🦆 Interaction Nerds by UXA | S24.04
The Valentine's Issue: Social Psychology, Design of Dating Apps and Culture, Beginning Your Love Story with Figma, and Tinderships with Shannon Lin!
👋 Announcements — UX Tools!
Feeling lonely with Valentine’s Day coming up? 😔💔
UXA has your back with a UX Tools workshop TONIGHT on Tuesday, February 13th in Tepper 3801. The beginner workshop covering basic tools, auto layout, and prototyping is from 5-6PM and the advanced workshop covering components, design systems, and motion is from 6-7PM. 🔪 Sharpen your UX Skills at either (or both) workshops!
Club Mixer!
Coming out of Valentine’s without a cutie? 😔 Join UXA, Design for America (DFA), and Business Technology Group (BTG) for a club mixer on Feb 16th to meet and mingle! 🤩
🍎 Campus Compass — 85-241 Social Psychology
Written & edited by: 🥸 Kaitlyn Ng
Are you curious why you’re attracted to the people you’re attracted to? Take 85-241 Social Psychology to learn all about the inner workings of your relationships! 👯 🤼 👭
🤔 What is 85-241 Social Psychology?
In this course, you'll explore how people’s behavior, feelings, and thoughts are influenced by their social environment. Specifically you’ll study the origins of attraction, prejudice/discrimination, conformity, and aggression.
🧐 What do you do in 85-241 Social Psychology?
You’ll learn about social psychology concepts, theories, and applications through weekly lectures. Then, you’ll strengthen your understanding through written homework assignments and personal essays, where you apply social psychology concepts to your own life.
🤔 Who should take 85-241 Social Psychology?
This course is for everyone! There are no prerequisites. It’s a general education requirement for many majors, and it fulfills the psychology prerequisite requirement for anyone interested in additional majoring in HCI!
💓 Editor’s Pick — Design of Dating Apps and Design Culture
Written & edited by: 🕺 Arin Pantja
Swipe left or swipe right? Pass or like a profile? Dating apps have revolutionized the way people approach and perceive dating — from sifting through hyper-curated profiles of people through a deck of cards like Tinder and Bumble to grids of scrollable profiles on Grindr, how much of our dating culture interactions are tied to the way dating apps are designed? 🤔
💭 “One morning, I was wiping the fog away from my bathroom mirror after a shower, and the swiping motion hit me as the easiest and most natural way for users to navigate from one potential match to another,” – Jonathan Badeen, co-founder of Tinder
💕 The quest for love through gamified interfaces
Most dating apps heavily prioritize user profiles, especially pictures, shifting our attention to focus on visuals, height, job titles amongst many other details. The gamified act of swiping left and right accelerates the ‘matching process’ but arguably reduces potential connections to superficial judgments. 👀
These interactions are further gamified by the rush of dopamine that comes with the occasional match and the perception of choice in abundance, leaving us to crave more in an endless dating pool of people. Features like Tinder’s ‘Super likes’ and Hinge ‘roses’ give users a way to demonstrate strong interest in someone, yet might end up coming off as too forward for some people. Through these interactions, do we start treating each other as mere commodities, disposable and interchangeable? 😶
✋ Think about shopping at a large grocery store versus a small corner store where you know what you need and where to find it. Because of the endless possibilities, we are pressured by the illusion to find the ‘perfect’ partner.”
🔭 The future of dating culture in the digital age
Hinge began to re-define conventional dating interactions by straying away from a swipe-based interface towards more intentional interactions — from Q&A prompts to voice notes which went viral. 💥
💖 “I would like to see dating apps incorporating filters that are more relevant to a long-lasting relationship, such as communication and conflict resolution styles, values and how we handle stress.”
At the same time, many dating apps are finding niche markets and creating safe spaces for people such as Lex – originally a dating app, now a space for queer friendships. With community based apps, there are opportunities to allow users to explore their own identities, find communities, explore sexual interactions or relationship dynamics and more. Technology can change entire cultures and the way perceive and interact with each other, but human connection is something that still can’t be forced. ❤️🔥
🎭 Resource — Begin Your Love Story with Figma:
Getting your account ready for your date with UXA at UX Tools Event!
Written & edited by: 🚐 Sherry Chen
Getting dolled up for our Valentine’s Eve UXTools workshop? 😍 Remember to upgrade Your Basic Team to Education Pro Team! Create as many collaborative files as your heart desires, with as many cherished individuals as you wish.
🧑💻 Interview — Learning More About Tinder’s Product Design Internship with Shannon Lin
Written & edited by: 🧸 Ahana Banerjee and 🍳 Evelyn Lui
Want to design for love instead of just looking for love? 😻 Tinder’s product design internships (lovingly called the Tindership) applications are live! Check our our interview with Shannon Lin, a Senior Environments Designer who interned with Tinder in 2022 to learn more about her experience and impact working on the most popular dating app in the world! 🤩
Being in a larger tech company like Tinder meant having a solid foundation already in place. Working within a framework of established foundations, rules, and design systems was something I really appreciated.
— Shannon Lin
🛝 Fun — Sweethearts Situationships—Messages As Blurry As Your Relationship!
Written & edited by: 🍳 Evelyn Lui
Wondering what to get your situationship this Valentine’s? 🤔 Worry not, because Sweethearts Candy has you covered!
Here’s the perfect gift for your confusing relationship: the Situationship Box filled with blurry messages and mixed signals! Sweethearts is packaging its misprinted candies into Valentine’s gifts as a way to tap into current pop culture and address its Gen-Z customer base. Give them a try with your special (or not?) other!
🤔 Who’s behind the scenes?
The editors behind this week’s issue are 🥸 Kaitlyn Ng, 🧸 Ahana Banerjee, 🕺 Arin Pantja, 🍳 Evelyn Lui, 🚐 Sherry Chen, and 🦝 Caleb Sun.
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