No, no, no, no. Yes. No, no, no. Yes. It’s a Match! No, no, no, no. Yes, yes. It’s a Match!
This is what dating in 2018 sounds like. If you’ve been on a dating app any time recently, chances are something like this has been going through your head. Again, and again, and again. It’s the sound of the machine at work. It’s the data being driven, the feedback looping, APIs calling, machines learning. It’s streaming, cloud-based, mobile-first, block-chained, self-driving, artificial, augmented, automated, and auditory. It’s the algo-rhythm. And, thanks to advancements in technology, it’s what dating is all about.
Or is it?
What if there was another kind of rhythm? One that spoke to the heart and soul of us, that moved us—us the people, not the machines—our rhythm. A rhythm that valued improvisation, swing, style, expression. Big bands over big data, ragtime over load-time, brass instruments over Texas instruments. A rhythm that was just as exuberant as it was subdued, just as silky as it was smooth, diverse as it was democratic, haunting as it was humbling. And disruptive enough that it could draw us all in like a cool, hot flame right before it set us all free.
What we’re talking about is jazz. Smooth jazz.
And, thanks to the online dating site Zoosk, it’s the future of online dating.
Introducing… Smooth Jazz Mode
Today Zoosk announced the next evolution in online dating—Smooth Jazz Mode. It’s a whole new, completely smooth way to experience the Zoosk online dating platform that’s immersed in the mood and sensibilities of smooth smooth jazz. Users who opt-in to Smooth Jazz Mode will experience a dating site that sets the tone for love, romance, and smoothness like no other dating app has attempted before.
New features of this transformative dating experience include:
- Smooth jazz mood music
- Auditory feedback on positive actions including, Oh ya, Silky, Smooooth, and others.
- Advanced visual imagery such as red roses, piano keys, and saxophones
- SVG and canvas animations that include rose petals and moody rain
“I think a lot of dating apps have been too afraid to use smooth jazz,” said, Senior Content Strategist and casual jazz fan Megan Murray. “They focus on whatever the newest tech is, because things like augmented realities and predictive modeling turn human behaviors and passions into things that can be understood and controlled. But smooth jazz can’t be controlled. It’s too powerful. Just like love.”
A Design Team That Takes Jazz It Up Seriously… And Literally
While coming up with the concept that would later change dating forever, the product and design team at Zoosk did extensive exploration and iterations. However, early versions of Smooth Jazz Mode weren’t as effective as the team would have hoped.
“There was one point where we were having a design review and something just wasn’t right. That’s when someone asked if we could just jazz it up a bit,” explained Director of User Experience Charmagne Kringstein. “Most designers shy away when you ask them to jazz it up, but at Zoosk our designers fully embrace jazzing it up. In this case, we went all in—we didn’t just jazz it up. We jazzed it all the way up.”
The Future of Dating is Smoooth Not Swipes
As a result of the team’s hard work jazzing it up, the Smooth Jazz Mode of Zoosk has more smooth jazz than any other dating site. At a time when most dating apps are fighting over swipes, Zoosk has pivoted to focus on a smoother experience that focuses on what the user really wants—love, romance, and a little something to set the mood.
“It’s not about slowing things down, it’s about smoothing things out,” said Technical Lead and really smooth guy Robin Keller. “That’s what Smooth Jazz Mode is really all about. Keeping it smooth.”
This is a different take on dating for Zoosk, a leading online dating company who’s always been smooth, but not this smooth. With features such as Military and Photo Verification, Zoosk has definitely helped remove a lot of the friction in online dating. But now, with Smooth Jazz Mode, the organization is ready to move online dating into an even more disruptive, innovative, and ultimately transformative space.
“It’s a dating future that’s uniquely human, full of contradictions, inclusive, celebratory and participatory, and way less predictable,” said Peter Spiegel, a QA Engineer at Zoosk who likes to listen to jazz a lot. “But, just like smooth jazz, that’s precisely why it’s so much fun.”
Smooth Jazz Mode is currently only available on the web version of Zoosk. To experience it for yourself visit https://www.zoosk.com/date-mix/ and click the saxophone icon next to the Zoosk logo.
