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Future Vision

Helping people express the future they envision—and discover whether it aligns with someone else's.

  • 71% 📲 Feature Adoption
  • 87% 💪 Positive Rate
  • 92% 💡 Uniqueness Rate
Product background

The challenge

Product issue
As Upward doubles down on marriage-focused dating, it needs a way for users to express and assess long-term compatibility.
User Test Finding
"I hate when I'm talking to someone and find out we want something completely different..."
Product goal
Help users express their vision for the future and discover where it aligns with others'.
Design challenge
How might we help users express and explore their vision for the future without writing an essay?
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Who's serious about marriage?
Key Stage #1

Exploring: Making the abstract tangible

Metaphor-driven
Borrow familiar real-world metaphors, like building blocks, to make an abstract future feel tangible.
Narrative-driven
Turn utilitarian forms into a visual story, bringing choices about marriage, family, home, and traditions to life.
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Fig.1: Visual progress
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Fig.2: Story building
Key Stage #2

Testing: How users would tell their story

Option A — 'Future Storybook'
  • A playful, illustrated experience that evolves as users make choices.
  • Pros: Emotionally engaging; makes serious topics feel approachable.
  • Cons: May make information harder to scan on someone else's profile.
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Fig.3: Option A
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Fig.4: Option A
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Fig.5: Option A
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Fig.6: Option A
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Fig.7: Option A
Option B — 'Structured Future Profile'
  • A structured, text-based experience designed for clarity and efficiency.
  • Pros: Easy to scan and compare at a glance.
  • Cons: Feels like filling out a job application.
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Fig.8: Option B
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Fig.9: Option B
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Fig.10: Option B
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Fig.11: Option B
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Fig.12: Option B
Key Stage #3

Visualizing: How to bring the story to life

01. Toy-Inspired Building Blocks
  • A playful building-block aesthetic.
  • Risk: Potential copyright concerns.
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Fig.13: "The Toy Story"
02. Retro Illustration
  • A nostalgic illustration style aligned with the new brand.
  • Risk: Could reinforce stereotypes.
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Fig.14: "The Retro Illust"
03. Boutique Stickers
  • A sticker-based visual language aligned with the existing style.
  • Risk: Could limit the range of stories expressed.
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Fig.15: "Boutique Stickers"
Key Stage #4

Final design: A refined retro aesthetic

The result: a two-part experience — build your vision, then discover someone else's.

PART A — STORYTELLING EXPERIENCE
  • Express your future
  • Make envisioning the future feel approachable and personal.
  • Integrates into the onboarding flow.
PART A — STORYTELLING EXPERIENCE
  • Discover someone else's
  • Make another person's vision easy to understand at a glance.
  • Integrates into the discover flow.
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Fig.16: Discover
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Fig.17: Onboarding
Learnings

"It's not how long it takes, but how it feels."

Visual storytelling can make abstract ideas easier to understand and discuss. But the experience should never make a personal vision feel like a contract.

The best design provides enough structure to communicate what matters while leaving room for nuance.