| CARVIEW |
The FlexFly app is basically a simple travel app, and it’s a mobile app that will be used on both platforms (IOS and Android). We will need a GDS system for the car rental capacity, most likely Amadeus as it supports the most car rental companies. We will also need an Enterprise API from Amadeus GDS. Amadeus for Developers
In the beginning of development, when we develop the MVP (Minimum Viable Product), the suite of products from Amadeus will include car rentals and after the MVP is developed the suite of travel experiences could be added. For the catering and payment component of the FlexFly app we will also need an API like Spoonfed. Spoonfed
Because of my limited experience, I would want to begin with HTML and CSS, (and use Visual Studio Code as my code editor) and then, use Javascript for the interactive elements like the map. Spoonfed also has Google Maps and PayPal as a partner, so finding the caterers and paying for the service could be handled through Spoonfed. I would also want to use a javascript library and CSS framework like Bootstrap to create the different containers our users may need for different devices and to use the CSS templates for UI interface elements like buttons etc. For the back end development, perhaps we could use Ruby on Rails, as it is well known and has plenty of community support. Ruby on Rails Community Support.
I have also investigated learning Ruby on Rails for free: Learn Ruby on Rails
]]>
- Search Engine Optimization
- Display Ads
- Mobile Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Pay-per-click Marketing
Overall Business Goals:
FlexFly is a unique product designed to garner more interest in flying for a specific targeted audience, the app is not designed to be generally attractive to a really wide audience. Therefore, I think that the digital marketing efforts should be precise, targeted, and aimed at mobile users. Considering the goal of increasing membership in AOPA by making it easier to plan trips, all marketing efforts (digital or otherwise) should have a dual purpose: to lead potential new members to the AOPA website and to introduce and market the concept of the FlexFly app.
Ranking Rationale:
To begin with, the AOPA website itself should go through SEO in order to establish itself as a reliable, trustworthy organization and to make sure that when a pilot or copilot types search queries such as “I want to fly to the Comox Airfield” or “Aircraft Owner’s Associations” that potential new pilots are directed to the AOPA site, where the display ads for the app will be found. In addition, the FlexFly app could be introduced in an article, and even be included in the navigation bar at the top of the web page.
Next, brand education, determining consumer interest, and determining product viability could best be accomplished through display ads on the AOPA website. This would be fairly inexpensive and targeted specifically to current AOPA members. As brand education develops, the display ads could be expanded to other associated apps that pilots may use such as weather apps, flight tracker apps and radar apps.
There couldn’t be a more mobile customer than a pilot, therefore, mobile marketing could be really useful in this instance. An example could be: a pilot in Alberta logs into their weather app and types in “Comox Airfield”-then an ad for FlexFly could pop up because this is an airfield that has a FlexFly option.
Social Media Marketing may be useful after brand education and awareness has had an impact. With network targeting, pilots and their friends could be directed to both the FlexFly app AND the AOPA website.
Pay-Per-Click at this stage of a marketing strategy could be used, however, I think with a small budget and the very specific target audience a Pay-Per-Click strategy should only be used for branding awareness, if there was still money and time left near the end of the digital marketing campaign.
]]>
“5 Act Interview”
- Friendly, welcome start to the interview
“Hi, my name is Shawna, thanks for coming in today! I am looking forward to getting your feedback about how we can improve our FlexFly app.”
“First of all I want you to know this is not a test of your ability to use this app, it is meant to provide us with insight into what we have done well or poorly in the design of the app.”
“I will start by asking you some questions, and then we can see if you want to give our prototype a run for it’s money”
- A series of general, open-ended context questions about the customer.
“How long have you been flying?”
“What do you like to do when you arrive in your destination?”
“Can you give me the top 3 reasons you choose a destination?”
“How difficult is it to get a restaurant reservation when you don’t know when you will be landing?
“How often do you arrive on time at your destination?”
- Introduction to the prototype.
“Would you like to try the FlexFly prototype?
