As part of the research the group conducted into the market and the features we wanted to include, the group wanted to find out what is already out there. There are huge numbers of articles referring to the best travel apps, but below is a  breakdown of some applications available on different platforms and that each have a different feature that is going to be incorporated into TravelSafe. At the bottom of this posts are links to related articles from a number of different sites and contributors identifying the top travel applications.

Journi [1]

• social network for sharing posts (pictures and notes with geolocation) to a shared timeline
• can invite friends and family and send them automatic updates in real-time via web/app/email
• further sharing to Facebook and Twitter
• Apple only, Free
• weaknesses: lack of geographical ties or tagging, no offline resources, no travel information.

StaySafe [2]

• GPS tracker app that emails or texts the users exact location to emergency contacts if you don’t check-in (e.g. after working, socialising, travelling alone)
• Works with “sessions” – need to have checked in by end of session
• Apple and Android, £4.99
• weaknesses: No offline resources, no user input to improve safety ratings, expensive.

AroundMe [3]

• finds nearest restaurants, banks, gas stations, book hotels
• Apple and Windows phone, Free
• weaknesses: No real time updated information, no travel information, no offline resources.

EmergenSee [4]

• With just a click of a button, you can transmit video, audio and GPS to your selected friends and family so that they can hear, see and track what’s going on. They can alert authority if you can’t
• Apple and Android, Free
• weaknesses: No user input to improve datasets, no travel information, no offline resources.

TripIt [5]

• consolidates all your travel reservations (hotel, air, car rental etc.)
• Can share itinerary with friends and family
• Apple, Android, Blackberry, Free
• could link this to travel alerts and updates?
• weaknesses: No specialised travel tool such as a route generator, no safety ratings.

AllSubway  [6]

• maps for subway and metro in cities around the world
• Apple only, 79p
• weaknesses: No safety information or tips, no offline resources, competes with paper copies in a city.

Road Buddy [7]

• checks publically available police data on criminal damage, drugs offences, public disorder and violent crime and then plots a route avoiding as many as possible on Google Map
• Firefox OS only but planning to expand
• weaknesses: No offline resources, no user input to improve datasets.

SafeRoute [8]

• US only
• Android only, 60p
• provides GPS enabled crime statistics and safety levels for every city in US providing there’s enough crime data
• Provides safety levels for each zip code in some major cities
• Also has comments from users section
• Removed from app store due to pending patent infringements
• weaknesses: Not an original app, no user input, no offline resources, no travel information.

Conclusions

It is apparent through market analysis that a majority of travel and safety apps either do not charge for use, or charge a minimal amount. Therefore in order to keep within the trend of this market TravelSafe should do this is also, which will ensure that it fits the needs of the target audience. Another key trend with the apps evaluated is that often the name of the app corresponds to the basic concept of the project in a few words or less. Again, this is another consideration for the group’s own project, which the current name TravelSafe reflects well. Finally, a noticeable trend with the apps reviewed is that none of them feature more than a couple of definable features, such as emergency contacts input or travel information. This is where the TravelSafe app will find its niche market as it will combine multiple features where existing apps only combine two or three. In order to decide on these apps however, the group has asked for expert advice to help guide the project as the success criteria dictate that the project must not be subjected to extensive qualitative or quantitative tests at this stage.

Based on the weaknesses of these apps, the group are now in a position to create a short-list of app features which other apps in the market to not appear to fully meet. A large consideration for this list is for the TravelSafe app to utilise multiple features. The combination of these features will ensure that TravelSafe is unique, and offers something more than the others on the market.

This post represents that the group has chosen appropriate economic and social Contextual Factors that directly link to the marking criteria, and are vital to understanding what requirements the product will have. These take the form of market analysis, evaluation of existing products, and identification of app features. There is evidence that these have been chosen intelligently (by reference to literature and analysis) to produce a conclusion of professional quality, leading to a successful product. 

In addition there is evidence of Innovation and Creativity which is shown via tailoring the group project to address existing weaknesses of app’s in the target market. Subsequently this shows that the product has gone beyond expectations by meeting a genuine gap in a market, which leads to a commercially viable product idea. 

News Articles

“The World’s 50 Best Travel Apps” – David Clack (http://www.timeout.com/travel/features/1169/the-worlds-50-best-travel-apps)

“10 best travel apps for iOS and Android” – Jessica Naziri, 2014 (http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/best-travel-app-1278014)

“Best Travel Apps for 2015” – Alexandra Talty, 2014 (http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandratalty/2014/12/11/best-travel-apps-for-2015/)

“Top 20 best travel apps: recommended by SkyScanner” – James Teideman, 2013 (http://www.skyscanner.net/news/top-20-best-travel-apps-recommended-skyscanner)

Written by Emily.

References

1. Journi, 2015, Travel Blogging rediscovered [Online] [Available at: https://www.journiapp.com/] [Last Accessed: March 2015]
2. Safe Apps Ltd, 2015, Stay Safe – Smart Personal Safety [Online] [Available at: http://www.staysafeapp.com/staysafe-personal/] [Last Accessed: March 2015]
3. Flying Code Ltd, 2015, AroundMe – Because you’re going places [Online] [Available at: http://www.aroundmeapp.com/] [Last Accessed: March 2015]
4. EmergenSee App, 2015, EmergenSee Personal Security System [Online] [Available at: http://emergensee.com/] [Last Accessed: March 2015]
5. Concur Technologies Inc., 2015, Tripit – All of your travel plans on-the-go! [Online] [Available at: https://www.tripit.com/uhp/mobile] [Last Accessed: March 2015]
6. AllSubway, 2015, AllSubway [Online] [Available at: http://carmat.altervista.org/AllSubway.html] [Last Accessed: March 2015]
7. Warman, M., 2013, Road Buddy mobile app plots safe routes to walk home, The Telegraph [Online] [Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10047029/Road-Buddy-mobile-app-plots-safe-routes-to-walk-home.html] [Last Accessed: March 2015]
8. GeoOasis Inc, 2011, SafeRoute, [Online] [Available at: http://www.geooasis.com/SafeRoute/] [Last Accessed: March 2015]