Video dating is a legit way to meet people online in the modern world. It can seem futuristic but in this period of Coronavirus, we can understand the necessity to have new methods to converse. I started by analysing 2 famous apps that provide this service: Bumble and Badoo. I looked at their process and all the layers they have permissions, limits, who has to send it first, etc.
Bumble offers the chance to make phone calls and video calls with the matches within the app, so there is no need to give any personal details before chatting. The phone and video icons are in the top right-hand corner of the chat with somebody. As women have to send the first message on Bumble, women can even make a video call or phone call as their first move. For men, the call options are only available once the first move has been made.
This is the same for Badoo. The video call button is also at the top of the chat with someone. Once the match has been done, people have to send, at least, one message with each other before to be able to start a call.
It seemed judicious for me to add a permission option before to be able to start a call. I didn’t think that sending one message is enough to enable the feature. Sometimes you can match with someone and this is not the right person for you. After a few messages, you realise that you don’t share the same values or chemistry.
The first goal of MeetMe is to provide an application where people feel safe, can control their personal details and private life. That’s why I decided to display the icons at the top of the chat but they are greyed at first. When you click on it, a popup will appear and ask you if you want to send a request to activate this feature. Besides, it can come from both sides.
Then, I had to think about the implications. Someone can refuse the invitation but it can be voluntary or a mistake. In order to have a smooth process, I decided to have only one invitation per match and per day. It allows avoiding spams which can be really frustrating and force the other person to delete the match quickly. But because someone can click on “No” by mistake, it is possible for this person to send the invitation the same day. Of course, if both of them said “No” to the invitation, they will have to wait one day to do it again.
By this way, we remove irritation and people feel secured.
In my quest to explore ideas about the video call, I found interesting to be able to authorise someone to call you (voice or video). If, for example, you want to say immediately that your match can call you, you can enable it in the options of your match. It is useful to separate Voice Call and Video Call. Sometimes you want to talk to someone but you don’t want to see him. That’s why you will only enable Voice Call. But of course, if you enable Video Call, you also automatically activate Voice Call.
After discussions, we didn’t keep this idea because the permission is a quick formality. Moreover, once you called someone, you never disable these options. You remove your match if it didn’t work.
Finally, I created the screens of the phone call and video call. We wanted to have the same features we can find on similar apps, following our guidelines. Something accessible with a nice UI.
Video dating is a new way to meet people and check quickly if there is more than just physical chemistry. As we can see with apps like HouseParty, it is used more and more. But be careful, it is important to take precautions in order to avoid revealing personal information we don’t want.