Prototypes

We made prototypes out of pictures, representing “pages” on the app. The main objective with the prototypes was to get the potential consumers to be able to fully grasp the idea, and the potential of the app, as well as for us to see how we could make it as user friendly as possible. As earlier discussed, it is important the app is easy to use, as it is supposed to substitute for more time consuming processes. With that in mind, the app will in many cases resemble apps that already exists, to make it as intuitively as possible The app’s “front page” will the recommendations of all the people you are following with the newest post on top. This feed will be continuous, and will also be used as guide of inspiration and just for the curiosity sake – as the same way Instagram and Facebook work. Another main page is the map of Barcelona. Here every place that someone you follow have recommended will be shown with a symbol. From the prototype testing we got a great insight, it was to label the symbols into a few different categorizes: bars, gourmet restaurants, casual restaurants and lunch restaurant. This way the user can easily see if they are close to the kind of restaurant they are looking for in the moment of search. In the search window, the user will be able to choose to make a search in different categories. Either on people, on type of restaurant, on street names, on specific restaurants, on type of food etc. The different alternatives will then be shown in a order representing the best ratings. The most crucial insight the testing prototypes gave us, was that importance of a “save” function, and the possibility to group and sort saving so that the user can easily find their way back to recommendations they saw a long time ago. This is where the platform distinguish itself from platforms like Facebook and Instagram, and truly become valuable for the consumer. Further, the testing resulted in an agreement that there is little to gain by trying to make it as original as possible. It is more important the user easily find what they are looking for, and gets a great eating out experience, as well as an incentive to share their own experience.