Bud* App
Designing an Emotional Companion for Online Dating Beginners
How can online dating feel supportive instead of stressful?
The challenge
Dating apps optimize performance, cause anxiety for beginners and returners. Apps have shaped relationships and hooking-up culture as we know it today and is different from years ago before social networks. Presenting themselves, matching, texting, sexting, meeting, repeat. Navigating into the online dating jungle can be overwhelming.
Bud* was intentionally positioned not as a dating app, but as a date advisor: a calm, supportive digital companion designed to help users reflect, prepare, and build confidence before (or alongside) engaging with a date.
The approach
For this project I worked in the role of UX and UI designer, focusing on the research of different use of platforms for dating purposes and analyzing the frustration and frictions of users. I’ve applied the design thinking approach conducting, after defining the problem, competitive analyses, user interviews, and personas. I’ve wireframed and prototyped a design concept which I’ve tested by conducting user testing followed by 2 design iterations.
Read the full case study here
BUD* App Advice screen
Key interventions
0301
Conversational onboarding to build trust
Bud uses a conversational interface instead of a traditional sign-up. By asking light, human questions, it lowers the perceived commitment of joining and fosters emotional safety, framing onboarding as a dialogue, not a form.
02
Emotional profiling instead of demographics
User inputs create emotional dating profiles instead of static attributes. Bud responds based on confidence, experience, and emotional state, offering empathetic guidance as an advisor.
03
One AI entry point for diverse needs
Bud offers a single AI-driven entry point for various intents: asking questions, seeking advice, or engaging with an advisor. This approach simplifies navigation while ensuring expert help is accessible without prior knowledge.
“I stopped rewriting the same message eleven times. That's the whole review.”