Ashley Madison App
Company:
Ashley Madison, Ruby - Social Networking App
Year:
2020
Role:
Senior UI Designer
Ruby Life, known for Ashley Madison, is a Canadian online dating and social networking platform with over 60 million users worldwide.
overview.
Madison’s value proposition is connection under constraint. Discretion, trust signaling, and psychological safety are core product requirements.
I collaborated closely with the Product Director, Product Owners, UX Researchers, and Designers to redesign core mobile experiences. While my primary responsibility focused on UI systems and interaction design, I also contributed to research synthesis, navigation restructuring, privacy-first interaction patterns, and transition-flow optimization.
Our objective was to strengthen discretion mechanisms, reduce emotional friction, and improve the transition from online interaction to real-life connection without compromising privacy.
The older version of the app, which I worked on and improved, is shown below:
product context.
Ashley Madison operates in a high-sensitivity product category where user motivation is strong but emotional and reputational risk is equally high.
Unlike conventional dating platforms, users must navigate three competing forces:
• Curiosity and emotional stimulation
• Fear of exposure or reputational risk
• Desire for discreet connection
These forces shape both user behavior and product design constraints.
Snapshot of the app’s previous UI prior to the redesign
problem framing.
Through research and internal audits, we identified structural and behavioral tensions across the experience.
Trust
Past data breaches continued to influence perception. Users required strong, visible discretion mechanisms, especially when using the app in public or while in relationships. However, existing UI patterns did not consistently signal safety or control.
Excitement vs. Emotional Risk
Users were motivated by curiosity, novelty, and emotional stimulation, yet feared reputational consequences and relational fallout. The platform needed to maintain emotional energy without amplifying anxiety.
Digital Engagement vs. Real-World Conversion
Messaging activity was high, but behavioral data revealed a conversion gap: only 34% of digital interactions led to a real-life meeting within 10 days. Additionally, 61.3% of surveyed users reported cancelling at least one date due to planning friction or emotional hesitation.
research strategy.
We began with a business and competitor landscape analysis to gain a holistic understanding of Ashley Madison’s market position, value proposition, and differentiation within the niche dating space.
Research Methods:
Competitive audit (Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, POF, Match.com, Victoria Milan, Pure, etc.)
Literature review on discreet digital behavior and relational psychology
Survey responses (1,510 participants, ages 18–60)
15 in-depth user interviews
Clickstream and heatmap analysis
Affinity mapping and journey modeling
research synthesis.
To synthesize the findings, we conducted Affinity Mapping, which helped group recurring patterns and surface the core frustrations, needs, and expectations.
This process allowed us to distinguish between technical pain points (e.g., usability, privacy features) and human-behavioral pain points (e.g., emotional risk, communication fatigue).
Affinity mapping helped group recurring themes across user fears, motivations, and desired experiences when using discreet dating platforms.
core pain points.
User interviews were the most critical input, revealing emotional hesitation, trust concerns, and anxiety around transitioning from chat to real-life meetings.
The survey was conducted among 1,510 individuals, both men and women, who are aged between 18-60 years. We also interviewed 15 people, both men and women, who use or have used online dating apps.
Research showed that user motivation was strongly tied to emotional needs rather than purely romantic outcomes.
How might we.
Three problem statements emerged after doing the research:
HMW enable users to explore emotional or physical connections safely and discreetly?
Why it matters? 39–54% of users consider outside connections and 64–68% report interacting discreetly via social media
HMW help users reignite emotional connection?
Why it matters? 42% report a lack of excitement in their relationship and 38–49% report dissatisfaction with intimacy. Many users seek novelty, validation, and emotional stimulation through discreet connections.
HMW help users transition from online chats to real-world meetings?
Why it matters? Only 34% of digital interactions lead to an in-person meeting within 10 days.
At this stage, I explored ideas to address these opportunity areas and translate them into design strategy.
key design decisions.
The redesign began with restructuring the navigation architecture. The previous experience relied on a top-heavy menu and fragmented discovery flows that increased cognitive load and required users to remember where actions lived. In a product where discretion is critical, navigation friction translates into psychological friction.
Each design decision was grounded in cognitive psychology and behavioral design principles.
Ideation.
With the strategic pillars defined, the next step was exploring how these principles could translate into real product interactions. I began by mapping the core flows that would support discreet discovery, profile evaluation, and the transition from messaging to real-world meetings.
The next step was ideation. I explored multiple interaction flows through mid-fidelity wireframes to quickly test different approaches and translate research insights into potential product solutions.
These wireframes represent early explorations of the onboarding flow, allowing us to test how users set preferences and begin discovering matches.
initial prototype.
This section shows the Discovery prototype video. The first version included an early navigation model with only three bottom elements: Profile, Search, and Chat, plus a top menu with titles on the top left, as well as lazy loading (which remained in later versions).
Based on user mental models, the navigation was later updated to four fixed bottom items: Discovery, Messages, Stealth, and Profile, shown in that order.
Initial prototype testing navigation, discovery, and lazy loading of profiles
final designs.
Discovery was redesigned to support two distinct browsing behaviors: visual exploration and discreet scanning. This dual-mode approach supports different privacy contexts, allowing users to browse confidently whether they are in private or public environments.
For example, the image grid supports users who are in a private environment and comfortable browsing visually, while the list view enables faster, lower-exposure scanning in public or sensitive contexts.
Rather than treating this as a stylistic preference, we framed it as environmental adaptability. Profiles were reorganized to surface compatibility score first, followed by online status and proximity. Compatibility tags were introduced as structured signals to reduce ambiguity and improve rapid assessment, allowing users to process key alignment indicators in under two seconds.
Privacy controls were consolidated into a dedicated Stealth system. Features included custom app icons, disguised notifications, private photo key sharing, optional image blur and third-party identification verification through a trusted third party to strengthen perceived legitimacy without increasing visible exposure. The intention was reinforce trust through visible control points.
Stealth Feature
Because meeting someone in person introduces additional trust concerns, we also designed a Verify Identity feature that allows users to confirm their identity through a trusted third-party verification process. Verified badges appear on profiles as a visible trust signal, helping users assess credibility before agreeing to meet.
Verify Identiy
To address the gap between digital interaction and real-world meetings, conversation prompts and icebreakers were integrated directly into chat flows to mitigate small-talk fatigue. Profile comparison highlights surfaced shared attributes to help users quickly identify common ground.
Because many users prefer to keep more sensitive photos private until trust is established, I worked with the team to design a Private Photo Key system. Users can request access to private photos, and the other person can choose whether to grant or deny the request. If approved, a temporary key allows those photos to be viewed only between the two users. This approach gives people control over when and with whom they share more intimate content while maintaining privacy and discretion.
impact.
The redesign improved clarity, privacy, and overall usability across the platform.
Key improvements included:
• Reduced onboarding friction by enabling phone-based account creation
• Faster profile evaluation with compatibility signals and structured tags
• Flexible browsing modes supporting both visual discovery and discreet scanning
• Strengthened trust through visible verification and privacy controls
Observed behavioral improvements:
• Profile scanning time reduced to under 2 seconds
• Users reported higher comfort browsing in public environments
• Navigation errors decreased due to simplified structure
