Hobby HunterBY MANOJ, MAX, SAM & ALEX

What

When

Who

Why

Where

We are a group of four, 14-year old, Sutton Grammar School students: Manoj, Alex, Max and Sam; living in the south of London. We form a strong bond together and are determined to carry our idea forward and win the competition so we can make an impact to the world we are in today. We plan on introducing Hobby Hunter, an app which allows you to try out new activities you never would have thought about before. We have often encountered situations where we see people playing instruments and sports, which we’d like to do, but have never been able to because we don’t know how to start and where to start. Our app will allow you to interact with other people who can teach you how to do what you’ve always wanted to, so you can see if it is as fun as it seems and get an actual feel for it.People an use it on a daily basis, during the day when they see an activity taking place that they’d like to do. Hoppy Hunter, tracks down areas and places where classes on how to do such activities are taking place, so you can meet and get taught.

There are so many activities out there for us to enjoy, but sometimes we simply don’t know it exists and don’t know how to start. We came up with this idea because we wanted to play the piano, but we didn’t know how to get started and where we could receive lessons or even try it out.

There are so many activities out there for us to enjoy, but sometimes we simply don’t know it exists and don’t know how to start. We came up with this idea because we wanted to play the piano, but we didn’t know how to get started and where we could receive lessons or even try it out.

Problem

Often, as humans, we like to try new things; do new things, but what primarily stops us from doing this is the fact that we don’t know how to start or where to start. We particularly have found ourselves in a situation which led us to trying to find an answer to the puzzle. We need something basic, yet has the capabilities to find someone what they want to do and when they want to do it.

Question

The question we want to address is where to go to start a new activity. We believe there is a lack of information on the internet and people need to receive the information in a much simpler form; what, where and how.

What new activities can I get started on?Where can I start these activities?

What do I need to start these activities?How do I start these new activities?

Key Insight Statements1) From our experience as well as the other people we’ve surveyed, we’ve found that the main reason people don’t take up an activity is because they don’t know where to start. It’s often difficult, even on Google, to find precise places where you can do an activity. Even in the seldom times that you do, finding contacts is often a hassle, that is if they are available – that is another issue we wish to solve.

2) Secondly, often to start an activity you need specialist equipment, such as a piano for learning to play an instrument. What our app genuinely solves is this issue; companies can sign and offer free trials (in groups – so they can offer many people one with minimal costs) in which they provide the necessary equipment, so whoever is using the app doesn’t end up wasting money, which is proving to be ever so decisive nowadays in deciding what you do. On a side note, you may ask why companies would want to get involved in the first place. We believe that they would want to do so because they would business which our users could provide if they were interested and satisfied enough.

Mini Elevator PitchOur team, Hobby Hunter, is developing a mobile app to help those younger than 18, in London, who do not know where to begin an activity to get started in an activity of their choice.

User Profiles

From interviewing people, we have learned that:1) Presenting information in a concise way is necessary as the user will not want to

read something if it is too long, not enabling us to get our point across.2) The app being free is more preferable, considering that our target audience is under

18s, they don’t have credit card details and so won’t be able to afford the app if it was costly without their parents who may not comply.

3) Users like to be able to select who they work with during the trial periods companies offer. They feel as if working with age groups or genders similar to them would be better as if they were for example: 18, they wouldn’t necessary want to work or be in the same trial group as someone who is for example 7.

4) The majority of our users, who will be under the age of 16, won’t be able to travel far and so it is vital that we include some sort of post code system to categorise areas in which activities are offered. In that way our users can see which activities are near them so they can go there easily with minimal hassle, to both them and (most likely) their parents if they require supervision. Our users state that their parents may not allow them to travel far distances for just a trial.

Competitors or Alternative Solutions

We believe that our app stands out because there is nothing similar to it on the Google Play market. Some apps have a promising title such as ‘Hobby Ideas’ yet are let down by their content as it is irrelevant to the title, which is why we firmly think our app is one of a kind on the Google Play store. ‘Hobby Ideas’ only informs you about what the topic consists of but does not have anywhere to get started or information about the place. Our solution is better because we don’t sit and tell you how to find where activities take place, we do it for you, so it is essentially at the user’s fingertips.

