Dockr is an app for finding your nearest London Cycle Hire Docking stations.
"Simple and extremely useful. Thanks!" - James, Google Play
"I downloaded the app a month ago, and it has proved to be INVALUBLE!" - bb_queenie, borisbikes.org
"I downloaded the app a month ago, and it has proved to be INVALUBLE!" - bb_queenie, borisbikes.org
The live app's main screen. The pie charts indicate how the ratio of bikes to spaces in each docking station.
The live app's loading screen. Great care was taken to make sure the loading would be as quick as possible - if you're looking for a Boris Bike you're probably in a hurry.
Dockr is an app for finding your nearest London Cycle Hire docking station. There are many other similar apps so what makes Dockr different?
• It looks better than many of the competitive apps. Many people have spent a lot of money on their phones and they deserve good looking apps to run on it.
• The alternative apps are map based—displaying markers on a map—but maps are hard to read requiring significant concentration to orientate yourself between the phone's screen and reality. Dockr condenses the information you need to choose your which Docking station into a simple easy to understand format. If you need to check the location of the the docking station it's just one click away.
The hardest part to get right was the distances along the lines that the docking station icons should be displayed. Displaying the distances accurately to scale would make the interface confusing and hard to read. The solution was:
• Creating algorithm so any stations whose distances are within 10 meters of each other are displayed in a cluster.
• Having strict maximum and minimum display distances. If the differences between docking stations are large or small the display just needs to indicate "big difference" or "small difference"—the text will show the numbers to let the user understand in more detail.
• Rounding all distances to the nearest 10m. No one is going to realistically choose between docking stations based on a difference of less than 10m so this rounding simplifies the thinking the user needs to do when comparing the stations making the app appear easier to use.
• It looks better than many of the competitive apps. Many people have spent a lot of money on their phones and they deserve good looking apps to run on it.
• The alternative apps are map based—displaying markers on a map—but maps are hard to read requiring significant concentration to orientate yourself between the phone's screen and reality. Dockr condenses the information you need to choose your which Docking station into a simple easy to understand format. If you need to check the location of the the docking station it's just one click away.
The hardest part to get right was the distances along the lines that the docking station icons should be displayed. Displaying the distances accurately to scale would make the interface confusing and hard to read. The solution was:
• Creating algorithm so any stations whose distances are within 10 meters of each other are displayed in a cluster.
• Having strict maximum and minimum display distances. If the differences between docking stations are large or small the display just needs to indicate "big difference" or "small difference"—the text will show the numbers to let the user understand in more detail.
• Rounding all distances to the nearest 10m. No one is going to realistically choose between docking stations based on a difference of less than 10m so this rounding simplifies the thinking the user needs to do when comparing the stations making the app appear easier to use.
Dockr.co.uk website
Dockr.co.uk is a simple, single-page, responsive website to support the app.
Mockups and sketches
