Justin Mateen-A Founder of Tinder

Leah Brinkman
3 min readSep 24, 2018

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Who is Justin Mateen and why did I select him?

As I was brainstorming for this project, I kept experiencing a mental roadblock. I could not come up with anything. As a result, I picked up my phone and started thumbing through my social media and other various apps. When I started checking my tinder, it suddenly hit me. Tinder is an extremely user-focused dating app, the first of its kind really. Furthermore, it’s a platform that plays a huge role in the college experience today. With my app selected, I started researching the history of tinder and which designer I could hone in on. After doing some research, I decided to focus on Justin Mateen, the former Chief Marketing Officer.

Founding of Tinder (their business model and target audience)

Just like the app itself, the founding was very strategic and well thought out. Mateen, who had previously founded a social networking site for celebrities, worked with Sean Rad and Joe Munoz to launch the first version of Tinder. They experienced almost overnight success due to heavily marketing Tinder towards college students, a demographic known for having a high rate of casual dating and relationships. Mateen and his fellow co-founders would first show Tinder to a sorority, and many of them would download it. They would then walk over to the partnered fraternity and pitch the app to them. Once the guys downloaded the app, they could see many of the girls that were in the sorority they constantly had events with.

User-Centered Design Principles

Even though Tinder was only launched 6 years ago, it revolutionized the dating game with its new features and interface. As a user myself, I find it extremely easy and intuitive to use. Tinder’s is based solely on the swipe right motion. This is so successful because as American’s, we associate right with something we like or approve. In order to gather more information, I decided to interview my roommate, who is an avid fan of Tinder. When I asked her whether there is a learning curve to Tinder she pointed out that the first time you use Tinder it denotes which motions to do. Therefore, a first time user will never get confused as to which direction to swipe. However, the way Tinder demonstrates user-centered design principles the most is through its efficiency and appeal to instant gratification. Really, it’s not hard to swipe through about 100 people in 5 minutes and the odds are high that you will match with a good amount of people. As a result, it boosts people’s self-esteem and gets them hooked.

The Value of User-Centered Design

By keeping the user in mind through every step of the way, Tinder was able to grow their business much faster than they would otherwise. When Mateen was asked about Tinder’s interface he stated “when we developed the Swipe Right, we were thinking about the quickest way for users to get from Point A to Point B (seeing their matches)… If the design, action, and flow are all based on what will be easiest and the most natural, users will stay on the app longer and engage with it more — and more frequently.” This strategy has paid off for Tinder because in a short time of 6 years it has revolutionized the dating game. There are now loads of apps that employ the swipe right feature as well. As a college student myself, it seems like almost every single person I know uses Tinder or has used it at least once.

Key Takeaways

After researching for this assignment I understand just how important user-centered design is. In the end, nobody is going to want to use or product or service if it does not meet their needs.

Sources

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Leah Brinkman
Leah Brinkman

Written by Leah Brinkman

University of Cincinnati design student :-)

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