Dating is harder than ever these days. Asking someone for their phone number and calling them later at home seems like a distant memory. For younger generations, dating has been mainly dominated by looking at a screen across various social media platforms and dating apps.
Although there is a smorgasbord of dating apps ranging from Tinder to Bumble, users tend to spend enormous amounts of time shifting through hundreds of profiles and swiping either left or right, only for the other person to not respond or worse still get ghosted on an actual date. Former physiotherapist and app co-founder Kara Zervides, hopes to change the online dating experience through her newly created dating app Humpday.
‘Humpday’ the dating app, is only active one day of the week, on Wednesdays and will also be hosting in-person singles events midweek. ‘Humpday’ has already been hosting some pre-launch parties to help people go from URL to IRL. Jake Freeman spoke to app co-founder Kara Zervides on how this all came to fruition!
Up Close & Personal with Founder Kara Zervides
Kara says, “I am a former physio and also a passionate problem solver who saw an opportunity in the shortcomings of dating apps and I’ve been working towards building a dating app that gets singles off their phone and out dating IRL”.
Where did the idea for the app come from?
Dating apps have been around for almost a decade, but frustration with apps is at an all-time high. We are bombarded with an overload of information all day, including on dating apps, but all this choice doesn’t lead to better matches or even more dates – in fact only 2% of matches lead to dates.
I knew there had to be a better way. I was talking to a friend who basically time boxes her first dates to one day a week, because she doesn’t want to think about it every day, not surprising given millennials are spending on average two hours per day on dating apps and after all that, only 0.2% of swipes actually lead to phone numbers being exchanged. I wondered what it would look like if there was an app that took away some of that overload and focussed on fewer, better matches and action/momentum. This is how we landed on Humpday – by restricting chat to one day a week, we can drive action.
How is Humpday considered anti-dating?
Dating should be fun, but so many people have such a negative experience. By reducing the number of days, you can chat, Humpday is an anti-dating app. We’re on a mission to end dating app fatigue caused by endless swiping with minimal IRL connecting. We achieve this by eliminating swiping, limiting chatting to Wednesday, and facilitating fun and unique dates and singles events every Wednesday.
How does Humpday work?
In a nutshell, we have a psychologist-backed onboarding survey that powers a comprehensive matching algorithm. Dormant for six days of the week, users will be served compatible matches every day, and on Wednesday, they can chat, date, and meet up. With time limits on how long you can chat, we’re discouraging weeks of fizzling out and dating fatigue and encouraging quick action.
We’re on a mission to change the culture of dating in Australia and are partnering with the best venues and fitness clubs to bring exclusive singles events and discounted dates for our Humpday couples.
What makes Humpday different and better than other dating apps like Tinder or Bumble?
We’ve removed swiping and encourage urgency, because the best way to see if someone is your person isn’t to chat with them for 2-3 weeks on an app, but go for a drink. Unlike Bumble and Tinder, Humpday has said goodbye to swiping. Instead, we’ve done the “swiping” for you, as with our evidence-based psychologist-backed matching algorithm, users will be sent their most compatible matches each day. Chat is limited to Wednesday so that you can thrive in your busy work and social lives the rest of the week. Lastly, we’re on a mission to get singles connecting IRL so fun and unique dates can be seamlessly booked in the app AND we’ll be throwing the best singles parties every Wednesday night.
What has been the success of the app so far?
We’ve seen some promising results from our early stages so far.
You had a singles event this past Wednesday night at Harlow Bar in Richmond.
How did that go?
We were super excited to host Humpday at Harlow this past Wednesday. It had a really great turnout and a great atmosphere!
AFL great Mason Cox was there hosting a competitive Billson’s tasting experience, giving attendees the chance to break the ice and mingle, and the chance to take home a prize which was a lot of fun! We also had other activities and games, to help people make new connections.
It was great watching people play different fun activities and connect as well as getting a bit flirty with each other. That is our goal. Whether you make a romantic connection or not, you will always have a great night at our event. We’re not into daggy speed dating. Instead, you can expect a casual relaxed atmosphere so that people can get that IRL “meet cute” experience that has been missing lately.
How often are these events held?
Whilst the app is in development, we are running these events across Melbourne and Sydney monthly to showcase what Humpday is about. Once the app is live, we will be running events every Wednesday at a range of venues including bars, restaurants, fitness studios, paint and sip and other activity venues.
Are there plans to host events like this in other cities?
Currently, Humpday is only active in Sydney and Melbourne; with the plan to expand through Australia.
For more on the Humpday app and the next singles event, go to www.humpdaydating.com.au
Interview by Jake Freeman
