Case Study · HSE 521 · Spring 2025 · Grade: A

SWERV —
Dating App
to Network

Transforming a proximity-based dating app into a goal-oriented professional networking platform — rethinking intent, onboarding, matching, and connection from the ground up.

My Role
Lead UI/UX Designer
Team
Team Error 404 · 4 members
Course
HSE 521 · Human Systems Engineering
Tools
Figma · FigJam · Maze
SWERV — Professional Networking App
Overview

Same energy. Entirely different purpose.

SWERV started as a dating app that helped people connect in real life instead of online — guiding users to places where there were more potential matches nearby. Our team was tasked with creating "SWERV for Business": a professional version of the app that maintained its location-based energy but repurposed it for goal-oriented professional networking — hiring, mentorship, co-founding, partnerships, and research collaboration.

25%
Increase in user retention after redesign
35%
Reduction in bounce rate via A/B testing
15+
User interviews conducted
A
Final grade · HSE 521
The Challenge

Redefining purpose without losing the product's soul

The primary challenge was redefining the platform from casual social interaction to goal-oriented professional networking. This required rethinking user intent, interaction flows, and feature priorities to align with users seeking career growth, collaboration, and industry connections — not personal relationships. The swiping culture had to go. The location energy had to stay.

🎭
Wrong Mental Model
Swipe-based dating UI creates wrong expectations for professional users — needed a fundamentally different interaction paradigm while keeping location-awareness
🎯
Intent Clarity
Users needed to signal whether they were seeking mentorship, hiring, co-founders, or partners — at the profile level, not buried mid-conversation
🔒
Trust & Verification
Professional networking requires identity verification and privacy controls the original app completely lacked — sharing location with strangers required a trust foundation
Research

15+ interviews. 3 pivotal decisions.

We applied UX research methods to understand how users interact with networking platforms and what challenges they face making meaningful professional connections. Research methods included user interviews, competitive analysis, and affinity mapping — which directly shaped the three biggest design decisions.

Key Pain Points Found
LinkedIn feels cold and transactional in face-to-face networking situations
No way to signal professional intent before a conversation starts
Sign-up and profile setup feels clunky on mobile, slowing users down
Too many features upfront with not enough guidance on what to do first
No clear way to track who they've met or follow up with contacts post-event
Design Decisions Made
Intent filters (mentorship / hiring / co-founder / partner) set during onboarding, visible on every profile
Icebreaker prompts on profiles so first contact is purposeful, not awkward
Streamlined 3-step onboarding — phone verify → create account → set profile goals
Visible Mode toggle — control when you appear to nearby professionals
Match History view so users can track and follow up with connections
User Personas

Designed for two distinct user types

We created two personas grounded in interview data to keep our design decisions anchored to real user needs throughout the process.

Alex Carter
Startup Founder · 32 · San Francisco
Goals
  • Quickly find and sign up for events that align with startup goals
  • Connect with investors, partners, and co-founders in person
  • Build a network that moves the startup forward — not collect business cards
Frustrations
  • Hard to find events relevant to startup funding or growth
  • Overwhelming interfaces with too many features upfront
  • No way to track contacts or follow up after events
"I want to build real connections that move my startup forward — not just collect business cards."
Jordan Lee
Recent Grad · 23 · Chicago · Job Hunting
Goals
  • Connect with recruiters and hiring managers beyond submitting resumes
  • Find in-person networking opportunities easily on mobile
  • Get mentorship and career advice from experienced professionals
Frustrations
  • No feedback after submitting job applications online
  • Networking feels impersonal and surface-level
  • Clunky mobile experiences when navigating job boards
"Getting a job shouldn't just be about submitting applications — real networking matters."
User Journey Map

Job hunting with SWERV — Jordan's story

We mapped Jordan's full journey from discovering SWERV to landing a job offer — identifying key emotion peaks and valleys that shaped our design priorities.

