How should an online dating like Hinge platform design its product, algorithm, and strategy to effectively facilitate meaningful, high-quality connections in a competitive and complex digital market place?
How should an online dating like Hinge platform design its product, algorithm, and strategy to effectively facilitate meaningful, high-quality connections in a competitive and complex digital market place?
In 2011, Justin McLeod founded Hinge out of personal frustration with dating and a desire for a more effective way to meet people. The Hinge app, which at inception aimed at young professionals and leaned on users’ existing social networks to generate matches, was seen as a more thoughtful alternative to sites like Match.com; however, the platform struggled to gain traction. By 2015, the founder recognized the need for a complete overhaul and embarked on a redesign with a new matching algorithm. The changes that came with this drastic transformation uniquely helped Hinge position itself in a niche of serious relationships. As the company grows, new challenges emerge and the Hinge strategic team is left with many questions about what it means to create a high-quality connection and how to balance the tradeoff between total matches and meaningful ones. In this case study, students will learn how a digital dating marketplace like Hinge evolved its business model, product design, and algorithmic strategy to optimize meaningful connections. They will be asked to discuss challenges in building two-sided platforms, designing recommendation systems for human relationships, and balancing user experience with business growth.
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