Unless you’re one of the lucky few who marries the first person they match with on Mutual, (don’t look so surprised, it’s happened before!) you’ll probably end up doing your fair share of swiping, which can feel tedious. We know you want to get to your happily ever after as soon as possible, so we’ve been working on a feature to help you have more meaningful conversations
INTRODUCING: Mutual Speed Dating
Just like in in-person speed dating, the idea is that you’ll get a quick chance to chat with someone before deciding if you’d like to swipe up on them and continue the conversation or not. It gives you a little more insight to who someone is, and hopefully helps you make a more educated decision.
This feature is still a work in progress, so we want to know your thoughts as we’re creating it.. We’ll walk you through how it might work and you can let us know what you think here.
Getting Started
Once the feature is ready to roll, tapping on the stopwatch tab at the bottom of your screen will reveal a “Get Started” button. Tap the button to start your speed dating session and start meeting other people who are also online right now!
Because time is of the essence when speed dating, we recommend starting a session when you have 30-60 minutes of free time. That way you can give these conversations your undivided attention.
Browse Profiles
Now that you’ve started your session, you’ve officially joined the party! Now you can “scan the room” and see who else is there by browsing profiles of people who are also online. You’ll only see people who have also started a speed dating session, so you know that these people are ready to chat.
Just like regular swiping, age and distance filters apply here too. Tap on their pictures to see their profiles, learn more about them, and invite them to chat.
Send an Invitation
Once you find someone you want to chat with, you’ll send them an invitation and that person will receive a notification that you want to chat.
You can add a quick note with it if you want, but it doesn’t need to be anything fancy. You’re basically just waving at them from across the room at the party, letting them know that you’d like to say hey!
Receive an Invitation
In addition to inviting people to chat, others may invite you to chat! (This is what the other person will see once you send them an invitation.) Once you get an invitation, you’ll have a limited amount of time to view their profile and make a decision – either accept and start a chat or politely decline.
If you accept, you’ll immediately start a conversation with that person. If you decline, the other person will be notified so they can invite someone else to chat instead. (This is different from regular swiping, where they will only receive a notification if you both swipe up.)
Brainfreeze? If you don’t make a decision before the timer runs out, the request will be canceled. (It’s basically the same as declining.)
Pro tip: Do a little experimenting! Someone may not look like your type at first but they may surprise you. Take a minute to chat with them before making a final decision! 😉
Live Chat
If you accept a chat, the fun officially begins! You’ll have 5 minutes to chat with someone before the conversation ends. In the top right of the screen, you’ll see a little timer so you’ll know how much time you have left.
Don’t overthink it! Just be yourself! Make the most of your short amount of time and get to know them. Remember that if you want a quality conversation, put in the effort and ask them some quality questions. We promise it makes a difference, but if you don’t believe us, you can check out this post of first messages from Mutual success stories!
Match Decision
Time’s up! After 5 minutes of chatting, you’ll have 30 seconds to decide if you’d like to stay matched.
If you both decide to stay matched, you’ll go right back to chatting and they’ll be added to your matches.
If one of you declines or doesn’t respond in time, you’ll be redirected back to the speed dating queue to browse other profiles.
What Do You Think?
We’re pretty excited about this but we know you probably have a few questions. Don’t worry, so do we! Take this survey below to ask and answer a few questions so we can get this feature ready to roll!
Tyler Aston
Tyler is a Sr. Product Manager for Mutual, where he oversees the planning, development, and release of new app features and improvements. His experience building industry-leading applications and his passion for online dating have made him a great addition to the Mutual team. He met his wife on an inferior dating app, and he couldn't be more excited about helping others find their eternal companion via the best dating app.
