The Pack App, Charlotte Gilbert 

Consumer Need;

Based on personal experience as a consumer, I decided to design an idea for the consumers needs rather than an organisational needs.  I am a frequent traveller, and I came to conclusion that a common question asked not just by myself but by many is; What will I need on holiday? What will I wear? What clothes and items shall I take? Most people then spend the whole journey travelling thinking, have I forgotten something? All in all packing becomes this chore instead of an exciting activity; because of all the things you MUST remember to pack. The packing stage really affects the rest of your holiday. If your stressed when you pack you will be stressed travelling, then stressed on holiday.  It becomes a ‘never ending stress cycle’ unless you get it right from the beginning. 

Initial Idea –

My initial idea is to create an easy and quick mobile application that helps travellers pack. This application will focus on pre stage (before the holiday), by recommending items to take, suited to the destination and activities the traveller is under taking, and within this considering factors such as the weather.

Technologies Needed to Create This-

Recommender Systems;

A good recommender system helps users find items of interest on the web and can provide recommendations based on user preferences. (Sea Woo, Chin-Wan, Deon. 2008)

Recommender systems also known as; recommendation engines, recommendation frameworks, recommendation systems and recommendation platforms, are taken from an information filtering system that recommends items or information to the consumer. These contain things such as, information on the web such as web pages, literature or news, to things such as specific items for example clothing, or certain music albums. The information or items are most likely to be appealing to the consumer or the user, this is why items and information is recommended to them and are based on preferences they have stated, whether explicitly or implicitly.

  Some examples of Recommender Systems companies and organisations that use them are organisations such as Whrrl and Strands . One that stands out imparticular is a company called Avail, founded in 2000 and has sales offices across the World.  Its organisation is aimed at online retailers world wide to create online stores that are personalized to each consumer visiting the sites. It notices from previous visits what your likes and dislikes are from previous purchases and makes sure to recommend related products based on your demands and appeal. An example of this in practice is shown on Amazon, which recommends items daily depending on previous purchases or items placed into your basket. 

For this particular example you see that, On my Ragnhild Gilbert's account on Amazon she has previously bought cookery and travel books. 'Today's Recommendations' have created a list of cooking books and travel books she might be interested in based on the genre of books bought in the past. 

Advantages-

Advantages of Recommender Systems are that the consumer gains new information that is useful to them, as items or information can be recommended to you that you would not have noticed, and items you didn’t realise you needed.

Disadvantages-

A negative of Recommender Systems some consumers might consider are that in a way this technology is a scheme for the organisations using this to make a profit, and to influence you. You meaning you the consumer  are influenced to spend more money and to persuade you to buy things you don’t need.

Mobile Applications

Mobile Applications are fairly new technologies, which have been introduced with smart phones. One smart phone that is certainly recognizable is the I-Phone created by Apple and its famous ‘App Store’. Applications of every shape and kind have been created and are available on the App Store, from games to photography. A group that is certainly growing in popularity are the travel related applications there are a variety ranging from weather related applications to booking system applications however there is a lack of advanced applications to help travellers pack. This is also a consistent concept within the Android Market another site where mobile applications are purchased, by owners of smart phones other than I-Phones. The fact is that I believe the best way for my concept to work is through this technology as applications are now used in everyday life proof of this is indicated by Doughty, 2011. Doughty states;

‘Smart phones and their applications are capable of providing useful support to a range of vulnerable groups including people with sensory disabilities, diabetics and people suffering from mental health problems, epilepsy or communication issues.’

This proves that applications are so developed and so easy to use, as they are helping people with things so advanced they can help with day-to-day issues such as physical difficulties.

Advantages;

 Advantages of Mobile Applications are that they are user friendly, easy to use and very adaptable. Some have shown to be useful in everyday life and they perform tasks people dread to do. These applications do it for them, through their Mobile Phones. Some consumers believe also that an advantage is that they are not expensive, so consumers can have many different types on their Mobile Phones. Applications are the fasted technologies around, downloaded in seconds and handy not just on a smart phone but now on tablets, laptops and computers.

Disadvantages;

Some consumers might say that they have many negatives such as they are only available on smart phones (not on all mobile phones), and that you must buy an expensive smart phone initially then the applications. This adds up to be very expensive. If applications run your everyday life and your phone breaks or you have technology difficulties, you will have problems functioning. People are becoming too dependent on them. Two negatives have also been explained by Martins, Chave, Primez and Rust da Costa Carmo 2011.

The authors state two main points;

‘The difference between the electronic marketplace and the real-world marketplace is that you visit the store electronically instead of physically. ‘

‘The recursive growth of the network has made this process increasingly time consuming and less rewarding.’

Does it already exist? –

The question when deciding if this idea would work, or be successful is; does this already exist? Or is there something similar? The question was difficult to answer, as yes travel/ packing applications do exist. However they are nowhere near advanced as my initial idea.

Some examples of this are;

Packing pro, By Quinn Genzel

Bag checker, By Seligman Ventures Ltd

U packing list, By NIX Solutions

What do these do?

Most of the applications were nearly all the same and had the same functions but did things in a different way. For a specific example Packing Pro, This application was chosen by the National Geographic as one of the greatest applications for travellers. Packing Pro does a numerous amount of things. It allows the user to create packing lists – to edit them delete, rename, and categorize items.

1)    You can show items that are packed or unpacked and are given suggestions from template and suggestion lists.

2)    You can also email lists the family and friends.

  Packing Checklist Essentials – Sojern Trip Packet

One of the most developed packing systems that helps travellers pack was not a Mobile Application. I came across this when purchasing a flight abroad. However after my confirmation page, a list of essential items to take was available to print. This is contained a list of items that were allowed carry-ons onto the plane items such as size of the baggage allowed and mandatory items such as passport, money and sunglasses. The reason this in particular was different to all others was as, it actually recommended items to take rather than the traveller making the list of items to take personally. This is the type of system I was looking for in deciding my initial idea. However I believe this system could be improved through the use of a Mobile Application.

Finished Idea -

 Comparing my initial idea to what already exists, I have made some changes to my initial idea and confirmed my final product. My aims for this application is to create a easy, (less time consuming) and less complicated application that really helps the traveller instead of letting them do all the hard work. For example: nearly all of the travel applications I researched, the traveller makes the lists the lists are not made for them.

  The application will work in order of these stages. My examples are shown in the format of an I-Phone as these are by far the most popular.

The application will start, asking your

1-    Gender (as the items recommended to take will be different for female and male)

2-    Destination (Items will vary for example; for long hall flights the application might suggest a change of clothes)

3-    Departure and Return Dates (This is considering the predicted weather during and in-between your travelling dates)

2- A defined search is available. For example; if you where travelling to Canada in December the next page of the application will have a variety of different types of holidays (in this case ‘Skiing Holiday’) This will make the search more accurate and a list of items to take would be more helpful.

                                                        

3- the next section will show a list of items that are recommended to take according to the information typed in to the application.

                            

                                        

You will be able to see which items you have already packed by highlighting, deleting, or even adding on items that are not on the list you wish to take. You can also use this application to check the weather.This is obviously one of the most important factors when considering what to pack for your travels. 




If the weather conditions for date of travel change a notification will appear on your phone that recommends new items to take.

This 'Pack APP' I believe is what the travellers of today need. Making lists are time consuming and everybody wants to do everything as quickly as possible. I believe that packing is one of the most important factors of the traveling experience and with pack app the traveller can really relax before their trip instead of stressing what they need to pack. 

Bibliography

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