Discovery
1–2 days
  • Sees SWERV post shared by university career center
  • Visits site and downloads app after seeing it used for in-person networking
"Finally — something that's not just another job board."
Onboarding
2–3 days
  • Signs up and fills out profile with career interests and availability
  • Swipes through local career mixers and recruiter meetups
  • Adds 3 companies and follows 2 events to calendar
"Setting up my profile is annoying, but it's still easier than writing a resume."
Engagement
1–2 weeks
  • Attends first in-person SWERV networking night
  • Chats with 3 recruiters and gets a card from one startup founder
  • 8 messages sent from the app post-event to follow up
"That was way less intimidating than a formal interview."
Follow-Up
1 week
  • Schedules 1:1 coffee chat with the recruiter she met
  • Updates SWERV profile based on new experience and feedback
  • Starts seeing more tailored event recommendations
"I hope I made a good impression…"
Results
1–2 weeks
  • Receives interview invitation from the startup via SWERV
  • Interviews go well — gets an offer two weeks later
  • Updates status on SWERV to "Hired" and shares a thank-you post
"It feels amazing to land a job through actual conversation."
Design Process

Lo-fi → Hi-fi → Prototype

01
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Created lo-fi wireframes across all key flows — onboarding, visible mode, main search screen, profile setup, match history, messaging, and settings. The goal was structural clarity before any visual decisions. We tested multiple approaches for the main browse interaction — map-first vs. list-first — before settling on the map + list hybrid.
02
High-Fidelity Design
Moved to Figma for high-fidelity prototypes — establishing a teal/green accent system on a white base. Designed all screens end-to-end: phone verification → account creation → profile setup (networking goals, industries, preferred roles, skills, experience) → main map screen → profile view with icebreaker prompts → handshake flow → match history → messaging → settings.
SWERV high fidelity screens
03
Key Interaction: Visible Mode
The Visible Mode toggle was one of our most important UX decisions — letting users control exactly when they appear to nearby professionals. When on, your location is active and others can find you on the map. When off, you're invisible. This gave professionals the control they needed to feel safe using a location-based app in a professional context.
SWERV — Visible Mode map view SWERV — Main screen with nearby professionals
04
Handshake Flow — Replacing the Swipe
We replaced swipe mechanics entirely with the "Handshake" — a deliberate, intentional connection request. Users view a profile with personality tags and icebreaker prompts, choose a conversation starter, then send a Handshake. The recipient sees "Handshake sent — please wait for a response" which changes to "Pending" until accepted. This made every connection feel considered, not casual.
SWERV — Profile with icebreaker prompts SWERV — Handshake sent confirmation
Final Screens

End-to-end flow

From discovering nearby professionals on the map to sending a Handshake and waiting for a response — the full redesigned SWERV experience.

Map — Visible Mode on
Map · Visible Mode
Search — Nearby professionals
Search · Nearby People
Profile — Icebreaker prompts
Profile · Icebreakers
Handshake — Pending state
Handshake · Pending
Interactive Prototype
Try the full SWERV prototype on Figma
Tap through the complete onboarding, search, profile, and handshake flow
Open in Figma →
Reflection & Outcome

What this project taught me

"Transitioning SWERV from a dating platform to a professional networking tool required not just a visual redesign, but a complete shift in user intent and interaction design."

This project helped me understand how redefining a product's purpose significantly impacts the entire UX. Features that work well in one context — like swiping — may be completely wrong in another. Every design element must support the primary purpose of the product. I learned to think beyond interface design and focus on product strategy, user behavior, and experience flow. The iterative process — where ideas were tested, refined, and improved based on feedback — was central to arriving at a solution that professionals could actually trust.

User Research Persona Development Journey Mapping Lo-Fi Wireframing Hi-Fi Prototyping A/B Testing Interaction Design Mobile UX Intent Architecture Figma FigJam Real Client
← Back to Work Next Case Study Operation Pawfection →