---
tags: mstu5003, lab, computational thinking
---

---

# Dating Application: How does LOVE work?

Different applications have taken this simple premise and expressed it in very different ways. For example, think of different dating applications e.g. Match.com, Tinder.com, Bumble.com, OKCupid.com etc. Each has broken down their hypothesis of how love works (or ought to work) and expressed the phenomenon of FINDING love based on their hypotheses. You might even have your own competing twist on how you think love or finding love should work.

## SUB-Challenge

Everyone deserves to be loved. Pick a more specific population and their needs. E.g. elderly folk, introverts, lonely professors, etc. Using this specific population - think computationally on how love would work.

- People who do not have a lot of time for dating

### Decomposition: Break down problems and phenomena into smaller multi-step parts.

- Break apart how you think "love" in online spaces happens.
- What are the STEPS necessary in the process of a dating application?
- Make a profile, put in personal details, putting in preferences for a partner, engage with other users, go on a date , fall in love, live happily ever after.
- What are the major PARTS of an online dating process?
- The user interface, can you have pictures and if so how many, messenging options, brand
- Start on the website (make profile), connect/match with other users, interact online and then in person, continue without the online platform
- How does this relate to what you need to build in an application?
- How are you attracting users to the platform and at what point you let them loose.
- Have the features of your website mirror the steps of the process, and consider when and to what extent to support each step (for interacting, allow them to exchange contact info and engage initially or use the platform)

### Pattern Recognition: Analyze similar objects, phenomenon, and identify commonalities.

- Think about similarities between USERS and between parts of a SYSTEM:
- What are some common things across USERS that are important to expressing the core idea of how you think love can be found?
- Schedules -> people with a scarcity of free time
- Everyone has time for love - > match users based on schedules and interests
- What do you like to do in your free time? Find other users who enjoy the same things and are avilble when you are.
- What are some common things across the SYSTEM that are important to expressing the core idea of how you think love can be found?
- Making a profile would be quick and easy
- Very efficent
- Encourage users to be straight and to the point. Don't waste people's time
- Deadline to desire -> have to decide whether or not to go out within a certain amount of time.
- Engage, then use sysetm to book a time that works for both of you to meet.
- How would you express similar ideas in different parts of your application?
- Don't waste time. Making a profile is quick, messaging is streamlined, setting up a date is quick and easy.

### Abstraction: Focus on relevant and important info / features. Separate core info from superfluous details.
- In simplest terms - what are the MOST important types of data needed for your application to work?
- Name, romantic interest, location, availability, what you are interested in, picture
- How are you going to get this data?
- Profile setup to collect personal information
- Scheduling feature
- Interests page and algorithm to match based on interests and location
- What are the LEAST important pieces of information / features that you've come up with so far?
-

### Algorithms: Design sequential rules, ordered actions to solve the problem. Think about how each action results in a specific effect.
- Step by step how does the process of your dating application unfold?
- In describing step by step - reference the data you would have collected, how that data would be used, and how the system would react to that data.
- Challenge: How detailed can you be in describing your algorithm?
- Feature A:

- User does this
- System does this
    - System then does this
    - System then does this
    - System then does this...
- User does this
- System does this