Fate
A dating app concept built around one daily synchronized match.
- My role
- Concept development & user testing
- Trial
- 70+ users over five days
- Stage
- Prototype trial
Why I started Fate
In conversations with students at IU, I heard two ways of thinking about dating. Some liked that apps gave them more chances to find the right person. Others wanted the feeling of meeting someone naturally. I wanted to bring those experiences together.
I wanted a match to feel like a friend setting two people up, or that first moment of eye contact with someone across a classroom. There’s a spark in discovering each other. That’s the feeling I wanted Fate to create.
A mutual connection
Fate gives two people one daily match, revealed to both at the same time. There’s no feed of profiles to pick through. Everyone who sees your profile is someone you also see, so visibility goes both ways. I wanted to make the experience more comfortable for people who feel insecure about being seen on a dating app.
You discover each other together and decide whether there’s a connection. If it works, you keep talking. If it doesn’t, you get matched again the next day.
What I learned from the trial
I tested Fate with more than 70 users over five days, making every match myself. Testers liked their matches and said the experience felt like a genuine connection. I saw conversations start and some matches go well.
The biggest request was for more matches. That feedback gave me a direction to explore: three matches a day, or an optional premium feature for additional matches. If I return to Fate, I want to test whether more chances to connect can preserve what people liked about the shared moment.