Personal Project (Pitch)

Problem

Many people struggle with finding parking, especially at large events such as festivals, concerts, and sporting events. This, in turn, can result in major delays that postpone plans. Parking lots also lose revenue if they fail to keep track of open spots that customers overlook.

Definition Statement

The solution must be easily accessible and easily applicable/adaptable in multiple locations. It must generate revenue, either in the form of additional expenses for booking, ads, or subscriptions. The solutions should be most suitable for major events, where pre-planning can take place. Parking lots must make sufficient money to compensate for empty spots left by reservations, and open spots must be detectable.

Customer Profile

The target audience for this project is adults and parents, especially those who actively participate in such large events. Those living in urban areas or near major sports/concert venues will be a prime target.

Potential Solutions

• Create an app with a subscription-based program that allows you to reserve parking spots in advance.
• Set up sensors to detect whether a spot has been occupied.
• Collaborate with parking lots to share additional revenue generated from reservations to compensate for the money lost from empty parking spots.
• Generate app revenue through additional fees for reservations on the app, depending on the time prior to the booking, through ads, or subscriptions.
• Market in social media and through parking lots, as this is a fairly common problem that most people living in urban areas or near major sports/concert venues experience.

Drawbacks

• Parking lots, especially in populated areas, may lose revenue because parking spots are left empty for reservations.
• Ensuring customers arrive and leave on time.

Additional Considerations

Scalability:

• This solution is relatively easy to scale, as long as sufficient benefits (mostly in revenue) are presented to parking lots. Scalability requires more parking lots to be contacted in populated areas and the implementation of sensors to detect occupied, reserved, and open spots.

Existing Competition:

• Spot Hero:
  • A leading digital parking lot booking service in North America, helping to book garages, lots, and valets. Founded in 2011, it operates in over 400 cities in Canada and the United States. Spot Hero makes money by taking a 10-35% commission from parking lot operators for managing reservations, with pricing that varies by location, time, and the local economy.
• BestParking:
  • A prominent parking lot booking service in North America that searches and compares the pricing of different lots to locate an optimal garage. BestParking operates near populated cities, airports, and stadiums. Similar to Spot Hero, it makes money by taking a commission fee from lot operators for connecting and overseeing the interaction between the user and seller.

Prototype Content

The prototype will likely consist of an app to facilitate online reservations and a physical sensor to detect whether a car has been parked or to scan booking tickets. These prototypes will act as an effective example for demonstrating the effectiveness of my design. The app can be used to test digital activity, such as traffic, marketing, ease-of-use, etc. On the other hand, by detecting occupied spots, the physical sensors can be used to test the overall accuracy of the app’s statement on whether a parking spot is available for use.

This prototype does not mandate significant material requirements, as the app can be made entirely digitally, while the sensors will only be designed to detect occupied parking spots, thus no advanced models will be needed. However, I may need to train a simple AI and database to recognize cars to avoid confusion in the sensors’ data.

Required Skills

To prototype my project, I will need to learn the basics of app design. Rather than coding the project, a more efficient way to create this may be through the use of app-design products, such as Wix and Squarespace, as well as the aid of AI. AI excels at generating a basic layout with appropriate functionalities for my use, while app/website-design services allow me to optimize the app’s user interface. However, I must learn the marketing basics to launch the app, including studying its domain, trafficking, and accessibility.

For the physical sensors, I must learn to connect the data collected from the sensors to the app itself, as well as to set up an effective design that prevents the sensors from becoming easily obscured by fog, rain, etc. Because the AI is only required to identify cars, it may be feasible to train it within the given time, before May 1st. Tools such as Teachable Machine may be used to aid in the training itself, but I must gain access to an accessible database as well.

Timeline

Step 1:

• Finalize project ideas
• Research and practice necessary skills
• Research appropriate tools for app creation and sensors
• Determine additional requirements such as revenue, scalability, and accessibility

Step 2:

• Prototyping the app
• Design a simple AI to recognize parking occupancy
• Connect sensors to AI, and connect its database to continue training the AI in the future.

Step 3:

• Testing AI accuracy
• Testing sensor accuracy
• Collect user feedback on app design

Step 4:

• Refine app and sensor design based on testing data and feedback
• Testing refined prototype
• Project presentation

Step 5:

• Final feedback
• Design final prototype