Siobhan McKenzie's Dissertation Blog: Thinking about apps

Mobile applications generate billions in revenue, and are regularly used by every smart phone user, regardless of demographic. The most profitable app is the tom tom, a navigation app. I learnt this in my eCommerce module, and it got me thinking.

Navigation is the one app i use on a weekly basis, with gaming and informational apps (like news) trailing behind. I was shopping in the supermarket and noticed how much time even regular customers waste wandering around trying to find things, often walking down aisles multiple times and there is no clear way to quickly locate items. Supermarkets have drastically cut staff in recent years, so it is difficult to fins anyone to ask.

I think it's useful to come up with snappy solutions and ideas for problems i see in the world, and my solution is supermarket navigation application where you put in what you need, and it comes up on a map where you also have the choice for walking directions.

This application would be great if you were going to the supermarket for the first time, or had only a few things to buy. However it would not be so good if you had a massive list of things to buy as most people wouldn't want to spend ages inputting it into a device. However, people do write shopping lists so it may be feasible to move from conventional pen and paper to a virtual smart map.

Who would use this: busy people only trying to find a few things? Would it be easier just to wander round? Would it make more sense for a supermarket just to have a floor plan or an installation with this information on a screen? Probably.

I mocked this application up. It is useful to quickly create non-functional prototypes to illustrate what i mean: these were finished quite quickly.

Home screen with icon