“I didn’t design this, so don’t worry about my feelings if something doesn’t work”
“As you work through the prototype, please think aloud. This will give me insight in what you are trying to do and how you think it can be accomplished”
- Detailed tasks to get the customer reacting to the prototype.
“If you want to fly to Tofino and rent a car at the airfield, how would you go about it?
“If you want to get a picnic with your car, but you are worried about your shrimp allergy, how would you make sure your picnic is safe to eat?”
“How would you make sure you have the appropriate insurance for your rental car?”
“How would you decide where you want to fly this weekend (within a 3 hour flight)?”
- A quick debrief to capture the customers over-arching thoughts and impressions.
“What did you like about the FlexFly app?”
“What part of the app was difficult to understand?”
“Do you think you will fly more often as a result of using this app?”
“Do you want to know more about the destinations that you can fly to?”
“Would you recommend this app to another pilot? If not, why?”
“Thank you for assisting us in our research today! Here is your Timmy’s gift card!”
]]>To begin unmoderated testing my mobile app for Flexfly, I would first conduct a tree test and then a card sorting test. FlexFly is meant to be a time-saving, stress-saving app that can provide a flexible opportunity for users to enjoy themselves once arriving in their destination. Early in the user flow, each screen has a minimal number of choices (or places to click), therefore “first click” at this stage (wireframes) would provide very little information.
I have organized this app based on the assumption that the user knows where they want to fly first (as opposed to choosing a location based on the availability of the car/picnic combo), however, this is the biggest question that would need to be answered earlier in the design process. If, for example, a user wanted to first find out which location they could fly to that had the FlexFly combo, the way I have organized the site would be very clunky and inefficient. I think that an inexperienced designer would want to spend more time making sure they haven’t made assumptions about user needs, so tree testing to see if the information is organized well would be a great start. Consider the following tree testing questions:
- Where would you go to find out if the location has the FlexFly combo?
- Where would you go to rent a car?
- Where would you go to find out how many airfields are on Vancouver Island?
- Where would you go to find out what you can do in March in Tofino?
- Where would you go to let the catering company know you have an allergy?
-by using tree sorting first you could hopefully uncover whether the existing organization of the app is working first, then further testing by card sorting would then consider your average users and how they tend to think.
Because I think I have made an incorrect assumption about my users needs, I think the information gained by the questions in BOLD would reveal that the user cannot find their way to that section easily.
A simple fix may be to change the icons on the map to indicate whether the FlexFly combo is available in that location, which would be easy, inexpensive and quick to implement at this stage. Then, card sorting could help to further define my user’s needs. One of the most important pieces of this puzzle would be to find out if the user knows already about the destination. If the user doesn’t know where Tofino is, or that you can watch whales in March, for example, they also wouldn’t know that it is a very difficult place to get around without transportation, and therefore, FlexFly wouldn’t be as valuable a resource for them.
]]>
My FlexFly Invision Board:
]]>
]]>
Mary, a pilot, loves to fly and visit small airstrips and the local sites. The time Mary spends planning out a flight path, and maintaining the aircraft far exceeds the time in the air. Mary needs a way to decrease her time planning, so she can enjoy her leisure time and spend more time flying.
Louise, an experienced and competent “right-seat” co-pilot and partner of pilot Mary, wants to enjoy the destination upon arrival, and she needs a way to organize their stay with flexibility due to uncertainty of landing times.
Brainstorming Process
5 ladies “half in their cups freezing at a bonfire”
5 Big Ideas!
“Res-Schmez”
Pack a picnic!
Picnic Area at airstrip!
Open a lounge at the airstrip!
And the winning idea is……….
Big Idea:
Comox Valley “Airstrip Auto-Rental”
“Flexibility and Food”
A local car rental company has a small satellite operation at the Comox Valley Airstrip. This operation is unmanned, with a lock box that contains the keys for the previously-reserved vehicle. At the time of reservation, the car rental company asks if you would like to order a filled picnic basket, in case you arrive late for your restaurant reservation. The picnic basket can remain cold for up to 6 hours (ice paks inside) and contains fruit, beverage of choice, a vegetable, smoked fish and charcuterie tray with olives and dips, and 2 bottles of water. If you decide to go to a restaurant, you can take your picnic basket home and enjoy it the next night! You pay a deposit on the picnic basket and return it on your next flight to the area. You can also enjoy your picnic right at the airstrip at the patio tables.
