This topic of designing for better connections has also been studied in relation to videogames. Johnson and Mitchell (2016) reviewed different kinds of matchmaking systems in videogames that go beyond matchmaking based on skills. Overdog was a matchmaking service for Xbox One that matched players based on their interest, although it seems as though its activity was low. They also found that matchmaking based on location was important for the gaming community (Johnson & Mitchell, 2016). Most matchmaking applications do follow the location principle either restricting users to see people in their area based on their location data or a location picked by their choice. Although the latter makes it possible for users to choose locations in which they are actually not in, losing some of its purpose.
In one way matchmaking apps that are available today are not that different from a game. The swiping almost feels like a game in the way that one is making rapid decisions based on brief and direct information, and receiving celebratory animations once there is a match. From some interviews about Bumble and Bumble BF some found this rapid swiping positive in order to find compatible people based on interests, and “eliminating” those who do not share the same interests, while others felt like there is too little information. Although the function already existed, some wished it would be possible to filter who you see based on their interest tags. This comes to show that this function has not been designed to be visible enough for users to easily find in the app (Capelli, 2025).
This rapid swiping and having to send a message 72 hours after matching made the participant feel stressed while using the app. Participants felt like they did not take the time to get to know people properly as one would in real life. Based on this, and more, Capelli suggests that this suggests that the participants wished for the interactions of the app to be closer to what one would normally do in real life settings. Some participants that were interviewed tried to meet as early as possible offline and move the connection from being digital to more real (Capelli, 2025). Perhaps these applications should get better in pushing and supporting meetings quicker, than simply opening up a chat and letting the people themselves take it from there. As taking this next step is not as easy for everyone.
Bumble does actually offer a function that allows for offline meetups. Here users can create and join events. Some participants said they enjoyed this function as it allowed for meeting a more varied group of people, instead of just getting stuck on swiping people with the same interest. Leaving people more open to meet more people beyond their own hobbies, and doing so in real life (Capelli, 2025). Such functions should definitely be more included in matchmaking apps in order to bridge the offline and online connection better. What is also something that should be more looked into is how to design the matchmaking to feel more like how you meet people in the offline world to make it feel less like a game and another task to do.
Resources
Capelli, I. (2025). Tensions in Curating Connections Online: Exploring FLINTA* Users’ Experiences with the Platonic Matchmaking App Bumble For Friends. https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1971122&dswid=-1870
Horton, E., Johnson, D., & Mitchell, J. (2016, November). Finding and building connections: moving beyond skill-based matchmaking in videogames. In Proceedings of the 28th Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (pp. 656-658). https://doi.org/10.1145/3010915.3011857