Many of the world’s biggest and most popular cities have an incredible amount of resources to find the best restaurants, the most interesting sights, the most entertaining activities and the coolest bars. This is great to see when looking at these entertainment points individually but trying to plan a night is a more complicated process.
View the app in action at the bottom of the page.
THE PROBLEM
“Where should we go on our first date?”
“Date night is on Tuesday, what do you fancy?”
“Dinner was great but now where should we go?”
It’s easy to find individual spots to visit using sites such as TripAdvisor and city focused guides but harder to plan whole nights which hit multiple recommended establishments or sights.
THE PROPOSED SOLUTION
I propose to create an app where a whole night is planned out for you. Whether it’s a first date, a weekly date night for a couple or even a night out with a group of friends. The night is planned from the pre-dinner activity, to the stroll before the Uber home.
SNAPSHOT OF THE MARKET
The following three websites are snapshots of the market that the app will sit in. These websites all provide information on how users can experience the city they live in through restaurants, bars, arts and events. I aim to create a streamlined and consolidated app that reduces the need to search several sites to find this information. It will offer a more spontaneous option as well as the tried and tested model of planned social events.
Source: sitechecker.pro
TIME OUT
“Time Out Group is a global media and leisure business that inspires and enables people to explore and enjoy the best of the city.
Time Out Media’s digital and physical media proposition comprises websites, mobile, social media, print and live events. Across these platforms, Time Out distributes its high-quality content – written and curated by local expert journalists – around the best food, drinks, culture, art, music, theatre, travel and entertainment in 327 cities and 58 countries. The Company is monetising this global reach and its strong traffic from a desirable audience via digital and print advertising as well as e-commerce. Since its launch 50 years ago, Time Out has become a global brand that advertisers and consumers love and trust.
Across both business divisions, the Group’s mission is to help people around the world go out better.”
CONCRETE PLAYGROUND
“Concrete Playground is a digital city guide that helps you find the best and most interesting things happening around you. Launched in 2009, Concrete Playground now connects with a wide and engaged audience in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland and Wellington.
Our collective of editors and contributors cast a critical eye over our cities and provide the highest standard of filtered cultural content. We handpick the most electrifying experiences, sort the signal from the noise, profile new innovators and review the latest openings honestly and independently. Browse through our restaurants, bars, shops, events and guides to discover your new favourite places.
We believe your city is only as good as you make it. That’s why we think globally and play locally, so that you have access to the most inspiring ideas and trends from around the world. Exploring and dissecting the latest issues affecting your cultural life, Concrete Playground has you covered, every day, and on any occasion.”
BROADSHEET
“Welcome to Broadsheet, and the best of your city.
Through breaking news, features, event guides and insight from industry experts, Broadsheet is the authority on the cultural life of your city. We’re here to keep you across the goings on around town and to cover, analyse and comment on it all with accurate reporting, sharp photography and clear, clean design.
On Broadsheet you’ll find daily coverage of the most talked-about openings and big-ticket events alongside the emerging, the lesser-known, and the people, businesses and movements that may have been overlooked, but are no less worthy of your attention.
We’ll keep you across the simple must-haves, too – what’s worth seeing in the galleries, or where’s the best place in town to buy a tailored suit.
We’re excited about the cities we cover. New shops, bars and restaurants continue to open, festivals pop-up every other week and decision-makers take our culture seriously. Subscribe to the newsletter and don’t forget keep in touch.”
Overall visits per month - Worldwide
14.9M
Overall visits per month - Australia and NZ
1.0M
Overall visits per month - Australia
1.2M
TIME OUT AUSTRALIA DEMOGRAPHIC
Time Out is the sort of website and business that this idea has been inspired by. I noticed that myself and friends were very commonly looking online for ideas on what to do in Melbourne on that day, that week or that weekend. I felt this was a ‘service’ that was being utilized frequently and a more streamlined process could be created.
I have taken Time Out as the main example and used their audience data to get an idea of who my target demographic will be and create two user personas.
SOCIOECONOMICS
41% Male 59% Female
86% 18-44 years old
74% 25-44 years old
TRAFFIC
781,000 Unique Audience
1,601,772 Unique Browsers
3,521,575 Monthly Page Impressions
SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS (MELBOURNE)
Facebook 166,000+
Instagram 149,000+
Twitter 115,000+
LEISURE
49% dine at a Time Out listed restaurant at least once a week
88% use Time Out for food and drink recommendations
62% use Time Out for entertainment ideas and inspiration
48% drink at a Time Out listed bar at least once a week
WIREFRAMES AND PROTOTYPES
Working on the wireframes the main focus was getting people to the final destination of the date page as quickly as possible. As much as I would have liked to have made things more filtered and specific it just wasn’t conducive to a smooth and pleasant user experience.
The user flow is short:
Launch App > Enter CIty > Browse dates based on 4 sections > Choose Date > Complete Date
SPLASH SCREEN
As users launch the app they are presented with a screen to enter their current city. This idea is based around Melbourne as it’s where I currently reside but the idea would be to roll this out across all major cities in the world.
HOME SCREEN
Once the city has been chosen the home screen appears showing Featured Dates (this can be trending, sponsored or new establishment promotions).
The user is also given the option to choose how they wish to find their date.
They can view:
Featured Dates
Nearby Dates (find dates that start near to your current location)
By Suburb (i.e. Richmond, CBD, St. Kilda)
By Category (i.e. Drinks, Food, Double Dates)
There will also eventually be an option to ‘Create Your Own Date’. This will allow users to create dates either for themselves to complete or to share with friends.
FEATURED DATES
Dates are listed vertically and provide a short description, image and iconography to give the user an idea on the style of date.
ENJOY YOUR DATE
Start your date at Highlight 1 and work your way all the way through. The map shows the route you can take and each highlight gives a brief description of the area.
