Funny that out of all the dating apps I’ve tried—OkCupid, Coffee Meets Bagel, Grouper, HowAboutWe, Nerve, Hinge, Tinder—the latter’s the only one that’s resulted in dates. It’s also been the most successful in terms of number of matches and message to match ratio.

There tend to be two schools of thought when it comes to online dating: either optimize for quality by curating a smaller number of more targeted matches, or optimize for quantity and let people sift through the haul.

The problem with the first approach is that it assumes machine learning can predict what I want in a date based largely on self-reported characteristics. Sure, the technology will only improve, but it’s a tall order when I often don’t even know what I want for breakfast in the morning. Tinder’s design reflects the belief that dating is more of a serendipitous numbers game.

It’s fast

This is important when you're dealing with a picture heavy experience. Hinge takes 5-6 seconds to load someone’s profile, which means it’s less likely I’m going to open it during one of those in-between moments when I’m in line or waiting for the elevator.

It’s super casual and engaging

Tinder positions itself as a spiffed up hot-or-not; not only does this keep expectations low, it offers a habit-forming reason to engage with the app outside of dating, which becomes a by-product. That’s why people “Tinder” with friends; as superficial as it is, it’s fun to make split-second judgments, especially in groups.

The bigger point is that the more frequently you’re opening the app, the more opportunities there are for serendipitous encounters. As a counterexample, Hinge only shows you matches who are second or third degree connections, which it surfaces very prominently. Because it relies on your Facebook graph, I’ve found this leads to one of two situations: your one mutual connection is someone you friended during freshman orientation and haven’t talked to since (more common), or you have 50+ mutual friends and significantly elevated expectations for the initial interaction.