Coupl.in has been selected for the products showcase at ITsAP annual awards event.This time it is being jointly organized with headstart.in as well.So if you are in Hyderabad, do visit HICC between 12th March – 13th March to see the Coupl.in stall and get some freebies.
Cluster your matches based on movie compatibility, music tastes or education background…
The cluster view helps you look at your matches in a different way. Did you want to see which of your matches is the most zodiac compatible or which of those are from a similar family background or who has attended the same college as you? The cluster view helps you do all that.
While coupl.in’’s matching engine tries to use all the factors to show users their matches in a consolidated fashion, it never hurts to split this and show profiles that match each filter. So while you can see matches who have an overall good compatibility score in the regular view, the cluster view presents the matches based on each filter you added.
3 tips to get noticed on Coupl.in
Coupl.in’s usage has been steadily growing and it is not uncommon for some users to see more than 50-75 profiles when they log in.We are trying to improve the ability to sort and navigate through profiles but a few tips will make sure that your profile is noticed and you get better responses when you ping someone.
1. Add a photo – If you are serious about finding a relationship,you really cannot do without a photo.If you are concerned about privacy you can always choose to show your picture only those you express interest in.But please upload a photo.Coupl.in uses photo as a parameter to sort profiles when they are shown to users.
2.Verify your profile – A verified profile(with the green-white badge on the profile) means that Coupl.in has a verified email address and a valid mobile phone number of that user.This makes your profile look more trustworthy.It also indicates to the person who is browsing your profile that you will be notified immediately via SMS when pinged.
3.Provide your real first name – Unless you have an absolutely unique first name, you should not hesitate to provide your first name.A real first name is better than fake names like ‘Loveme’ or ‘StudBoy’.
Please read the Terms of Service and Privacy criteria if you have any concerns or just drop a mail to feedback a_t coupl dot in.We are listening!
Coupl.in in the news
It has been a long time since there was any update.That is because Coupl.in was busy undergoing a makeover.We revamped the UI to address some of the issues we heard.Hope you like it.
Meanwhile Coupl.in also got mentioned in the Sunday edition of Bangalore Mirror.The article talks about the much needed innovation in the industry and how singles are seeking novel ways to find a match.
None of the current leading matrimonial and top Indian dating sites has caught up with the rise of the social web.Most are stuck in the era of having users to enter large amount of data to create profiles and simply throw up matches without any attempt to do intelligent matching. All matching is relegated to the search criteria which the users set. In fact the matching is probably no more than a simple query to the database. This seems to work for now, mostly for due to network effects.The current players have a large user base and hence attract more users.It is only a matter of time before a small niche breaks away from the norm and sets the trend for new alternatives.
The ‘fun’ factor in finding a date…
A few days back we mailed all those who found a match on Coupl.in seeking feedback.If you have replied, then thanks. And rest assured that I have read each and every mail. Most of the positives where about the kaleidoscopic profile view which was perceived as refreshingly different from the other sites out there.It is becoming clear that people need more information to make an informed choice about the profile shown on a dating site.Bare bones details like education, profession.family background are necessary but not sufficient.Just focusing on these details make the process more mundane.Its a lot more exciting if you know that you share something in common.For example, a couple mailed back saying they connected on coupl.in and found that they had a liking for Salsa.They plan to take salsa classes together.
Some of the negatives where in the area of navigation and discovery of information within a profile.Recently a grid view was introduced so that you can see upto 50 pictures in one screen and decide.This is still experimental and we need to figure out how to get this right, but this is a start.
Another feedback was regarding photos.In fact one of the users suggested making it mandatory.I have to agree with this – a photo is invaluable,despite all the other info you may have.
Coupl.in has a very healthy number of profiles with photos – almost 65%. But it is not enough.So we have made photo upload a part of registration process and you absolutely need a photo to view matches.In addition we have added privacy controls to have the option to show the full photo to only those users you have pinged.
Finally brace yourself for some facelift before the Valentines day weekend.There is a lot more to come in terms of offers and new filters.
Have a happy weekend
‘Stressed on Valentines day?’
That is how the email subject of one of the biggest advertisers this season reads.Unfortunately despite 4 such mails the contents are still the new year promotions.Indians need a product which is suited to Indians,not a rehash of something that works in the west.
If you are however feeling stressed this valentine’s day then please avail the limited offer on Coupl.in.Nobody feels like charging during the season of love so if you have not already heard,Coupl.in is free till 14th Feb 2010.Try it!
Coupl.in Zeitgeist
Ever wanted to find out what made couples click on Coupl.in? The Zeitgeist is your answer. On the home page, click on the 
icon and you will see a cloud of topics which helped couples click. Hover on them and you can see exactly how many couples shared that in common.Click on that topic to start searching by that topic.
Hope you enjoyed this!
What else?
When you are out with someone and when this question pops up too often you know there is nothing else to explore 
Whether your date was interesting or not, can be measured by how soon and how often this question made its awkward appearance.It is an indicator of boredom.Boredom is the number one first date killer! Don’t succumb to it.
Coupl.in can help you.. with conversation starters.Hopefully you spend time doing something of mutual interest or discussing something fun.
I would consider coupl.in a success if the “what else” question did not come up at least in the first 2 dates.So all you people who matched on Coupl.in,you ought to report back on this
A few users wondered if Coupl.in is preventing some matches from showing based on its matching engine..The answer is No 
.
If you are looking for men from Delhi between 23 to 38 years of age, you will be shown all male users from Delhi aged 23-28 registered with Coupl.in.The matching engine only calculates a score which is meant to assist you in making a decision as to whether to express interest in the person or not. It does not decide whether the match needs to be shown or not.That decision solely lies with the you, the user.You can control this using the search criteria.
After some recent changes, the match score is calculated(if not already done) after the page loads(asynchronously or AJAX’d if you understand the technicalities).So you may see the loading icon.Meanwhile you can check out the profile and wait for the match score to show up.Hopefully this will improve the responsiveness when you review matches.
Happy couplin.
Yahoo OpenID issues
Looks like Yahoo has added support for the AX entension for OpenID, so this means that a relying party like coupl.in can get the email id of the user who is using their yahoo id on coupl.in.Essentially this will enable coupl.in to skip the email verification step.
There had been some other unrelated problems earlier for those trying to use the yahoo login option on coupl.in, but hopefully those problems are now resolved too.
OpenID is an elegant way to manage identity on Coupl.in so that users do not have to remember yet another password and username.
