Master’s thesis
Seduction in the digital age
When I chose which territory to study and explore for my master's thesis in 2017, online dating was at a tipping point. Meeting somebody online was getting less frowned upon and new apps were developed every month: however, more and more voices condemned these not-so-new digital tools my generation used to find love.
I was fascinated by these growing criticisms and how romantic quest was actually happening online, so I decided to investigate the blockers, driving forces and specificities of online seduction, as well as the cultural and psychological stakes. With an analytical and exploratory approach, I wanted to reinvent the online dating experience while questioning the designer's role.
My master's thesis, held in 2017, was composed of a theoretical part, in the form of a book. It summarized past research and history around seduction and matchmaking professions and devices, as well as my observations on the wide spectrum of dating websites and apps.
Most importantly, this work consisted in design explorations : I designed dating apps, devices or workshops and led tests to collect user feedback with UX design methodology. This helped me discover and orient further explorations or final concepts.
Online interactions have impressively changed since I presented this work, and I'll always remain intrigued by how online dating evolves.
What
When
UX & UI Design | Design Fiction | Editorial and graphic design
2017
Who
School | Master in Interactive Design, Léonard de Vinci school, Villefontaine, France
Design supervision | Jean-Baptiste Joatton, France Corbel, Sandrine Chatagon, Eric Fache
Philosophy supervision | Guillaume Guiroud
Master thesis jury | Thierry Delor, Carine Lallemand, Nicolas Rosette, Magali Rofidal
Featured in
UX design processes : 30 fundamental methods to design optimal experiences, 2nd edition — 2017 | Carine Lallemand & Guillaume Gronier
The banner illustration is one of my book cover explorations.
Master thesis book
Design concepts
Ama
Ama is a fictional design work where an Algorithmic Mathmaking Advisor collects and analyses one's online data to identify the nearest soulmate depending on user characteristics. Using social media ads and nudges, Ama brings the user and their soulmate to meet in the physical world, without any of them being aware of its influence.
Pillow talk
Design concept exploring the potential of users' voice to interact with others on dating apps. When the sun sets, users are invited to whisper their message rather than to type them
NB : This was conceived before the voice notes era
Aubio #1
Continuing my research around how voice brings authenticity and intimacy while discovering somebody online, I started prototyping an application where users' dating profiles would only be composed of a voice note. The application would guide users in structuring and recording the voice note, and would analyze it to match profiles based on detected key words.
Aubio #2
With the help of the designer Alex Noryn Sin, we further explored how to bring somebody's identity and specificities when it comes to creating a voice note dating profile : we created a quiz video which invites the user to quickly answer lighthearted questions.
Meeting point
One of my thesis considerations was also reintroducing tangibility in the online dating process : using augmented reality, I prototyped a dating app where users could post their profile in physical places. This place would be the only place to leave a note and start a conversation with another person — or even continue the conversation.
I used post-its to run a low-fidelity test with participants from my school.
