Sunali Aggarwal set out to research existing dating and social networking platforms and realised these either accommodated a specific section of the community or were open to all, overlooking the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
So, Aggarwal, an entrepreneur who co-founded Mobikwik.com and a user experience designer, created ‘As You Are’ or AYA, a dating and social networking platform has been built explicitly for the Indian LGBTQ+ community.
The app understands that many within the community have not identified themselves publicly for various reasons, and attempts to bridge that gap when it comes to connecting with others who have, over the years, become comfortable with and vocal about their identities. Edited excerpts:
What led you to launch AYA?
I created AYA based on firsthand experiences of friends who found it difficult to find love being closeted. However, with Section 377 abolished, queer relationships are legal. This opens up a lot of opportunities for queer people, not just from being in a relationship perspective, but from a perspective of living their life as they want to.
Tell us about your research in developing this platform.
I looked up many dating apps being used in India, and was so disappointed to see so much sleazy stuff on so many of them. People are not comfortable giving too much information out to a new app. So, we have created a balanced questionnaire that is optional. On other apps if you don’t have a picture, your profile can get ignored, but not on AYA.
What are the app’s major highlights?
We have three categories of users. Verified whose details and selfie has been admin approved, and they can send chat requests to other members. Unverified or Not Verified who have not submitted their selfie and cannot send chat requests unless they upgrade to a paid plan. Premium members can send direct messages to any member. This keeps the app spam free for people who got verified. As many from the community do not know how to identify themselves, we post articles to educate them on LGBTQ lifestyle and other issues they should be aware of. Also, users can buy Direct Messaging packs to talk to a person they are interested in.
Have you received any criticism?
Initially, we only had orientation selection based on which we matched members. But a user got rejected because they selected their orientation as gay and when we looked at the selfie, they appeared to be a female. Now, we accommodate almost every gender and orientation combination. Earlier, we hid a lot of data, for e.g. who liked them, mutual likes, etc. Now users can see this data and then decide whom they want to talk to.