why?
Seeing photos of someone has been the main way of getting an understanding of who a person is. Instead, Sense includes a personal soundscape that is meant to give users a "sense" of someone’s life and personality by hearing it.
Quote (my favourite one) from an interview:
"It's not about what you can see, it's what you can hear and feel."