XPLORE
A way-finding solution to support tourism in Stratford, Ontario.
CHALLENGE: How might we make way-finding convenient while also supporting local businesses in Stratford Ontario?
TEAM XPLORE
Final project for Digital Media Solutions I class conducted by Prof. Jessica Thompson at University of Waterloo
ABOUT STRATFORD
n 2016, Tourism to Stratford generated over $26 million. That year, over 1 million tourists visited Stratford, a city of 31,053. Stratford’s economy is highly reliant on Tourism.
PROCESS
1. RESEARCH METHODS
Surveys | Paper Prototyping | Competitive Product Survey | Guided City Tour | Fly-on-the-wall | Shadowing | Behavioural Mapping | Secondary Research
Fly on the wall
I collected and documented primary data on tourists at a tourist spot in Stratford through the fly-on-the-wall method. This brochure summarizes my findings which helped us build XPLORE.
2. FINDINGS
Tourists Liked . . .
51% highlight of their visit was the Festival, 13% culinary, 24% included other highlights: swans, parks, river, gardens, shopping and walkability.
Tourists Disliked. . .
Tourists needed more information related to distances between attractions, and local wayfinding.
3. Our Challenge
Primary and secondary research identified way-finding and lack of digital touch-points with small businesses as major pain points for tourists.
4. PERSONA
AMANDA
We saw Stratford through the eyes of our primary user archetype: a tourist named Amanda. We wanted her to have the most ideal experience finding her way around Stratford to get to the theatre, restaurants, parks, etc.
5. IDEATION
DESIGN THINKING
Our team employed the Design Thinking framework to ideate possible solutions to our challenge.
6. SCAMPER METHOD
Our ideas collectively pointed towards the following three pre-existing apps. We used the SCAMPER METHOD TO INCORPORATE THE IDEAS.
S.C.A.M.P.E.R. stands for Substitute, Combine, Adjust, Modify, Put to other uses, Eliminate, Reverse
Google Maps
We leveraged the navigation functionality from Maps.
Pokèmon Go
Xplore's core functionality and gamification aspect was heavily influenced by Pokémon Go.
Living Wine Label
Scanning and AR interactivity was inspired by the aforementioned app.
7. Our Solution
XPLORE STRATFORD: knows the user and their schedule. It crafts a personalized tour for the user based on the information from their email, social media and the time they’re going to spend in Stratford. It keeps the information safe with the help of XPLORE algorithm.
About XPLORE
For the benefit of user experience, we gamified the whole experience. All the scan-able places or the hotspots within the city will appear on the map. Our users will travel to each location and scan the icon. Users in Stratford are guided from site to site by Stratford’s famous former resident, Thomas Edison.
improves tourist wayfinding by giving them location based data about the food and services around them. Encouraging foot-traffic throughout Stratford will help small and medium sized businesses to gain awareness, and will help the users explore Stratford. Scanning any place or object would give the user certain XPLORECOINS. Stratcoins can be redeemed at our partner stores in Stratford like RHEO THOMPSON’S.
(ICONS from flaticon.com)
XPLORECOINS
Scanning any place or object would give the user certain XPLORECOINS. Stratcoins can be redeemed at our partner stores in Stratford like RHEO THOMPSON’S.
8. HI-FI Prototype
A FEW SCREENS FROM THE FUNCTIONAL HI-FI PROTOTYPE
9. KICKSTARTER STYLE VIDEO FOR XPLORE
STORYBOARD, EDITING & ANIMATION - Anurag || SCRIPT - Christabelle, Anurag & Amy