The interface I selected for this assignment was Bumble.

Bumble is an application aimed

at creating long lasting and empowering connections regarding love, life, and career. The mission

of Bumble is to promote accountability, equality, and kindness.

The founder of Bumble, Whitney Wolfe, uniquely designed the interface to be different

from other existing dating apps (Bumble). Bumble provides a unique experience because it

requires women to make the first move. In addition to this feature, aimed at challenging outdated

gender roles, Bumble has a wealth of other features. Users can choose among three different

connections when downloading the app. The options include date, bff, and bizz.

My persona focuses on the date function of Bumble. Upon selection of connection, the

user is offered the opportunity to customize their profile. Not only can you post up to six photos

of yourself, but you also write interests, background information, and anecdotal responses to

prompts. The goal is to cater the account to yourself with as many specifics as possible. If social

media and music are important to the user, there is an opportunity to connect all of the accounts.

Dating apps are extremely prevalent in the college atmosphere, which is why I wanted to explore

my project through the lens of my persona, Hannah Stone.

Hannah Stone is a culmination of the interviews and research I completed. Hannah is an

introverted 20 year old college student. She has an extremely busy schedule and feels

uncomfortable when talking to men. She prefers dating apps because she can avoid awkward

interactions, dictate the conversation, and find someone with similar interests. She’s tried other
apps, but feels like they are oriented for either people looking for hookups, or an older

population in general.

These concerns were voiced by two of my interviewees. Interviewer one (22y.o.) said, “I

try to stay away from Tinder because people only want to hook up or send cheesy pick up lines

that lead nowhere.” Research indicates that while the design of Bumble is largely borrowed from

Tinder, Tinder is considered much more casual than its counterpart (Bumble’s). Interviewer two

(24y.o.) also touched on the pitfalls of other dating apps. She said, “Other dating apps feel so

unproductive. Hinge is too serious and Tinder is too casual. Bumble feels balanced.”

Beyond investigating the interviewees' feelings towards dating apps, I asked why they

downloaded them in the first place. The answers were similar across the board. The consensus

centered around the difficulty to meet people with busy schedules and feeling socially awkward,

especially post-pandemic. Hannah Stone is the embodiment of these features. Hannah is a STEM

student, a notoriously hard major, that requires a lot of time and effort.

In addition, like most college students (and one of the interviewees), she has a job after

classes. This lack of time and feelings of social discomfort creates the perfect incentive to

download a dating app. My interviewees were not alone in these tendencies. In fact, Bumble’s

19% market share makes it the 2nd top-grossing dating app in the United States, after Tinder

40% share (Bumble’s). Additionally, Bumble monthly downloads exceed 1.5 million (Bumble’s).
 I described Hannah as a whole and dynamic person, so she would be easily recognizable

to other college students who relate to her life and daily stressors. To make her seem even more

realistic and relatable, I included digital stats that were representative of my interviewees.

Interviewees one through three all listed their phone as their primary device with their laptop as

secondary.

Like other college students, Hannah tried other dating apps, but was displeased with their

outcome and had to look elsewhere. She was driven to dating apps because she felt challenged

by the social terrain. There were so many people around she felt overwhelmed and unable to

have productive conversations. Additionally, she didn’t have the energy to socialize with people

she didn’t know or couldn’t relate to.

Bumble offers the solutions to all of these challenges. Bumble allows for intimate but

indirect conversations. Bumble emphasizes the person, instead of their appearance. They do this

by including prompts to encourage people to find individuals with similar interests. Bumble

gives users the ability to sort through people and engage in conversations with

them–conversations users can start or stop whenever. Plus, if users make a strong enough

connection with someone online, they will feel less awkward talking to them in person.

In conclusion, I chose Hannah Stone because she acts as a logical user for Bumble.

Bumble’s goal is to empower women and let them make the first move (Riki). Bumble makes

their mission statement extremely clear and prioritizes mutual respect and kindness, something

that every college student wants in a partner.

 Citations

● “Bumble’s Revenue and Usage Statistics (2022).” Business of Apps, 6 Sept. 2022,

https://www.businessofapps.com/data/bumble-statistics/.

● “Bumble - Bumble's Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd Talks Building Bumble -

and Fighting for Gender Equality.” Bumble Buzz,

https://bumble.com/the-buzz/a-letter-from-whitney-wolfe-herd-founder-and-ceo.

● Riki Thompson Associate Professor of Digital Rhetoric and Writing Studies. “Does It

Really Empower Women to Expect Them to Make the First Move?” The Conversation,

13 Sept. 2022,

https://theconversation.com/does-it-really-empower-women-to-expect-them-to-make-the-

first-move-175032#:~:text=Bumble%20brands%20itself%20as%20a,with%20men%20th

ey%20match%20with.