FERA
FERA
FERA
2024 - 2025
2024 - 2025
Dating
Dating
Social
Social
Mobile
Mobile
A matchmaking app for the BAPS Hindu community, rebuilt from a dated web platform into a mobile-first experience.
A matchmaking app for the BAPS Hindu community, rebuilt from a dated web platform into a mobile-first experience.
A matchmaking app for the BAPS Hindu community, rebuilt from a dated web platform into a mobile-first experience.
Community & Users
Community & Users
Community & Users
FERA helps members of the BAPS community find someone to build a life with. Faith isn’t a footnote here. Members observe things like daily puja, Sunday sabha, and dietary practices such as avoiding onion and garlic, and they follow them to different degrees. A general dating app has no room for that. FERA was designed around it.
FERA helps members of the BAPS community find someone to build a life with. Faith isn’t a footnote here. Members observe things like daily puja, Sunday sabha, and dietary practices such as avoiding onion and garlic, and they follow them to different degrees. A general dating app has no room for that. FERA was designed around it.
FERA helps members of the BAPS community find someone to build a life with. Faith isn’t a footnote here. Members observe things like daily puja, Sunday sabha, and dietary practices such as avoiding onion and garlic, and they follow them to different degrees. A general dating app has no room for that. FERA was designed around it.
ABOUT BAPS
ABOUT BAPS
BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha is a Hindu organization rooted in the Swaminarayan tradition. It’s known for its hand-carved mandirs, a huge volunteer network, and a focus on family, faith, and daily discipline.
A unique lifestyle that required a unique matchmaking solution.
BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha is a Hindu organization rooted in the Swaminarayan tradition. It’s known for its hand-carved mandirs, a huge volunteer network, and a focus on family, faith, and daily discipline.
A unique lifestyle that required a unique matchmaking solution.
ABOUT BAPS
BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha is a Hindu organization rooted in the Swaminarayan tradition. It’s known for its hand-carved mandirs, a huge volunteer network, and a focus on family, faith, and daily discipline.
A unique lifestyle that required a unique matchmaking solution.
Observance lives right on the profile.
Observance lives right on the profile.
Where it started
Where it started
Where it started
The original FERA was a desktop web app that felt its age. Members were expected to find their partner through a browser form. My job was to turn it into a mobile app people would actually want to open.
The original FERA was a desktop web app that felt its age. Members were expected to find their partner through a browser form. My job was to turn it into a mobile app people would actually want to open.
The original FERA was a desktop web app that felt its age. Members were expected to find their partner through a browser form. My job was to turn it into a mobile app people would actually want to open.
Three ways in
Three ways in
Three ways in
The old platform
I ran through the existing FERA site to see what worked, what was missing, and what felt like chore.
The old platform
I ran through the existing FERA site to see what worked, what was missing, and what felt like chore.
The apps people actually use
I went through the dating apps people around me were already on, looking at which patterns felt familiar and which felt casual.
The apps people actually use
I went through the dating apps people around me were already on, looking at which patterns felt familiar and which felt casual.
The members
I interviewed friends and community members who used FERA about why they left and what they used instead.
The members
I interviewed friends and community members who used FERA about why they left and what they used instead.
[FILL one real interview insight or paraphrased quote]
Built to feel serious
Built to feel serious
Built to feel serious
Research kept landing in the same place: everyone was on Hinge. Of the mainstream apps, it’s the one people treat as being about something long-term, which is exactly what FERA’s members are looking for. So Hinge became the baseline mental model. Where the community needed something Hinge doesn’t offer, FERA goes its own way.
Research kept landing in the same place: everyone was on Hinge. Of the mainstream apps, it’s the one people treat as being about something long-term, which is exactly what FERA’s members are looking for. So Hinge became the baseline mental model. Where the community needed something Hinge doesn’t offer, FERA goes its own way.
Research kept landing in the same place: everyone was on Hinge. Of the mainstream apps, it’s the one people treat as being about something long-term, which is exactly what FERA’s members are looking for. So Hinge became the baseline mental model. Where the community needed something Hinge doesn’t offer, FERA goes its own way.
Honest without oversharing
Honest without oversharing
Honest without oversharing
The hardest problem was letting people describe their observance without it feeling like a confession. The old platform asked how often you do things (sometimes, rarely, never), which pushed people to rate their own faith. I collapsed those scales into yes, no, and open to. They’re clearer to answer, easier to read, and “open to” reads as a soft yes, which keeps the door open instead of drawing lines.
The hardest problem was letting people describe their observance without it feeling like a confession. The old platform asked how often you do things (sometimes, rarely, never), which pushed people to rate their own faith. I collapsed those scales into yes, no, and open to. They’re clearer to answer, easier to read, and “open to” reads as a soft yes, which keeps the door open instead of drawing lines.
The hardest problem was letting people describe their observance without it feeling like a confession. The old platform asked how often you do things (sometimes, rarely, never), which pushed people to rate their own faith. I collapsed those scales into yes, no, and open to. They’re clearer to answer, easier to read, and “open to” reads as a soft yes, which keeps the door open instead of drawing lines.
The old platform asked members to rate their own observance.
The old platform asked members to rate their own observance.
Sensitive questions get an “I’d rather not say” that never shows on your profile.
Sensitive questions get an “I’d rather not say” that never shows on your profile.
Sensitive questions get an “I’d rather not say” that never shows on your profile.
Faith filters default to “Open to all”, so nobody is filtered out by accident.
Faith filters default to “Open to all”, so nobody is filtered out by accident.
Faith filters default to “Open to all”, so nobody is filtered out by accident.
The details
The details
The details
Around the core matching flow, I designed the full app: nav, messaging, moderation, and a light and dark theme.
Around the core matching flow, I designed the full app: nav, messaging, moderation, and a light and dark theme.
Around the core matching flow, I designed the full app: nav, messaging, moderation, and a light and dark theme.
In 2023, I gave FERA a floating, frosted-glass nav: translucent and blurred, with the feed scrolling right underneath. It’s the same direction iOS has since made its default.
In 2023, I gave FERA a floating, frosted-glass nav: translucent and blurred, with the feed scrolling right underneath. It’s the same direction iOS has since made its default.
Profiles read like a conversation, with photos and prompts instead of a form.
Profiles read like a conversation, with photos and prompts instead of a form.
[SCREENSHOT] fera-messaging
[SCREENSHOT] fera-messaging
More than the pixels
More than the pixels
More than the pixels
The team behind FERA wasn’t made up of software people, so the design work didn’t stop at screens. I shaped the business requirements, laid out how the app would actually get shipped, and briefed the developers they brought on.
The team behind FERA wasn’t made up of software people, so the design work didn’t stop at screens. I shaped the business requirements, laid out how the app would actually get shipped, and briefed the developers they brought on.
The team behind FERA wasn’t made up of software people, so the design work didn’t stop at screens. I shaped the business requirements, laid out how the app would actually get shipped, and briefed the developers they brought on.
Turned community needs into clear product requirements
Defined the path from design to a shippable build
Briefed and handed off to the client’s development team
FERA is currently in development with the client’s engineering team.
FERA is currently in development with the client’s engineering team.