Trip Sharing Platform
Background
People like to make lists and complete them. It is a satisfying feeling to check something off a list. There is a need for a platform to do this for traveling. While you can document the places you have been by yourself, it becomes cumbersome. Creating a platform to make lists of places that you want to go could be useful for the person trying to see all of the national parks as well as the person that doesn’t like to travel far, but instead likes to try restaurants in their town. Being able to keep track of places visited takes a load off our faulty memory. These lists could be shared to friends or strangers as a challenge. The gamification could spark adventures and expert curated travel plans.
Executive Summary
I propose that we create an app to create lists of locations. Utilizing existing geolocation APIs and location databases will be crucial in getting the best data possible as well as not duplicating work that has already been completed. Each list could have a theme or not with each item being able to be “checked off” only once that person is in that location according to the geolocation API. No information will be saved in remote databases. All information will be stored locally on the phone. If you want to transfer all of the data on the app, then there will be an easy way to transfer. The removal of user accounts and storing the information in the cloud means that privacy no longer becomes a concern. Sharing lists with others will be a simple file transfer that transports all of the necessary information from one app instance to another. This allows fine grained control by the user of their location data and who they want to share it with. The app itself will be simple and easy to use. No more complications other than creating lists, sharing lists, and completing lists.
Viability Analysis
I think this solution is very viable. By keeping everything local, there is no need to design and service servers to store all of the user data. Once the app is created, it will be self-sufficient. Transferring lists through just file transfer seems sort of archaic but I don’t think it would be terrible. I use one app, Paprika recipe manager, that functions similarly. A big issue is that if a person’s phone dies, then they lose the lists that they have created and any progress that they have made. Transferring to a new phone wouldn’t be too bad if a migration function was implemented.
Risks and Rewards
It is risky to do everything locally on the app since it provides some inconveniences to the user, but the payoffs in simplicity and privacy are very great.
Closing
In an atypical approach to this kind of problem, a cloudless way of storing user created data has benefits of simplicity for the maker and privacy for the user. This comes at the cost of convenience for the user and the possibility of losing all of the user data upon phone failure.
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