TWOVERA
The founder of TwoVera needed research and designs for the core product experience, including browsing, matching, and messaging systems.
ROLE
UX DESIGNER
OVERVIEW
TwoVera is a therapist-founded dating app focused on fostering more intentional, emotionally intelligent connections.
Team
2
Timeline
10 weeks
PROBLEM
Current dating apps encourage shallow and surface-level swiping. Matches lose momentum fast once conversations stall.
RESEARCH
I interviewed 5 active dating app users and ran a competitive analysis against Hinge, OkCupid, and Tinder to ground the work in real behavior, not assumptions. This surfaced four clear gaps: shallow feeds, low-impact match moments, steep post-match drop-off, and messaging tools that fail to sustain conversation, findings that directly shaped every feature decision that followed.
WIREFRAMES
I moved through structured fidelity stages to validate flow and comprehension before investing in visual polish, testing specifically whether the dual-profile structure, engagement gate requirements, and progressive reveal mechanic made sense to users.
USER TESTING
I tested across low-, mid-, and high-fidelity prototypes, focusing early rounds on whether users understood the dual-profile concept and experienced the interaction gates as rewarding rather than annoying.
Toggle Placement
Candid/Curated toggle was hidden in the filter menu, making the core feature hard to find. All participants expected it to be on the main feed.
Match Details Copy
All participants stated that copy (“Matched on different vibes”) confused them and needed moderator explanation.
Matching Page Energy
66% of participants reported that the match moment didn’t convey the celebratory moment of connecting.
Empty Space on Cards
All participants shared that cards had too much whitespace, making the interface feel sparse and incomplete.
FINAL DESIGN
The final experience includes dual-profile browsing (Curated/Candid), engagement gates that require meaningful interaction before swiping, and a progressive reveal system that makes profile discovery feel earned rather than instant.
Scrollable
Mobile 5G
10:49
Curated
Candid
Dating Preferences
Maya, 22
Los Angeles, CA
Built for greatness, fueled by oat milk lattes
About Me
Creative strategist, salsa dancer, and semi-pro pizza critic. Let’s build something legendary.
Rant about something that bothers you way more than it should!
Interests
Traveling, Photography, Cooking, Coffee
Maybe
Get to know them first!
React to at least one card before making your move.
Toggle
Moved the Candid/Curated toggle from the buried filter menu to the main feed page. Testing showed that participants expected the toggle to live on the main page and didn't recognize the filter icon as controlling their profile view. Discoverability, not decoration, was the fix.
Positive Friction
Users can't move forward without reacting to a card first. This is intentional friction: rather than letting people swipe past profiles without absorbing anything, the gate forces a moment of real engagement before a decision gets made. It reframes the interaction from passive scrolling to active reading, which is core to the app's mission of intentional connection.
Match Moment
The person's photo takes up the entire screen, rather than sharing space with UI chrome. Centering the face this way drives human identification, the moment is about the person, not the product. Making the match feel personal and immediate was a direct response to testing feedback that the original match page felt flat and lacked the "loudness and excitement" of a real connection.
It’s a match!
Lets see what they liked about your profile!
Take a peek
Tap to continue...
This side caught their eye
Candid
Reveal Screen
The copy here is deliberately on the nose ("this side caught their eye") instead of abstract ("matched on different vibes"). Earlier language made users pause and ask the moderator what it meant, so I traded cleverness for clarity. When the emotional stakes are high, as they are in dating, the copy shouldn't be one more thing to decode.
TAKE AWAYS
This project taught me that intentional friction, done well, can deepen engagement instead of hurting it, directly challenging conventional dating-app wisdom to minimize every step. It also reinforced that testing language and concepts with real users matters more than internal intuition, and that responsiveness to feedback builds a stronger product than defending it.
Status
Contact
Looking for an entry level role as a designer!
mehmamand99@gmail.com