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BACK

The Perfect
first impression

Twinby

ADC Space

The Perfect
first impression

Twinby

ADC Space

OVERVIEW

Twinby, a popular dating app with 6.1 million downloads and $2.6 million revenue, was a struggling startup in 2021. As a product designer, I joined the team and redesigned the onboarding process, adjusted microcopy for Gen Z, and helped build a design system that aligns with branding and syncs the team’s understanding of the product and its values.

Timeline

Aug — Nov 2021

Responsibilities

UX Research, Competitive Analysis, Prototyping, UI design, product strategy

OVERVIEW

Twinby, a popular dating app with 6.1 million downloads and $2.6 million revenue, was a struggling startup in 2021. As a product designer, I joined the team and redesigned the onboarding process, adjusted microcopy for Gen Z, and helped build a design system that aligns with branding and syncs the team’s understanding of the product and its values.

Timeline

Aug — Nov 2021

Responsibilities

UX Research, Competitive Analysis, Prototyping, UI design, product strategy

Problem

Onboarding is a critical moment in any product. It sets expectations, builds trust, and determines whether a user stays
or drops off. In its early state, Twinby had:

Onboarding is a critical moment in any product. It sets expectations, builds trust, and determines whether a user stays or drops off. In its early state, Twinby had:

No clear onboarding structure: users lacked guidance.

A rigid, form-heavy approach that felt like paperwork instead of a conversation.

No trust-building mechanisms: users hesitated to share personal data.

Research insights

I analyzed competitors like Tinder and Bumble and fellow startups and also looked over some chat-based interfaces. Key findings were clear:

  • Users quickly get overwhelmed by long registration processes

  • A chat-based UI increased engagement because it felt more personal and intuitive.

  • Users hesitated to provide personal information when it wasn’t immediately clear why it was needed.

💡

In eastern Europe messaging apps like Telegram and VK are dominant digital spaces.
Local users are accustomed to chat interfaces for everything from customer support to government services.

Making Onboarding  Feel Human

I reimagined onboarding as a conversational experience, replacing monotonous forms with a virtual assistant that guided users through profile setup in a personal and familiar way.
The chat-based UI reduced friction, making onboarding feel like a dialogue rather than a sign-up process.

Making Onboarding  Feel Human

I reimagined onboarding as a conversational experience, replacing monotonous forms with a virtual assistant that guided users through profile setup in a personal and familiar way.
The chat-based UI reduced friction, making onboarding feel like a dialogue rather than a sign-up process.

Making Onboarding  Feel Human

I reimagined onboarding as a conversational experience, replacing monotonous forms with a virtual assistant that guided users through profile setup in a personal and familiar way.
The chat-based UI reduced friction, making onboarding feel like a dialogue rather than a sign-up process.

Gradual Profile
Building

I reimagined onboarding as a conversational experience, replacing monotonous forms with a virtual assistant that guided users through profile setup in a personal and familiar way.
The chat-based UI reduced friction, making onboarding feel like a dialogue rather than a sign-up process.

Developer
handoff

Building this experience required close collaboration with developers to balance aesthetics and feasibility. We refined interaction logic and animations to ensure smooth transitions without overcomplicating development.

Through weekly sprints, I worked with engineers to resolve technical constraints, proposing layout workarounds when needed. A gradual roll-out approach (5% first) allowed us to test the enhanced watching experience on a growing audience, resulting in significant user growth and validation of our strategy.

Developer
handoff

Building this experience required close collaboration with developers to balance aesthetics and feasibility. We refined interaction logic and animations to ensure smooth transitions without overcomplicating development.

Through weekly sprints, I worked with engineers to resolve technical constraints, proposing layout workarounds when needed. A gradual roll-out approach (5% first) allowed us to test the enhanced watching experience on a growing audience, resulting in significant user growth and validation of our strategy.

Developer
handoff

Building this experience required close collaboration with developers to balance aesthetics and feasibility. We refined interaction logic and animations to ensure smooth transitions without overcomplicating development.

Through weekly sprints, I worked with engineers to resolve technical constraints, proposing layout workarounds when needed. A gradual roll-out approach (5% first) allowed us to test the enhanced watching experience on a growing audience, resulting in significant user growth and validation of our strategy.

UI-kit

To ensure long-term consistency, I created a modular UI kit that can be reused across future product iterations. This approach organized components, styles, and interaction patterns into a scalable system.

By documenting each element in Figma with clear annotations, we ensured seamless handoffs between design and development teams, reducing miscommunication and revisions. This structured framework allowed us to maintain design consistency while accelerating development cycles for the entire app.

UI-kit

To ensure long-term consistency, I created a modular UI kit that can be reused across future product iterations. This approach organized components, styles, and interaction patterns into a scalable system.

By documenting each element in Figma with clear annotations, we ensured seamless handoffs between design and development teams, reducing miscommunication and revisions. This structured framework allowed us to maintain design consistency while accelerating development cycles for the entire app.

UI-kit

To ensure long-term consistency, I created a modular UI kit that can be reused across future product iterations. This approach organized components, styles, and interaction patterns into a scalable system.

By documenting each element in Figma with clear annotations, we ensured seamless handoffs between design and development teams, reducing miscommunication and revisions. This structured framework allowed us to maintain design consistency while accelerating development cycles for the entire app.

Impact
& reflection

Our A/B rollout strategy (5% audience first, increasing incrementally) yielded significant results: 20% increase
in registered users, validating the effectiveness of our new onboarding flow.

By integrating social logins strategically and providing inline trust-building explanations, we saw a notable rise in profile completion rates (30%) and user confidence in sharing personal details.

The conversational UI reduced perceived effort by 25%, making the experience feel faster and more engaging. Our scalable approach has positioned Twinby for future growth, while establishing a strong foundation for ongoing improvement.

Let's build

together

START A PRojECT

Say hi

NEW YORK, US

09:27 PM

LAST UPDATED

SEPT 2025

Let's build

together

START A PRojECT

Say hi

NEW YORK, US

09:27 PM

LAST UPDATED

SEPT 2025

Let's build

together

START A PRojECT

Say hi

NEW YORK, US

09:27 PM

LAST UPDATED

SEPT 2025