I lead the design of a mobile application designed to help Muslims more easily find a marriage partner. Our team additionally consists of a Product Manager, Senior Machine Learning Expert, Senior Frontend Developer, and a Community Manager.
Design Leadership · Competitive Analysis · Mobile · Design Systems
Programs used
Figma
The Problem
Our team saw a problem in the Muslim community in NYC: many Muslims struggle to find suitable partners for marriage, and many of these candidates express frustration with contemporary solutions designed to help Muslims get married.
The Proposed Solution
We devised to make a product that utilized human matchmakers that could put potential couples together. This has been how couples have been historically made for most Muslim couples for over a thousand years, and it is a tried-and-true method.
Step 1
Understanding if our concept could "fit" within the romance application space was a critical first step. I downloaded more than 10 dating and marriage apps, most of which were geared towards Muslims, and went through them in pain-staking detail.
Only one other app utilizes human matchmakers as a paid extra feature. Many of the apps designed to help Muslims get married are simply reskins of Tinder. This insight allowed us to determine that we could be onto something that doesn't already exist.
Step 2
I then began reaching out to Muslims in order to start understanding our users and their pain points. This allowed me to build the following two personas, one for men and one for women, so that we could have a clear understanding of our users and their expectations.
User research showed that we had a highly motivated user base with disposable income, a designer's favorite demographic!
Step 3
I then began outlining requirements as they came in from user and Product discussions. They are captured via a detailed Information Architecture that I can easily modify as requirements change.
Additionally, I built a design system via Brad Frost's Atomic Design Model to ensure that Deeny's designs are organized in a professional and scalable manner.
Finalized designs after an extra round of usability studies.
Summary
Leading the design of a marriage app from scratch has been an exciting journey. Development for Deeny will begin soon so stay tuned for updates to this case study!
Some key takeaways from my work at Deeny include:
Dreaming big is encouraged! Our team has a big idea that we think will revolutionize the way that Muslims will find love, and we aren't afraid to take on the challenge.
User research always serves as the compass for idea verification and design decisions. This project has been no exception.
Understanding our competition allows us to confidently move forward knowing that we are solving a real need for real people that is currently not being met.