Find the people you've crossed path with
Company
Happn is a location-based dating app that helps users discover and connect with people they've crossed paths with in real life.
Builders
Daijo Togashi (Head of Design)
Project type
Visual Identity
Product Design
Strategic narrative
Find the people you've crossed path with. By combining real-time location, timing, and mutual interest, Happn offers a more serendipitous and contextual approach to online dating, emphasizing real-world encounters in the digital experience.
Where It All Begins: The Real Life Connection
At Happn, brand communication and product evolve hand in hand. The brand prioritizes authentic and spontaneous encounters, and the product design strives to translate the magic of real-life encounters into the user experience.
Where Paths Cross: Discover Your Map
The Map is a key feature that allows users to visualize the places where they've crossed paths with others, anchoring the encounter experience in a real, everyday context. It's a tangible and emotional way to connect with someone you may have noticed—or missed—in real life.
It fully embodies Happn's DNA: creating digital encounters from very real moments.
Crushtime: Making Serendipity Playful
Crushtime gamifies the dating experience by adding playful, time-limited interactions that boost engagement. This feature was co-designed with Google during an intensive product design sprint workshop, blending creativity and user insights to enhance Happn’s connection moments.
Evolving Without Compromising.
My biggest challenge was evolving a product to meet our business ambitions, without ever losing alignment with user expectations. This resulted in a gradual redesign of the interface—from the Timeline to the Swipe Stack—designed to improve readability, stimulate interaction, and optimize conversion rates.
Each decision was based on user insights and clear KPIs: increased engagement, reduced time between match and first message, rapid adoption of new features. A controlled evolution, guided by usage, serving a constant mission: to transform everyday intersections into real opportunities for encounters.
"As the founding designer of Happn, Daijo brilliantly turned our ideas into a successful product embraced by over 120 million users, truly embodying and highlighting the authentic, real-life DNA that is at the heart of our concept."
Fabien Cohen
Founder @Happn
