Between February and September 2025, the BIIT Lab worked closely with the dating app Feeld to enhance features that encourage self-discovery in sexuality and gender, promote dating safety and health, and foster equitable technology design. The primary goals of the project were to answer the company’s call to collaborate with trained academics to support identity exploration, improve communication quality and connection online, and enhance app member retention. As a dating app specifically designed to support diverse queer identities and non-traditional relationships—including polyamory and ethical non-monogamy—Feeld has established a track record of collaborating with academics to produce research-driven insights about the dating landscape. This includes publishing studies and articles that explore various aspects of modern dating through their State of Dating series. The BIIT Lab studies assessed the core concerns of marginalized app users by translating research insights into actionable redesigns, including the creation of Reflections, a new quiz-style self-exploration feature aiming to encourage people’s self-development of intimacy and sexual/gender identity.
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During the ideation phase, the team began by conducting in-depth focus group interviews with app members in both the United States and the United Kingdom to better understand the challenges and nuances of their online and offline dating experiences. Communications and Media doctoral candidate, Mel Monier, and Psychology doctoral candidate, Jasmine Banks, designed a focus group study, while Psychology Ph.D. Janae Sayler and Sociology Ph.D. student Erykah Benson moderated focus groups and synthesized findings into a series of insights reports translating interview findings for the Feeld UX Team. Communications and Media Undergraduate Senior, Gabe Paredes, conducted a competitor analysis, assessing the advantages and disadvantages of competing dating apps.
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The BIIT lab team developed an entirely new app feature. Feature redesign recommendations were provided via user mock-ups, graphics, and collaborative Miro boards, designed entirely by students. The team provided actionable recommendations for cross-functional teams including product designers, the user experience team, and copyeditors. Our final product involved delivering design recommendations with full visual mock-ups, designed by Gabe Paredes and copy language executed by the entire team and finalized by Dr. Apryl Williams.
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This portfolio of work is part of the BIIT Lab’s broader commitment to researching the impact of digital technologies on members of marginalized communities.
Read the complete article at LSA Communication & Media