MVP User Stories and Chosen Feature

The core feature in our app involves using maps, where simply by entering your postcode and desired activities, locations, within London, will show up with a little pin icon, which you can click to take you to another slide. This slide will then have details of the company, including details of how to contact them, their email and how to get there.

Our MVPs will after using the app for the first time, will have several recommended activities which he may like, through other user reviews and activities that are in general similar to those of which he has chosen. At the beginning he will be able to enter his postcode, saving him the hassle of travelling far (esp. if he is under 14 – in which case his parents would be affected as well).

Flow of app & User Feedback Integrated

Our app will involve buttons, which will enable the user to scroll briskly through the app. If a box where text is required is selected, a keyboard will appear which the user can use to type with.

In terms of user feedback, we have created a Facebook page, in which users can directly ask questions to one of us that designed the app. We will also have a section where users can rate how good a certain trial was and how good the activity was as well as there impressions in a star system (with 1 star being awful and 5 stars being amazing) and a comment box. This can then be up voted by other users, thus increasing the awareness of a certain activity or trial.

If there is something wrong with our app or something they think needs improving, they can, likewise, just send us an email or message us directly though our website.

Key Wireframes

Feasibility: (Content , Data and Technical)

We have thought about the broadness of our network of companies and have decided to include companies within London first and slowly work our way up. To ensure that our app works and to arrange such things we would have to have a base where we could associate ourselves with companies – this is essential to making our app work. This is what is linked to content feasibility because although it is possible, putting loads of companies from places we don’t even know about, into essentially our own custom-made map, will be difficult. The help of this competition, however, we could hopefully broaden the map we have and really make our app work. We have already covered the expenses through adverts or through promotion of companies so that isn’t really an issue either.

In terms of data, to ensure our app works, we will have to ask questions to find out their preferences and where activities are located near them. We have learnt that we need to be in accordance with the data protection act and so we can only ask simple questions, however, we do not think this is a problem as we only ask for age, gender and post code; nothing like names.

In terms of technical feasibility, we don’t think we rely heavily on this seeing as the only real complex thing we wish to do, is to include a notification on the user’s home screen. This has been used in many apps, so we presume it isn’t too complex, however, even if it was, our app would still work as we would be able to provide recommendations through our Facebook page, which is not an issue at all. This wouldn’t address the user individually but would still be effective for those who follow us.

Business Case and Customer Pledges

We pledged to ensure that customers would be able to be in the same age or gender group trials, to avoid concerns of humiliation, shyness or obnoxiousness. We had to do this because several of our interviewees stated so.

This is the only customer pledge we have made.

In terms of business model, we hope on gaining revenue through adverts or through arranging a deal where based on the number of customers a company receives because of us a set fee is paid, although, this would be complicated to arrange. Alternatively, we could just promote certain activities or companies, by highlighting their pin in the map or through various other ways. As mentioned, our customer base, is Under 18s, although people outside this may use our app. We just feel like this age is the age in which you want to get out and do things; whilst you have the energy.

Marketing StrategyHow will we make our app function with maximum efficiency you may ask. Well, we have devised three simple techniques to improve the interface and user friendliness of the app.

1) We have ensured that there is never too much writing on the screen. Nobody likes to look at a screen with too much text as it makes you want to skip to the end and not read it properly. This is why we put our facts in much simpler form which is easier to read. By putting it like this, we hope it will make our screens look more attractive.

2) Our app will be free, but because we are promoting businesses we will ask for a share of the money made from those who discovered the business through Hobby Hunter. An alternative yet very similar method is to receive payment due to the fact that we are advertising their company and boosting their popularity even if they do not get any business.

3) A new Facebook page – This will allow us, the Hobby Hunter team, to answer any FAQ’s of the users and post important information about updates, information etc.

4) Another thing we will do is integrate some sort of notification bar, which will inform you of activities we recommend you try out, based on what you have searched for previously. This will help us form even more specific audiences, which we can use to try and promote some companies and hopefully gain money to run the app through this as well.

Wild CardWe hope that our Facebook page will help promote the business and raise awareness that our app is being developed. It will give some information to people about what the app is about and how it works.

On the 24th April, we got some help from experts, who gave us some help on financing and improving our attraction and customer feedback to our target audience.