Unique Dating Website Mockup Designs

notarypublic

New Member
This may come off as harsh, but I really do mean it all as constructive criticism. As always, it's your website and my advice is free to take or leave. That said..

The color scheme is very feminine. Looking at sites like okcupid and eharmony, match, etc., you're better off using a gender neutral tone. Here is a resource for the psychological effect of different colors. I just know as a guy I wouldn't be caught dead using a pink dating site, whereas women are not adversely affected by a blue design (blue is used commonly enough to be considered a gender neutral color).

The logo needs work as well. The concept of being "roped" might appeal to a rural/cowboy aesthetic, but to a higher intelligence crowd it could come off as patronizing or demeaning. The rope squeezing around the letters "IQ" is also an effect commonly seen with branding for overweight demographics, which is probably not a connotation you want for users to associate with your site.

In at least one of your mock-up designs you incorporate math formulas and science diagrams into the background, why not consider a logo based around this concept as well? A logo designed to look like an element from the periodic table of elements could work very well.

I noticed in all 3 mock-ups you have "current users online" listed after the "how to sign up" section - I would consider switching this. If I was a prospective user, I would probably want to know what other users are like (what I'm getting myself into) before being told how easy it is to sign up.

Along similar lines, all your stock photos are of models/people that are probably appreciated for things other than their IQ. Your target demographic is probably looking more for academic/nerdy attractive people.. not ones with surfer tans and popped collars.

Last, the 'quick search' is anything but. Looking at other dating sites, the 'quick search' is usually limited to 3 or 4 fields.. the advanced search has the rest of those options. A person should at most need to know gender, age range, and location. The quick search should assume basic information such as sort by location and then IQ. If the user wants to search more in depth than that, they'll have no problems clicking on another link (and earning you one more chance for ad revenue, in the process).

That said, your graphic designer friend did well with the overall feel of the site. Rounded corners, spacing, and graphics are all fine - though I'm a bit confused about the footer art for design #2. If I'm not the only one that thinks you should make these changes, and you follow through with them, then you should be in good shape.
 

rwebber77

New Member
NotaryPublic hit the nail right on the head here so I'll keep mine short. I would personally never use a pink dating site, other than to visit once to see what it's about. Are the two main image displays going to rotate either direction? That is a cool feature, but look into displaying images of business or successful women instead of half naked playmates. If you really wanted to make it "elite" to certain IQ's, integrate an IQ test upon sign up that assigns different status levels based on their IQ.
 

Phreaddee

Super Moderator
Staff member
ditto the colour.
ditto the weirdness in the footer on design number 2
ditto the logo. needs so much more work.
ditto the choice of stock photography

design 2 (minus the footer) gets my vote. I dont like the background in the other ones. and the bubbly elements look nice, but are a bit distracting in 1 and 3

IQ test on sign up - great idea!!!
 

rabbit123

New Member
Thanks, new symbols created

Thanks for the great replies. Notraypublic a lot of really good comments there, thank you. I will have the IQ symbol redesigned first, I have had a designer put together some icons, I have placed them on a Jpeg file and are located at the following location:

http://www.iqcatch.com/images/IQ-Catch-Symbols.jpg

Would be great if people could comment which symbol they like the best? I will than pick a symbol and the color scheme will match it in the site.

When the site is finished a key requirement is that you have to complete an IQ test to see other members.

Cheers
 

Phreaddee

Super Moderator
Staff member
cant really say which one I like the most but...
11 doesnt look right, reminds me of a computer fair
10 is no good
8-9 could have some potential,but im not sold on them, 8 more so than 9
1-7 all in the blue tones appealed to me more

when I think IQ I think problem solving, and thus I think that 1,3,5 appealed to that side of me more. even the box around the Q in 5 which on first glance appears to have been left there by mistake...

however the word CATCH just doesn't look good in capitals, of at least in the font on 1,4,7,8 and 9 its a bit too boxy, aggressive, if that makes any sense...and black too is a very strong colour, so i'd possibly reconsider that.
 
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