Queering UX Design: A UX Review of the Dream Daddy App
A little while ago, a fellow UX-nerd friend mentioned that she’d spent 10 hours on a Saturday playing an app in which she was role-playing a dating fantasy in a choose-your-own-adventure game. She had seen the ad for this app over and over again until she decided to check it out. What began as a half-hearted joking look into what she had assumed would be some knock-off 50 Shades of Grey fantasy turned out to be very, VERY engaging.
This app reminded me of one that went viral a couple of years ago — “Dream Daddy”. We’re not talking “Daddy” in the sense of “Father” here, by the way. If you know, you know, and if you don’t? This will be a very puzzling (and possibly educational) read for you.
Dream Daddy has become a bit of a cult thing online. Now and then, I see a reference to one of the datable dad characters. However, I’d never tried it. So after my friend admitted that she’d spent 10 hours in her first session with a similar app, and seeing it referenced in a random tweet, I decided to try it out.
So, buckle in, time to become your dad-self and get dating — and, of course, consider why these kinds of apps might prove to be so addictive and what we can take as inspiration for UX work in other areas.
