<3 OkCarlExperiments in online dating

Research

Current academic research focus Individual interviews with users (<50 people) Large datasets from real online dating networks

(10000+) No medium-sized studies

How to optimize a profile Breakdown of behavior based on gender, sexual

orientation, race, etc.

ResearchWho messages whom?

Exploring the current dating scene

Questions

What is wrong with online dating sites today? How do you measure "success" for a dating network? What unique features from special interest (LGBT,

kink, religious, etc.) dating networks could be used in straight ones?

How do features stack up for different genders and sexual orientations?

Experimental Platform

Closed dating site with control set of users Capture usage data Compare actual vs. shared profile data Modular to allow easy swapping of test features Surveys to capture perceived UX Surveys to determine effectiveness of matches

Iterations

Demohttps://study.okcarl.com/

Study

Average profiles (control) Condensed profiles Too-much-info profiles Video profiles Storytelling profiles: Madlibs Location: distance by transit time, multiple locations Unlimited vs. limited contact with other users Friends build your profile

Deliverables

HCI analysis of features used in dating networks Data on comparative effectiveness of features per

gender and sexual orientation (post-graduation) Publish academic paper (stretch) Dating site distribution for Drupal

community

Schedule

Create - 3 weeks total (2/18 - 3/11) development - 2.5 weeks beta signups - 3 weeks launch event - 3 weeks

Experiment - 4 weeks total (3/11 - 4/8) trials - 4 weeks 5 days is the absolute minimum I want to run one experiment 5 days/experiment * 14 experiments = 10 weeks mitigation options

combine experiments cut experiments segregate into different groups to run 2 different experiments simultaneously (requires

larger pool of users) continue running experiments into the Analyze period and only include that data in the

final written thesis or post-graduation academic paper analyze data simultaneously program new experiments simultaneously

Analyze (4/8 - 4/30) crunch data - 1 week write thesis summary - Week 11 - 1 week

SUBMIT THESIS SUMMARIES AND MATERIALS FOR THESIS BOOK BY END OF CLASS APRIL 16

create presentation - 1 week Present: Class 13 - April 30

OkDone