Top 10 finalist at Coffee Meets Bagel's hackathon for designing safety features that empower female users with greater control and peace of mind.
Project type: Designing new app features
Role: UX designer & UI lead
Tools: Figma
Duration: 1.5 weeks
Our goal was to design safety features that make dating safer and more empowering for women, positioning CMB as the most trusted and secure dating app. We introduced real-time check-ins, live location tracking, audio recording, and discreet exit strategies to enhance safety without compromising the dating experience.
"Really awesome work from you and your team! The effort was amazing, the results were very good as well and I really liked the fake incoming call idea."
Jason Teo
Head of Product at Coffee Meets Bagel
Overview
If ride-hailing apps like Grab have safety features, why shouldn’t dating apps, which often involve higher stakes, have them too?
When we began the hackathon, we asked ourselves, "When was the last time we felt unsafe?"
We realised that meeting someone from a dating app is a lot like getting into a car with ride-hailing driver.
Both require a significant level of trust in the platform. Users assume these companies have vetted individuals to ensure a safe experience.
Yet, horror stories from dating apps are more common than we think, even on platforms like Coffee Meets Bagel, which is designed for serious daters.
Insights from interviews with female dating app users (ages 25–35):
Persona & Problem Statement
Cheryl, a 29-year-old HR Manager seeking meaningful and secure connections.
“Having safety features in a dating app would ease some of the date jitters and anxiety because I know I have “someone” to seek help from if anything goes wrong.”
Constraints
We explored the following ideas below but we realized these could feel overly invasive or trigger privacy concerns. so, we pivoted to opt-in features that offered psychological safety while respecting autonomy.
Identity verification: Users will register using Singpass for identity verification. For foreigners, accounts could be linked to passports to enable tracking if necessary.
Face verification: In addition to the standard onboarding process, face verification should also be applied to submitted photos to ensure that it matches user's actual face.
Digital chaperone: An AI-driven system could monitor conversations and flag inappropriate messages.
Solution
Add & share date details
Before Cheryl meets Eugene, she can set up her date in CMB by:
Entering date, start and end time
Date location
Opt-in for hourly check-ins
Add emergency contacts
Indicate if she is likely to consume alcohol
Enable live location tracking and audio recording (only activated during date)
This feature provides reassurance throughout her date by:
Allowing her to share date details with trusted friends or family, enabling them to check in and locate her easily if needed.
Ensuring that if she chooses not to share her date details, CMB still knows her whereabouts.
Enabling quick identification of her date’s profile and location in case of an emergency.
Setting up safety settings
Cheryl can customise her safety settings
Managing her list of emergency contacts, with her main contact set as the default when adding date details.
Enabling live location tracking for real-time visibility.
Activating audio recording for added security and evidence if needed.
Safety companion, a check-in feature to seek help during the date
CMB sends an hourly check-in during the date, allowing Cheryl to indicate if:
✅ All is well
🚨 She needs help
✅ Her date has ended
If her date starts making unwanted advances and Cheryl’s emergency contacts do not pick up, she can use CMB to:
Activate a fake call with an AI-generated conversation to help her exit the date safely.
Alert her friends by sharing her real-time location and date details, even if she had not shared them earlier, for added support.
If Cheryl does not respond to three consecutive check-ins, CMB will immediately alert her emergency contact, prompting them to check in on her.
Update cmb about your date
Cheryl will receive a notification to confirm if her date has ended based on the indicated timing.
If she is enjoying herself, she can select "Continue Date", and the hourly check-ins will continue until she marks the date has ended.
Once the date is over, CMB will reassure her that support is available if she ever felt unsafe.
Seek help anytime
More importantly, Cheryl does not have to wait for the hourly check-ins to seek help.
At any time, she can view her current date details and indicate that she needs assistance.
If Cheryl accidentally taps the wrong option, such as "All’s good" instead of "I need help," she can still seek help via the app.
These features do not compromise the dating experience because:
Full Control Over Safety Settings: Users can enable or disable live location tracking and audio recording at any time, ensuring that safety features are used only when needed.
Flexible Check-In Frequency: Users can customise check-in frequency and opt out by selecting "0" if they prefer no check-ins.
Easy Safety Confirmation: Confirming safety is quick and discreet, ensuring users' peace of mind without disrupting the date.
Limitations
Our solution was preventive, not reactive.
If someone’s phone is inaccessible in a dangerous situation, the features would not help.
It also does not prevent the other party from crossing any physical boundaries.
There’s also cognitive load: some users found filling in date details too troublesome. That sparked our next idea, an AI-assisted auto-fill based on conversation content (opt-in only), which we hope to explore further.
Users wanted the flexibility to stop check-ins mid-date without losing access to emergency options. A valuable insight to prioritise in future iterations.
Measuring Success
Success goes beyond just numbers, it’s about how it made users feel.
While metrics like feature adoption and usage frequency matter, the real impact lies in the emotional experience: users felt safe, confident and in control—outcomes that do not always show up in the data.
Many users said they would use the features, appreciating the balance between privacy and safety.
Several even described the experience as having a 'personal bodyguard', offering peace of mind and a sense of mental reassurance during dates.
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