Digital currency #2
The App generates a digital currency – Cycloin when the phone detects the user cycling and tracks the users cycling progress. For example, every 5 miles the user cycles a Cycloin is generated. Using the Cycloins they have generated they can redeem goods and services through the App which offers the user a code to purchase the product. My goal is to encourage and motivate more people to cycle.
App prototype: https://xd.adobe.com/view/3cacee86-e7f2-4c34-7e7e-4014a05f353d-4a9d/?fullscreen
Marketing website: https://maielamin.wixsite.com/cycloin
Why an App? Apps can use local data such as data from the health App integrated into iPhones and perform faster than loading a website on a phone. Now that I decided to create an App how am I going to encourage users to engage with the App frequently? With the marketing strategy of – FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out. By creating deals that last a limited time
either a week or a month but if the user would like to redeem these offers before they expire they have touse the App frequently. How can I do this? By converting their physical activity into a digital currency to redeem these offers. Therefore, they see that instant gratification (unlike what they would see in the gym) of their exercise literally paying them off. How can I convince my friends to start cycling? Telling them how fun cycling is not making them cycle! What can I do? It’s clear that most people have their phones on them either on their fingers, palms or pockets. Therefore, I have to create something that can be accessed with a phone.
Solution: Create an Instagram or Facebook page and get as many followers. This may encourage peer pressure for them to join this cycling
community and if it becomes popular I can show businesses which would encourage them to promote offers on our platform.
Problem: How can I be so sure that everyone who follows us a cyclist? I can’t keep asking them or send them a questionnaire because I would be bothering them and they wouldn’t want to join at all.
Solution: Create a website where people would have to create an account that can track their cycling.
Problem: It is unlikely that someone will leave the website on whilst they’re cycling and leave their data on the whole day? It’s unrealistic and drains their battery faster.
Challenges:
As an undergraduate student I don’t have as much time and money as I would like to, to execute this project to it’s fullest potential. Consequently, I am having to:
-Teach myself Swift as I don’t have the funds to hire a developer. Using github I managed to get the code for the functionality to make the calculations to generate the Cycloins which I coded after as well starting on the interface.
– This has lead to a couple UI changes such as tracking progress screen and purchasing offers.
-Finding alternative methods to detecting cycling motion without using an algorithm
-Still figuring out how to form secure transactions
-Create a design that is suitable for visually-impaired people because by having text over some images or white text it makes it more difficult for them to comprehend the information on the screen.
-I want to make the App inclusive for everyone even if they have disabilities
To overcome these challenges I have to do more research. However, I felt that I couldn’t continue this project as I needed a better understanding of the subject.