Improve User Experience

When it comes to online dating, "user engagement" and "effectiveness" are excellent indicators of the quality of user experience. 

User Engagement

"The virtual dating experience ... is surprisingly intimate, which helps explain the relative success of virtual dating compared with the major dating sites" (Discovery Channel News, 2009)

Virtual dating helps boost user engagement. To demonstrate its impact we had set up a virtual dating site and collected data over a 12-month period. More than 15,000 people registered on the site. We then compared the stats to traditional online dating.

We particularly paid attention one key indicator of user engagement, "Time Onsite." According to Alexa.com (left graph) and Compete.com (right graph), leading providers of Internet metrics, an average visitor spent 50%-100% longer on our virtual dating site than on some of the top dating sites, such as Lavalife and Date (virtual dating is indicated in blue).

These results clearly show how virtual dating can dramatically boost user engagement.

Effectiveness

"A study by researchers at Harvard and Duke showed that couples who go on virtual dates before a face-to-face date are two times more likely to go on a second date with a person" (MSNBC, 2008)

Virtual dating improves online dating experience and leads to real life relationships, which is the ultimate measure of "effectiveness."

A recent study conducted Harvard University, M.I.T. and Duke University found that people who went on virtual dates had better chemistry in face-to-face meetings than people who only viewed profiles. The researchers concluded that people who go on virtual dates first tend to like each other more when they meet in-person and have more successful live dates (Frost et al., 2008).

Our own case study research shows that the safe nature of virtual dating particularly appeals to women, as they feel less pressure to meet a stranger just on the basis of his profile. They also see virtual dating as a comfortable way to establish a sense of familiarity and a common bond before meeting in person.

Would you like to know how virtual dating can help improve user experience for your members? We would be pleased to share with you practical ideas and suggestions. Call us at (416) 623-7445 or email info@omnidate.com.