LUMATCH

LUMATCH: dating without the swiping. Pick one Lehigh student a week, no photos, no profiles. They only know if you picked each other. Then chat, play 20 Questions, and get an AI-planned first date.

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Inspiration

Dating apps give you endless options and endless swiping. LUMATCH goes the other way, with one pick a week.

What it does

  • One pick a week. You choose one person, and that's it. There's no scrolling through hundreds of people.
  • No photos, no profiles. You only see a name and a class year, so you have to actually know the person.
  • Private until it's mutual. Your pick is locked in, and they only find out if they picked you too. If they didn't, nobody ever knows you picked them.
  • Friday Reveal. Matches are revealed once a week, so the whole thing feels like an event.
  • 48 hours to connect. A live countdown nudges matches to talk instead of letting it fizzle out.
  • Chat and 20 Questions. Matches chat in the app and play a get-to-know-you game, answering one question at a time before seeing each other's answers.
  • AI date planner (prototype). Tell it what you're craving, such as food, entertainment, chill, or outdoors, and it suggests a date plan near campus that you can propose in the chat with one tap.
  • Swap numbers, then meet. Both people agree to swap numbers, and the app tells them to go meet in real life.

How I built it

LUMATCH is a web app built with Next.js, React, and Tailwind CSS, designed mobile-first. For the hackathon demo, all data is fake and stored in the browser's localStorage, with no backend. The fake students, the auto-replying chat, and the date plans are pre-written. The app shows on a laptop inside a phone-sized frame.

Challenges I ran into

Dating apps work by giving you more options, and I wanted to build one around fewer. The hard part was making a single weekly pick feel meaningful and safe. The design had to protect people from the awkwardness of an unreturned pick, which is why nobody ever finds out unless the pick is mutual. I also had very little time, so I had to decide what to cut and focus on one clear flow, from pick to match to meeting.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

  • A complete working flow, from login to pick to reveal to match to meeting in real life
  • A fresh take on a crowded space: fewer choices, no photos, and no rejection
  • A polished, mobile-friendly interface built within the hackathon

Built during the hackathon

LUMATCH was built from scratch at this hackathon.

What I learned

  • How to design a product around a constraint (one pick, no photos) instead of piling on features.
  • How to scope a demo so that the whole story fits in a few minutes.

What's next for LUMATCH

  • Replace the pre-written date plans with a real AI that uses your location and cravings.
  • Add real accounts and a backend so picks and matches are shared between real students.
  • Verify students with their school email, and launch at Lehigh first.
  • Add safety features, such as reporting and blocking, before opening it to real users.

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