i personally deal w shidduchim a lot and i set ppl up all the time. without a pic its impossible. ppl are not usually expressive enough to clearly and sufficiently give over a real impression of the person so that you can understand what they need in a girl/boy.
at least if you have a pic, you can figure out yourself what they need. someone can explain to me from today till tomorrow what someone is all about, but when i see a pic, i go “oh! ok, i get it.”