How Tinder Swiped Right on Customer Experience | Curtis Stevens (ex-Tinder)
From redefining swipes to reimagining safety, Curtis Stevens, former Director of Product Consumer Insights, shares how he helped transform Tinder into a customer-centric product.
TL;DR
In this episode of LaunchPod, we’re joined by Curtis Stevens, former Director of Product, Consumer Insights at Tinder, who previously held product leadership roles at Amazon and Qualtrics.
Curtis shares how he helped Tinder evolve into a more customer-centric team by unifying research teams, embedding journey mapping into product decisions, and using AI to improve user trust, safety, and connection.
1. Building a customer-first culture at a product-led company
When Curtis joined Tinder, his goal was to bring customer experience to the center of product decisions through journey mapping and cross-functional collaboration.
“We’re a product-led company… but we can’t neglect the experience users are having today. They’re leaving the experience they have now, not the one we’re promising for tomorrow.”
What product leaders can do: Audit your org structure for silos between research, product, and design teams. Align teams around shared user journeys rather than separate deliverables.
2. Turning a C-suite presentation into a CX transformation
Curtis’ pivotal presentation to Tinder’s C-suite revealed the real user experience: a friction-filled onboarding flow where upsells appeared before users even reached a profile.
“We showed them a screen recording — several swipes before they even saw a profile. The execs just said, ‘Wow, we need to fix that.’”
That moment led Tinder’s CPO to make him interim director overseeing Experience Strategy, Consumer Research, and UX Research, aligning three previously siloed teams.
What product leaders can do: Use live user replays or recordings to tell data-driven stories that spark empathy and urgency among leadership.
3. Designing experiences that balance safety and connection
One of Curtis’ early journey workshops focused on the Day-0 to Day-7 experience for women, uncovering how trust and safety directly influenced retention. By identifying pain points like bot activity and bad actors, Tinder could act fast to protect new users.
“If women don’t feel safe, they’re not going to stay on your app.”
What digital product leaders can do: Prioritize safety and inclusivity in onboarding. Evaluate your new-user experience through the lens of your most vulnerable segments.
4. Using AI as a tool for human connection
Curtis sees AI as an assistant, not a replacement, for genuine interaction. He imagines a future “wing person” that helps users start conversations and find common ground.
What product leaders can do: Experiment with AI features that lower friction in communication while reinforcing authenticity and trust.
5. Trust, experimentation, and the ethics of AI in online dating
As AI accelerates customer research, Curtis cautions leaders to trust but verify. He stresses the need for experimentation, storytelling through data, and marrying quantitative and qualitative signals.
“AI is bionic, but you still have to ask why. The closer you tie your data together, the faster you’ll make confident decisions.”
What product leaders can do: Treat AI insights like hypotheses. Verify outputs against real data and user feedback before acting on them.
Chapters
00:00: Intro
03:03: Curtis Stevens’ product journey
7:40: Challenges and strategies in customer experience
14:54: Curtis’ journey workshops
20:41: AI’s role in customer research
27:41: Conclusion
Links
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