Role: Founding Product Designer

Client Name: Bammby

Industry: Dating & Social Networking

Scope: Mobile app design (iOS & Android)

Year: 2023

I led the complete mobile experience for Bammby, a dating app built around thorough identity verification and AI-driven compatibility matching rather than the endless-swipe model most apps default to. Working directly with the founding team in 2023, I took the product from user research through launch.

Dating apps have a trust crisis, fake profiles, catfishing, harassment, and connections built on appearance alone. The swipe-based model rewards disposable interactions over real compatibility, leaving users frustrated and unsafe. Bammby set out to replace that model with verification-first matching, prioritizing quality connections through mandatory identity verification, AI-driven compatibility scoring, and user-controlled profile access.

Surveys and in-depth interviews with 13+ users surfaced the insights that shaped everything downstream, 76% considered identity verification non-negotiable, 62% were frustrated by fake profiles, 68% wanted matches based on shared interests rather than looks, and 41% had experienced harassment on dating platforms.

From this, I built four personas, intentional daters tired of casual swiping, newcomers wanting guidance without complexity, busy professionals needing efficient smart matching, and safety-conscious users needing strong reassurance after bad experiences. The guiding principle became "trust first, connection second": every interaction, from onboarding to messaging, had to reinforce safety and authenticity rather than optimize for engagement.

Personality-Driven Onboarding Onboarding trains the AI on personality and preference data upfront, so compatibility percentages are calculated before a user ever sees a match, reversing the usual match-first, learn-later order.

Mandatory Facial Verification Every profile must pass a facial verification check before going live; failing it means starting over rather than joining unverified. This directly answers the 62% of surveyed users frustrated by fake profiles.

Rose-Based Profile Requests A digital-rose request system gates who can initiate contact, creating intentional interactions and reducing harassment, designed carefully to add real value without functioning as a paywall.

Ghost Mode A premium anonymous-browsing option for high-profile users who'd otherwise avoid dating apps due to visibility concerns.

The hardest balance throughout, keeping verification thorough without making it feel invasive, and designing for a wide range of comfort levels with both dating apps and the underlying technology.

10,000 downloads on day one, ranking number 1 on both App Store and Google Play dating categories, and a sustained 3,000+ daily active users. 78% of beta testers said they'd switch from their current dating app to Bammby. The app has since grown to 100,000+ downloads on both platforms.