Found in Translation
Demi Isabela Straulino
In the US, online dating is a $3 billion industry and is likely to grow by 25% by 2020. Reportedly, 60% of singles use dating apps, but only one third of those users do not go on dates. The hardest part of online dating is actually going on a date in person. People are lost in a mix of swiping and chatting—never attempting to connect with their matches. With millennials spending 10 hours a week on dating apps, how might we encourage people to meet their match and make a move?
This thesis confronts this issue by designing experiences that put people out of their comfort zone in unique ways, specifically through love languages. Love languages are the way people give and receive love. By knowing what your partner’s love language is, one can better express their affection without it getting lost in translation. Custom dates are designed by a matches’ love languages to help foster a connection. Users can encounter a date where people exchange paintings for each other using branded brushes and canvases to serve as mementos of the experience or write notes on branded postcards for those individuals that like words of affection.
The impact of this thesis is to gather individuals in a unique setting, allowing people to mingle freely through a shared experience. Found in Translation encourage singles to move out of the dating app and into a real encounter.