Dates. Engagements. Weddings. Families. In my July 2023 conversation for Zë me Mirën, I spoke about the photos and stories people shared with dua. That is when the work behind an app becomes personal.
For me, this is a reminder of the human outcome behind the product. An introduction inside an app can be one small part of a much longer story. The relationship itself belongs to the people who build it.
A number can say that an action happened. A person’s account can explain why it mattered to them. What were they looking for? Why did they continue the conversation? And which parts of the relationship do they choose to share?
Listen to the story the person wants to tell. It does not need invented romance or a founder’s version of what happened. The relationship is theirs.
For a team collecting such stories, permission should be specific: which words and images may be used, where they will appear and what should stay private. Someone agreeing to tell you about a relationship is not automatically agreeing to every possible public use.
The old recording is a moment of appreciation, not a promise that every person will get the same result. Success stories show particular experiences; they do not establish a success rate. What I want to keep in view is the purpose behind the work: giving people a chance to meet, then respecting the life they make beyond the app.
One of the encounters from the Europe trip was Gentiana and Xhemajl’s story in Berlin.