Why Project Plus One is not a dating app

Every product decision in Project Plus One starts from one question: what is the user actually trying to do? In our case they are trying to attend something, not to meet someone.

That distinction changes the design. The unit is the event, not the profile. You do not browse people; you look at what is happening near you this week and see who else wants to go.

It also changes what we deliberately leave out. No swiping, no attractiveness signalling, no ranking people by looks. Matching on gender is not a feature because it is not the problem — plenty of people want a friend of the same gender to go with, and a product built around romance quietly excludes them.

We may be wrong about parts of this. But we would rather be wrong with a clear principle than right by accident.