During class today, we completed a brainstorming activity that was meant to determine the best possible features for our apps. I wanted to keep this list, so I decided to put it on my blog. The list includes:
1. Connect with social media, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
2. Include coupons where you can just show the bartender your phone to receive discounts
3. Show happy hours, specials, etc.
4. Connect with other users (become “friends” like on Facebook)
5. Let users message each other through the app
6. Include a photo album of each bar
7. Let users synch with electronic gaming machines at the bar (like electronic blackjack, etc.) without paying
8. Allow users to find out the bartenders working that night
9. Feature a rating system of the bar (user ratings similar to IMDB)
10. Feature user comments about the bar
11. Have a cleanliness rating of the bar
12. Show the average age group that goes to the bar
13. Identify the bar as a dance club, casual bar, really nice bar, etc.
14. Synch with the user’s location to determine the closest bar
15. Synch with the user’s interests to find the best bar for their personality, age, interests, etc. (like how Facebook synchs with the user interests and suggests things they may want to “like”)
16. Determine if the bar is 18+ or 21+ and if there are cover charges
17. Find out if the bar has food and, if so, include the menu and prices (including drink prices)
18. Let the users determine if there is a line to get in or if you need to be waitlisted
19. Allow it to make reservations if they are necessary
20. Allow users to find out if there are performers at the bars, including musicians or comedians
As we continued this brainstorming assignment, we were asked to choose two of our favorite options to feature in our MVPs, or minimally viable products.
The top two options that I chose include:
1. Synching with the user’s interests to find the best bar for personality, age, interest, etc.
A common feature of social media, like Facebook and Twitter, is synching your interests to get more connected. They take your interests, age and other demographics to suggest pages to like or events to attend. I would like my app to have a similar feature, where it synchs the user’s age and interests in order to determine what bar would fit best for him or her. My audience for this would be students at Ohio University from about ages 21-25. This feature would be awesome for students going on internships in big cities like New York (where there are too many bars to count) or Chicago. It would be an excellent way to meet new people and find others that are around the same age as them.
2. Feature a rating system of the bar similar to that of IMBD
My audience for this would also be students at Ohio University from the ages 21-25. I like the IMDB aspect because IMDB features many user ratings, as opposed to just using critics. It would be nice for college-aged students to rate the bars based on their experiences in order to get a more accurate rating of the bar (instead of having a critic rating by critics that do not fit the bar demographics). Having reviews from other college students would make it much easier to determine which bar a student would like to go to.
Developments on CrowdControl 