In the business segmentwe’re back with a rebellious story. Dating apps are a billion-dollar industry, driven by huge global demand.
Unfortunately, many dating apps have quickly turned into hookup platforms. The app companies don’t seem to mind, as they attract more users and rake in millions through subscriptions.
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Over time, the quality of these platforms has significantly declined. It’s now difficult to differentiate between a quality date and a casual fling—a short-term, informal romantic relationship without expectations of long-term commitment or emotional involvement. This trend caught on quickly, and many people feel embarrassed to open these apps in public, fearing judgment from others.
To address this issue, the founder of ‘Hinge’ introduced several ideas to make his app a truly purposeful platform.
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First, he made the login process intentionally complicated, which effectively filtered out junk users.
Studies show that the most important users for dating apps are women, many of whom are serious about relationships. These users didn’t mind the complicated sign-up process on Hinge, and this change improved the app’s user quality.
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Second, Hinge set its subscription fees higher compared to competitors. While some predicted this move would lead to failure, the opposite happened.
Finally, Hinge made a bold move with its tagline: “Designed to be Deleted.” Competitors mocked them for it, as most dating apps aim to retain users by making account deletion difficult and offering a “pause” feature to avoid losing them permanently.
However, this tagline “Designed to be Deleted.” worked wonders for Hinge. By charging higher fees, Hinge positioned itself as a premium service, with users believing they were paying for a one-time solution to find their perfect match.
In the end, Hinge’s bold “Delete App” strategy proved that focusing on quality over quantity works best.
