What will the Smart Trip Platform alpha release look like?
What will the Smart Trip Platform alpha release look like?
As we have already announced on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram, we have reached our Soft Cap last week! For those of you who are new to the crypto space, a Soft Cap is an amount of raised funds beyond which an ICO is considered a success. The Soft Cap is calculated based on the costs necessary for building a basic version of a blockchain app and marketing it to early supporters.
The first version of an app — the alpha — needs to be functional, but it doesn’t have to be sleek, beautifully designed, or full of features. The point of an alpha is to validate the concept, make sure that the system works, and create an initial community of users. Many of such alpha users also act as testers: they provide feedback about bugs. Debugging is an important part of building an alpha and then a beta.
The Smart Trip Platform alpha is already in the works. Here’s a short guide to the essential features that the first version will have:
1) Signup and user area. Obviously, we need to give both travelers and travel businesses an opportunity to sign up! It will be possible to choose between a private and a business account (that is, if you are going to mostly plan trips or offer services), create a profile and set up pages for different things that you offer. For example , if you have a hotel, then you will be able to create a presentation page with a general description and some pictures, plus a separate page for each type of rooms — or you can make a list with just short descriptions and prices for a single room, twin, double, etc. We want to make registration easy for our users, so they’ll be able to simply copy all the information from their page on Booking.com or another site. As for private users, they can write about themselves and their travel preferences and fill in some basic information. Of course, you can also offer services as a private person — for example, you can offer a room in your apartment to tourists.
2) Wallet — the alpha version of the app will have a limited number of payment methods: with TASH tokens, of course, and probably BTC, Ethereum, and debit/credit cards. The exact list is still being worked out, as well as the list of countries where users will be able to pay with their card (different fiat payment gateways work with different countries). And of course, users will be able to deposit TASH tokens bought at exchanges into their wallet.
3) Chats. Being able to communicate directly is one of the foundations of Smart Trip Platform — this is what makes us different from aggregators like Booking.com. In the alpha version, while the number of users is still moderate, all participants will be allowed to initiate chats with each other. In the beta version and onwards, we will limit the ability of businesses to contact users without being asked to. The reason is simple: if a travel agency can write first to any user, then it will be tempted to spam everybody, offering its services to people who don’t want them. We will also implement basic chatroom features in our alpha release: for instance, we can start a group chat with alpha testers right inside the app.
4) Booking. Of course, our system would be nothing more than a glorified mock-up if it didn’t offer real booking tools. In the beta version, users will be able to group together to book activities and rooms together, and travel service providers will have a tool to gather groups of tourists for their tours and excursions, automatically keep track of free places or seats in vehicles, discount them when there is just one or two places left, and so on. In the alpha version, we’ll keep bookings simple. Of course, we will integrate APIs of a few major payment gateways for those users who prefer to pay their booking deposits in traditional ways.
5) Reviews. We want to start building a vast database of reviews from the very beginning — this is a great engagement tool! For the first stage, we won’t implement complex things like video reviews or multiple photo uploads — simple text and a rating are enough.
6) Rating points. From their very first steps on the platform, users will be able to earn rating points and build up their reputation in the ecosystem. We are still working out the rating system. For example, how many points should one earn for leaving a review? How will rating points correspond with loyalty points? Will activity in chatrooms count? How will we reward feedback on bugs and interface flaws? There are many small decisions to make, and we will rely on the community — that is, on you! — to give us valuable advice.
Of course, the alpha release is only the first step on the way to the fully functioning, global platform that we are envisioning. We hope to be done with the alpha by mid-autumn, but we’ll be working on the beta at the same time. Perhaps we’ll even be able to release it by Christmas!
Do you have any ideas on what our alpha should look like? Then share them here or on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/STplatform/ and Telegram t.me/st_platform.
And don’t forget: our token pre-sale is almost over, but you can still get a great 12% discount on TASH tokens if you buy them today on our official site: smarttripplatform.io Just 4 days left, and then we’ll go on a two-week break before the main ICO round!
