We have had a lot of fun over the past month working with some great people across Peterborough, who have been helping us test out the Hyperlocal Rainfall app. The main part of this testing is now coming to a close and it has provided us with some fantastic insight into what Peterborough residents want from this app, and how people will actually use it around the city!
The testers have come from a variety of backgrounds, including people who want ‘to get active’ , city workers wanting to know the ‘everyday weather on the commute’, or those simply wanting to see ‘how it could help planning journeys’ or ‘timing dog walks’.
We let the testers loose with the app, getting them to see how useful they found the app’s ability to link their journeys with specific weather predictions. For the testing, we asked the participants to use the app as if they had just downloaded it and along the way they gave us feedback on what they liked, didn’t like, and what they thought could be improved. We are happy to report that most of the feedback so far has been positive and the few improvements suggested are constructive and will only make our app stronger and easier to use.
Participants that have already completed their user testing have said they are happy to carry on using the app beyond the testing for their own personal use, because they have enjoyed using the app and have found it useful. Some of the great comments included:
‘I have really enjoyed using it. The routes are great, the routes are the best thing about the app’ – Participant 2
‘There were 2 days last week when I waited at home for an extra 10 minutes before I set off. Really helpful, otherwise I would have actually got drenched’ – Participant 7
To keep you all updated here is what the latest test version of the Hyperlocal Rainfall app is looking like:
Now we move onto wrapping up the remaining user tests and getting a few improvements made to the app from the testers’ helpful feedback. In addition to this we are excitedly getting ready for PECT’s Green Festival on Saturday 13 August where we are aiming to have the Hyperlocal Rainfall app ready to go for Android users! I hope to see you there!
Freya Herman is the Project Officer for Hyperlocal Rainfall.