]]>
Account Manager:
Responsibilities include:
- Liason between agency and clients
- Identify new clients and build relationships
- Upsell products and services
- Prepare presentations and sales pitches in collaboration with Content Writer
- Handle client communications and write client reports
- Work closely with Project Manager to ensure project is delivered on time and within budget
- Inform team members of developments and feedback from clients
- Conduct user research and gather data to assist team to make good design decisions
Creative Director Responsibilities include:
- Translate marketing objectives into clear, creative strategies
- Lead and direct the creative team in the production of marketing collateral
Product Management Responsibilities include:
- Responsible for managing and implementing marketing activities through research, strategic planning, and implementation
- As a team lead, and in collaboration with the Project Manager and UX designer, investigate and communicate gaps in the marketplace
Project Manager:
Responsibilities include:
- Ensure all necessary deliverables are on time and on budget
- Ensure projects align with business goals
- Creating and communicating project plans, schedules, budgets
- Assigning tasks and deadlines
- Scheduling frequent check ins
- Clearing roadblocks, escalating challenges
- Providing status reports
- Manage project scope
- Collaborate with Account Manager on client proposals and quotes
- Accountable for the success of project
- Lead team small team including: Content Writer, Designer, Developer
Product Management Responsibilities include:
- Accountable for the achievement of growth objectives as set out in the operating plan
- As a Team Lead, and in collaboration with the Account Manager and UX Designer, work to assess gaps in the marketplace and communicate those gaps to entire team
Technical Team Lead Responsibilities include:
- Work closely with developer to provide strong technical direction
- Represent technology perspective on management team
- Consult and coach developer on software deployment, management and operation
UX Designer
Responsibilities include:
- Responsible for overall useability of the products, including experience strategy, and interaction design
- Create user stories, personas, sitemaps, wireframes, prototypes and storyboards
- Coordinate with designers and developers to execute and analyze design including tracking goals and Integration
Creative Director Responsibilities include:
- Manage the creative process from concept to completion
- Work closely with developer and designer to ensure visual communication and brand standards are met
- Provide feedback to content writer, developer and designer
- Manage creative team
Product Management Responsibilities:
- As a Team Lead, and in collaboration with the Account and Project Managers, work to assess gaps in the marketplace and design products to fulfill those gaps
Designer
Responsibilities include:
Graphic Design:
- Identity design/branding
- Corporate communication design (internal and external)
- Publication, Wayfinding and Package design
UI/Web Design:
- Work with UX designer to create wireframes and prototypes
- Design each screen according to user interaction
- Employ responsive design to ensure maximum usability
- Design UI elements such as buttons, icons, slider, scrollbars
Content Writer
Responsibilities include:
- Create and gather content including photography, illustration, web links, icons, videos, social media content
- Write, develop, edit and publish content and copy for various platforms
- Follow brand guidelines to ensure consistent messaging within company communications
- Conduct SEO tests and ensure optimization by updating keyword strategies and conducting SEO audits
- Create effective email marketing campaigns
- Manage social media accounts
Developer
Responsibilities include:
- Front end development including coding, validation, responsive design, optimization and SEO
- Back end development including entire application architecture, product security and stability
- Database creation
- Web server technologies
- Cloud computing
- Operating systems
- API integration
- Content Management system development
- Reporting and backup technology
- Quality Assurance testing
Slack is a business communications platform, and makes money by offering a freemium service, and then converts users of free Slack to paid subscriptions if the user wants to upgrade more functionality and receive available special features.
]]>
Pinterest makes money as a community website by doing the following:
- Advertising through the use of promoted pins (simple, video, one-click and app) inserted throughout the “interest” “pins”)(Pinterest ads have a very high conversion rate).
- Advertising indirectly through interest pins that lead to a product or service.
]]>