An app to find things to do based on your
Imagine you have just arrived to a new city as a tourist and search on Google Maps “things to do near me”. The app shows several points on the map you don’t know anything about, and the list of their names. You don’t know about the menu nor the prices, what kind of people visit these places or are there at the moment. A curated list of relevant things to do based on personal taste, interests and behavior would help people decide better how to spend their free time to have fun.
This app came to be from a personal need. I just arrived to Australia and the only thing I had in my mind as a tourist was that I was to see kangaroos, koalas and eat vegemite. But each day that passed, I felt that i couldn’t waste time and wanted to do the best Melbourne offers.
My observation centers around change and a small part of glance. I wanted to learn about people’s habits how they decide to spend their free time out of their home. I asked 3 participants to show me how they decided what they would do this weekend. I expected each one of them to use their mobile phone to do some research. To my surprise, one of them seems to enjoy walking without any specific direction and decide on the spot what he would feel like doing.
Research has shown there are many ways to find out about things to do in a city and socialize with other people. Something language barriers must be overcome for tourists. In other occasions time and money become critical factors to determine if one person can attend to an event or not. When a person is shown several options to do based on mood, tastes, interests or near locations, cost and comments from other people, it can improve the user experience and help people to choose what to do.
VERBAL INSPIRATION: Up to date / Inclusive / Swipe / Fast /Simple
VISUAL INSPIRATION
Netflix: You get access to all series and movies in a fast and organized visual list. It shows relevant content and suggest things to watch based on previous content consumed. It also shows the list of movies and series by genre or trend.
Waze: This app allows users to communicate with others traffic related events in real-time, such as police officers located on the road, accidents, traffic jams, etc. This helps other users change their route to avoid these issues so they can arrive to their destination faster. The more you share with others, the more experience points you earn.
Spotify: You can find music based on your mood. It can also show you content in your language of choice.
Storyboard
Prototype 1
Prototype 2
According to the heuristic evaluation, the changes required were defined and the priorities were aligned based on the severity of each violation that impacts the main reason of using the app — allow users to search for activities based on their mood. The two initial prototypes were merged to ensure the search of activities could also be done using a map. For now, the prototype shows how the homepage looks like and buttons below are used to filter, locate and notify.
Description of Online test Experiment #1
Toolbar below as-is or on the top-bar? While conducting in person testing, it was clear the second user wanted to adjust his search using the search button or through the menu. But once he realized the toolbar was below and had to tap to display it, he understood how to use the functionality with frustration since he felt he would prefer to have the bar always visible instead of hidden. On the contrary, the first user felt comfortable and didn’t’ hesitate to use it. To determine the best place to locate the toolbar and its buttons, we need to run an A/B test with a bigger sample to capture more data. We will test the current design A with the toolbar hidden against a new design B showing the toolbar buttons on the top-bar. I hope this user test will allow me to identify the most intuitive way to show these functionalities when I ask them what design option they prefer when using that functionality and what helps to avoid frustration and improves ease of use.
SIMILARITIES
- Both groups were inclined to search for the filter functionality on the top-bar.
- The app caused good impression since their faces showed joy and curiosity to learn what the app offers thanks to the clean UI design
- Both groups easily understood the value proposition of the app and how to navigate it to find things to do in a city.
- Both groups accessed the recommended activity being promoted in first position.
DIFFERENCES
- One of the participants accessed to a free activity without using the filter functionality. Then he realized he could filter all free events by applying a filter.
- Participants of test B communicated it was easier for them to change the filters since the button to access this functionality is already visible and easier to access on the top bar
- Participants of test A couldn’t find the filter functionality and showed expression of confusion and frustration.
LIST OF CHANGES
- Make the top-bar always visible from test B.
- Add list of activities viewed in the hamburger menu
- Add location icon to access a map-view and visualize events near the user.
- Add a new section called “My Groups” in the hamburger menu allowing users to share activities of interest with specific people they want to share with.
Results
Unlike other apps, Mood allows you to find new things to do near your location, based on your mood. It aims to help people follow their feelings when overwhelmed with too many choices.