Let's Buzz

UX Designer | Solo | 2024

Design Brief:

Bumble seeks to boost subscription conversions among its 50 million non-paying users by utilizing precise location services for timely match notifications. The project targets under-35 demographics and aims to attract new users in non-dating categories like "BFF" and "Bizz."

Key goals include analyzing user data for conversion insights and correlating usage frequency, location, and social drivers. Stakeholders include existing non-paying users, the Customer Acquisition Team, and the Director of Market Growth. Competitors include Tinder, eHarmony, Hinge, OK Cupid, Badoo, Raya, and LinkedIn. The project will utilize the existing design system to integrate a new feature.

Competitor Analysis of 5 Educational Games within a similar domain

Reframing the Problem:

Given the project brief and a specific set of goals, I engaged in a series of conceptualizations to try to understand the true problem at hand.

This process involved a lot of whiteboarding, framework iterations, and parsing real-user data.

Conceptualization & Exploring the Problem

Snippet of Quantitative Data Parsed

Users want Connections

A key insight from the previous conceptualization is that users aren't finding the value in Premium + to be able to convert to sustained users. Part of this solution is to increase the retention rate of the users who are utilizing these new features and sticking to their behavioral metrics.

According to the data, a majority of users are using Bumble Date rather than the other modes, Bizz and Friends. Although the lowest conversion rates are found in Friends and Bizz, users in these modes find the most value to convert to Premium +'s features through Bumble Date.

However, regardless of what these users are using the Bumble app for, the focus of Bumble needs to support all those who are seeking connections rather than just romantic partners, which many would consider be its primary use-case.

This calls for a paradigm shift in its usecases, meaning any new features must support the facilitation of increasing user connection to increase conversion rates.

New Design Framework

The Concept

Subscribed users can filter their potential matches by shared interests based on their profile. This new mode pushes shared interests to identify a potential match.

Bumble aids in facilitating the process of meeting their match. Let's Buzz promotes increased compatibility with potential friends, dates, or professional connections by using the commonality of shared interests.

Component Integration

Initial Prototype

How should Let's Buzz be Integrated into the App?

In this phase, it was important to examine the current landscape of the Bumble app and the process of how matches are being created.

Overall the matching process regarding any mode revolves around three main steps:

Landing page
Information About the Potential Match
Call to Action

At this stage, many different integrations were explored but given how Let's Buzz may affect each stage of the matching process differently, Let's Buzz should be its own mode.

Component Integration within the 'Call to action'

Final Prototype

New Screens

Within the phone flow of the Bumble app, the new mode is docked at the top next to another Premium + mode, "Trending".

Within this mode, users are only given potential matches that share 1 or more shared interests. In the case study below, the user is presented with a shared interest in Thai food.

The user is then able to take this shared interest and invite their potential match to a meet-up. Bumble facilitates this process by providing recommended locations based on the shared interest.

Users are more likely to meet with someone who initiates a date or hangout.