Year
2024
Role
Product Designer
Platform
iOS · Figma prototype
Team
1 Product Designer
1 Founder/Engineer
Type
Mobile Design
Design System
User research
Circles
Everything’s more fun with friends. Dating should be too.
A double-dating app. Designed from first sketch to prototype.
Findings
What 12 users told me.
With the interview data, I built an affinity map — four takeaways stood out.
8/12
Matches fizzle within a few messages.
Matching is easy. Keeping the chat going isn’t.
6/12
Tell a friend before a first date.
Friends are involved (sharing their location, emergency call) just offstage.
9/12
Swipe with friends or share profiles in group chats.
Dating is already a group activity, just an unofficial one.
5/12
Paid for features, then quit.
People will pay to save time, not to be seen.
Competitive Analysis
What 12 users told me.
Before designing, I studied Hinge, Tinder, Bumble, Bumble BFF and more — and where groups were left out.
Familiarity
Every app converges on the same loop: a photo-led card, a clear pass or like, and a match that unlocks chat. Even Fourplay, the one group-first app, keeps that loop. Circles does the same and layers groups on top instead of reinventing it.
Tinder
Bumble
Fourplay
Engagement & retention
Hinge’s prompts give people something to react to beyond photos, and Coffee Meets Bagel’s daily batch builds a habit. But most chats stall after the match. Circles pairs rich profiles and fresh prompts with group chats that can branch into 1:1s.
Hinge
Coffee Meets Bagel
Visual
The Image are recognizable at a glance — Tinder’s flame gradient, Bumble’s yellow, Hinge’s editorial black and white. Circles needed the same confidence: a warm, social look that feels like a night out, not a utility.
Tinder
Bumble
Hinge
Seamless onboarding
Long, front-loaded setups lose people before their first match, and on Fourplay you need a teammate before you can even start. Circles explains the group idea in one screen, lets people browse solo right away, then nudges them to invite friends.
Fourplay
Bumble
Hinge
Revisited
Matching that works for every duo.
Circles launched matching a girls’ duo with a boys’ duo, so it only worked for straight friends who wanted the same thing. Revisiting the project, I rebuilt matching around each person instead of each pair: everyone sets their own gender and who they date, and a duo match happens when each person meets someone they’re into.
How it works
One duo, two different preferences
Mike’s into women, Daniel’s into men. They swipe as one duo, and each of them is matched with someone they’re into.
Every orientation
Same rule, any combination
Gay, straight, bi, trans and nonbinary daters all follow one rule: every person in the duo meets someone they’re into.
01
Per-person preferences
Your friend doesn’t have to want the same people you do.
02
Private by default
Sexual orientation is optional and hidden unless you choose to show it.
03
Gender ≠ who you date
Two separate questions in onboarding — they used to be one.
Bringing it to life.
The interviews and competitive analysis shaped every screen in the high-fidelity prototype, which I refined over four to six weeks. Here’s where it landed.
One profile, two people.
Every group profile shows each member’s photo, name and age, with a green tag when your friend has already liked them. Tap a person, like Monica, to see her height, pronouns, location and what she’s looking for, then hop back to the group.
Bring a friend, not a stranger.
Circles starts with someone you already trust. Send an invite, watch it go from pending to accepted, and set up your group in one flow. You can browse solo while you wait.
Talk as a group, or one-on-one.
Every group profile shows each member’s photo, name and age, with a green tag when your friend has already liked them. Tap a person, like Monica, to see her height, pronouns, location and what she’s looking for, then hop back to the group.
Who you are and who you date are two questions.
Gender, pronouns and dating preferences are separate, optional fields you can update anytime. Sexual orientation stays hidden unless you choose to show it.
A match, and a first message that’s already written.
8 of 12 people said chats die right after the match. Now every match opens a group chat with a conversation starter you can shuffle, so nobody has to send the first awkward “hey.”
See who’s next.
After a match, one tap takes you back to discovery, where the Up next row previews the duos coming up. Circles Premium shows everyone who’s already liked you.
One profile, two people.
Every group profile shows each member’s photo, name and age, with a green tag when your friend has already liked them. Tap a person, like Monica, to see her height, pronouns, location and what she’s looking for, then hop back to the group.
Bring a friend, not a stranger.
Circles starts with someone you already trust. Send an invite, watch it go from pending to accepted, and set up your group in one flow. You can browse solo while you wait.
Talk as a group, or one-on-one.
Every group profile shows each member’s photo, name and age, with a green tag when your friend has already liked them. Tap a person, like Monica, to see her height, pronouns, location and what she’s looking for, then hop back to the group.
Who you are and who you date are two questions.
Gender, pronouns and dating preferences are separate, optional fields you can update anytime. Sexual orientation stays hidden unless you choose to show it.
A match, and a first message that’s already written.
8 of 12 people said chats die right after the match. Now every match opens a group chat with a conversation starter you can shuffle, so nobody has to send the first awkward “hey.”
See who’s next.
After a match, one tap takes you back to discovery, where the Up next row previews the duos coming up. Circles Premium shows everyone who’s already liked you.
Reflection
What I’d carry forward.
What I learned
01
Design with the engineer, not just for them.
Working side by side with the founder kept every screen buildable and got Circles onto the App Store.
02
Research can rewrite the brief.
Friends rarely want the same people. That one insight led to per-person preferences and opened Circles to every orientation.
03
Push past the first good idea.
8 of 12 said chats die after a match, so every match now opens a group chat with a starter ready.
What’s next
01
Test what shipped.
Run usability sessions and find where duos drop off between matching and meeting.
02
Bigger groups.
Let friend groups of three or more match together.
03
Plan the night, not just the match.
a feature to suggest nearby bars, restaurants and activities, so a match turns into real plans without leaving the app.