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I made a dating app about going out to restaurants and everyone hated it

4 points by shigye ↗ HN
I made an app called Dine. It's available only for iPhone for now. Dine is a dating app focused on setting up the first date and meeting over food and drinks at the best restaurants and bars near you.

When we launched 6 months ago it seemed like everyone hated it besides some people who really saw the concept. Our attempt is make first dates actually happen which is a problem on big dating apps like tinder and happn...so may matches and never a first date.

Anyways, we made a lot of changes with our UI and some other small things. People seem to really be enjoying Dine now and the reception is very good overall.

Are their any single people or app people out there that can give me feedback on Dine? Feedback is the best way for me to improve so any lines positive or negative would be great. Just please be respectful and constructive with your responses.

You can check out Dine here but you will have to cut and paste - https://goo.gl/rqLDfJ

16 comments

[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 50.4 ms ] thread
Jaruzel
Do you have a longer write up on the changes you had to make? It would be beneficial for other app developers to read I think.
shigye
I will post something fresh soon.

Stay tuned.

hijinks
Ya in my opinion limited it to just food and drinks(?) is a horrible idea.

If its food AND drinks, then generally a rule of thumb is you don't want a first date over dinner for example. Its a terrible return on investment. Most first dates end with one person not wanting to see the other. So its just awkward.. who pays the guy or a split. If its a guy then he's paying a ton of money for the potential to see that person again which usually won't happen

I never had a first date with anyone over a meal. It was always something where one party could easily cut it short if needed or people felt a lot of money wasn't invested in a first date.

siquick
Agreed, meal for a first date can be one of the most awkward situations ever. Best to get a drink or doing an activity like bungee jumping or a music gig.
shigye
There is actually logic behind why Dine is based on going out to eat or drink. The problem with dating apps is the fact that people on apps like tinder are swiping on loads of people...when a match actually happens, what was the point of the match? Did you want to meet that person IRL from the time you swiped? Or did you want to see who you could potentially match with and then make a decision from there.

Not only do we personally feel like going out for food and drinks is the ultimate ice breaker, but because of this concept, before people send out a Dine request, they are aware that this is a commitment for actually meeting for a first date. As a result, we effectively are able to increase that match to actual date ratio so something of 50% of matches will lead to dates on Dine. Tinder is less than 10% which is terrible. Just my two cents.

siquick
People want to ascertain two things before they commit to a date:

a) if someone is a weirdo b) if that is any kind of spark at all

This is usually done by exchanging chat messages.

Meeting someone for a meal can be an amazing experience if you click, but if you don't then it can be the most painful 2 hours of your life.

>before people send out a Dine request, they are aware that this is a commitment for actually meeting for a first date.<

I'm sure your intentions are good but I hate this. It makes it sound like I'm signing a contract, rather than doing something which I should enjoy. Plus what's to stop someone just not turning up?

I don't mean to put a downer on your app, maybe it's just not for me. Sure Tinder can be frustrating a lot of the time, but people use it because it works. I have multiple friends who have got married to people they've met on it, and I've got multiple friends who just use it to get laid.

shigye
You are calling out all valid things that could potentially result in flaws, but you are missing a valid factor. First, let's think, why do people join dating apps in the first place? It's because there is a desire to truly meet someone - IRL is the end game. You said Tinder works, but I really just can't agree with you on that. It really doesn't work like it used to. Too many matches and no dates and it's exactly for the reason you said, there is no contract or commitment to follow through so people just go inactive or unmatch with people they shouldn't have swiped right on in the first place.

When people are using Dine, as you mentioned they realize that this is a first date app which in result leads users to send requests out more cautiously. Yes, people need to determine if they are weirdos and that is why after a match is made users can have conversations...but people are adults and they need to use their best judgement on this just like one would do one tinder. I don't agree with there having to be a spark though. As stated, people want to get out and meet. Sometimes good looks, decent job, educated and someone with similar interests who is single is enough of a reason to meet for a dinner if not food at least a cup of coffee which can all be setup through Dine. You should totally give it a try though. To me it sounds like you don't want to have dinner as a first date, but you can make it smaller like just a drink or coffee (like I mentioned). I understand your logic though.

kzisme
This would probably be more beneficial under "Show HN"
shigye
SHOW HN? What does this mean?
kzisme
When links are posted they can be put into categories such as "Ask HN" or "Show HN" at the top of your screen within the orange bar.

Your post currently resides within "Ask HN".

ryanlm
I'm a little skeptical about following this link. Why can't you just give a direct link? Who knows where that link will lead to? I certainly don't and I'm not about to try it and become a victim of drive by downloads, etc.
asteadman
Pro Tip: adding a plus sign to a goo.gl shortlink will tell you where a link goes and some stats about it. https://goo.gl/rqLDfJ+ . Similar for other popular URL shorteners.
shigye
thanks man I appreciate it.
shigye
sorry about that buddy. First time on here. I will make sure to give direct links next time or at least put a plus sign tag so you know where it takes you. Thanks for looking out.
ryanlm
Absolutely no problem, buddy. I'm glad to be able to look out for suspicious links like the one you posted. With security issues the way they are today, you can never be too careful.