
Restroom finder app — Case Study
From idea to demo in 24 hours
About project
I built this product with one developer during Startup Weekend Event in 2016. We started with a simple idea of an app that helps people find the nearest open restroom. In 24 hours we went form simple idea to working demo of the app.
Starting from Idea
We wanted to make sure that there is a need for an app like this. We started with market research. There are a few other apps on the market, but every single one has very poor design and as we learn later during user research missed key features.
Specifying End User
We have identified 3 main customer segments:
- Parents with kids under the age of 3
- Pregnant women
- People with disabilities and chronic health problems
Solution

My focus was on building the shortest road from the home screen to the navigation screen. By talking with possible customers I made a few small (but important) decision to make the whole process the simples it can be.
- Use list of restrooms instead of map (with pins)
- The name of the place is more imporant then address. People don’t know address. They know where is some specific place, but they have no idea, what address it is
- Use meters insted of minutes

Filters
Based on customer research, we decited to use 4 filters:
- Show only free restrooms
- Show restrooms with changing table
- Show restrooms that are accessible for people with disabilities
- Show restrooms with 2 and more stars (out of 3)

Adding new restroom
A user can add new restroom to the database. The form is divided into two parts. In the first part, a user is asked to input location address and name. In the second part, I use yes/no question. While I was testing app with potential users this form was easier to understand then switches and checkbox.
Reflection
We started with a prototype similar to existing products, but users’ feedback makes us follow completely approach. After 3 rounds of the redesign, we finish with a completely different product.
Events like Startup Weekends and Hackathons definitely learn to work under pressure of team. We pick a pretty simple idea, to have time for good research and testing and because of that in short period of time, we design a really solid product, that can be helpful for thousands of people.
