The Big Idea
Spokes is a way to make cycling the preferred method for transport in London. I designed an app for cyclists that lets you know if there are any incidents on your route, you can add routes for others to join along. It will notify problems on your journey, so you can plan to avoid it, giving the option to thank the user who reported the incident to gain rewards. Reporting an incident, appreciating reports and generally using the app gives you rewards, getting you closer to that next rank, gain new badges and beat your friends. It is way to keep up to date with the roads, socialize with your friends and make new ones to commute with.
People aren’t cycling due to the fact its too dangerous The reason for that is there aren't enough people cycling. They believe that if there were more cyclists, they would feel safer, as motorists would become more aware of them. As they say ‘safety in numbers’
This was a great starting point which lead me to understand that there are processes of improving cycling in London called ‘Love London, Go Dutch’ campaign which will start to make London ‘cycle safe’. With plans of introducing the Netherlands and Denmark infrastructure for cycling into London, which can solve urban congestion, reduce road danger and help save the environment, ‘Spokes’ would be the perfect idea that encourages and rewards cyclists for getting onto their bikes and using this method of transport. Helping you improve your health, lower travel expenses and cuts the stresses of commuting.
I Tried to work using these two colours as they are the colours often used for cycle lanes in London.
Reports On Your Route
Navigating through the app we get to the news. This is where to check before setting off on a journey. These are notifcations that other users have uploaded to prevent others from getting delayed and to avoid a area where there might have possibly been an accident, or construction blocking a cycle Lane.
Not only does this notify you of an incident, but also lets you know when new cycle lanes have been introduced or fixtures of potholes etc.
You can set this so you get notified if there is a problem near your location or you can narrow it right down so it will just notify you when your routes has been affected so you can find an alternative. You can then thank the person uploading the image by saying it was useful and they will get points which helps them rank up and collect badges in there rewards page.
Spokes is designed to be easily navigated around. Each page links together with the ‘Home Wheel’ in the bottom right corner. It will always bring you can to the home screen which is where you find the ‘Navigation Wheel’ it is designed around the app and can take you to any page. Simply click on an allocated icon for that page. The icons are clearly recognizable as they where design similar to lot many social sites and apps.
