After we were given the brief for the project, we sat down as a group and brainstormed ideas. We jotted down anything that could possibly work, no limits. This meant that we could then narrow our ideas down to those that are realistic but also still creative.
After our initial brainstorm we talked through our realistic ideas. Between us we decided that the ‘Hidden Gem’ app for your phone would be the strongest direction to go in. This would be an app for a smartphone that you can use to find places to visit in Edinburgh that aren’t the typical tourist sites. After we decided this we thought about the other features we could add to the app to make it unique and stand out from other apps on the app store (apple) and play store (android).
Following this we wanted to make sure that our idea was something that would be used by tourists and also something that was unique to the market. I put together a SurveyMonkey survey and we each shared the link on social media platforms to get as many responses as possible. We were very successful in getting back 100 responses very quickly and we felt that this was a good number to work off.
The questions that we used in the survey were:
- Where do you search for travel information?
- When visiting somewhere, do you like to see the typical tourist attractions?
- Would you be interested in visiting places that aren’t necessarily ‘typical tourist’ places to see?
- If Yes to the previous question, where would you go to find information on other places to see?
- Do you know any places worth seeing in Edinburgh that aren’t necessarily one of the typical tourist places to go? This may include coffee shops, park areas, restaurants, statues or anywhere else worth seeing
Each question had multiple choice options as answers and also some had a comments box for respondents to leave a different answer if theirs wasn’t part of the multiple choice or if they had a suggestion to offer (last question only). Below I have entered screenshots of the results of the survey.
After we collated the results of our survey, we concluded that it was successful and supported our idea as a product that would be welcomed by tourists in Edinburgh.
We then took a walk around the city as a group to see what hidden gems we could find that could go onto the app. We did this to ensure that there were at least a few places throughout the city that would fit what we’d be looking to be added to the app for users. Below are two examples of what we found that we felt fit the ‘Hidden Gem’ image that we were looking for.
After the success of our primary research, I did some secondary research to back up our decision to continue with our app idea. I found the following facts out:
- 58% of people prefer to search for travel on an app rather than a site
- 35% like the immediacy of push notifications that keep them up to date
- Almost a third of travellers use apps for promotions or discounts in travel
- 77% of smartphone users regularly use navigation apps
- 67% of users use Google Maps as their preferred app, next is Waze at 12%
- 25% say it offered better directions
With the support of all of our primary and secondary research we were confident that our idea would be a successful one.
Next Matt did some initial sketches of that we thought the main pages of the app should look like. Jamie then created more detailed versions of these with colour and then we used these to create the photoshopped phone screens below. These allowed us to see what would be practical as well as attractive as an app for users.
The features of the app are as follows
- ‘Hidden Gems’ – places uploaded by users with a review, star rating and filter to allow users to search for specific categories e.g coffee shops
- Map – to visually show users where all of the ‘Hidden Gems’ are around Edinburgh
- Journey planner – shows users ‘Hidden Gems’ on their route or creates a route based on the ‘Hidden Gems’ that the user wants to visit
- Point system – users that upload a ‘Hidden Gem’ will gain points and these points can be used to purchase things in the ‘Hidden Gems’
We feel that the app that we have created is different to anything available at the moment because of it’s route planner feature. This feature allows the user to see ‘Hidden Gems’ that are on their route by them telling the app where their destinations are for the day, tourist or otherwise. The route planner can also plan the users route for them based on the ‘Hidden Gems’ that they have decided to visit. We would ensure that this feature was user friendly and simple to use.
The group consisted of 4 people:
- Rachel Duncan – Photography
- Alexander Haughey – Graphic Design
- Matthew Capes – Product Design
- Jamie Jalland – Interior and Spacial Design
Rachel Duncan Research 