Whether you’re on vacation, using public transport, or simply trying to walk somewhere new, chances are you’d rather look at your surroundings more than your phone.
Maps and navigation apps on phones are sometimes cumbersome and slow you down. Maybe you have to zoom in real close to see the exact path you’re meant to take, or you’re tired of having to glance down at your phone every few seconds just to see where you turn. When you’re engrossed in figuring out where you need to go, you have less time to engage with the beauty of your surroundings. Spending even more time focused on your screen opens you up to not just distraction, but hazards like people, poles, or even accidents.
Either way, when technology has become so entangled in our everyday lives, it becomes difficult to unravel from that tangled, sticky web we’ve trapped ourselves in that makes us depend on it. People deserve to have more of their time freed up to engage with the world again without being tethered to a phone.
“IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY OUTSIDE. WHY NOT GO FOR A STRÖLL?”
Ströll (formally pronounced as “struhl”) is a multi-functional, pedestrian-friendly navigation app that utilizes artificial intelligence and your smartwatch to provide hassle and hands-free directions using a series of vibrations. The Ströll app and its self-learning AI companion will connect itself to your smartwatch via Bluetooth and work with every phone’s built-in GPS system to monitor your real-time location in order to get you where you need to go.
After programming your desired route into the app, simply stow your phone away and pay attention to the vibration cues sent to your smartwatch. Each cue is given a unique vibration pattern depending on the intended direction the user is meant to go. To indicate left, one short buzz. To indicate right, two short buzzes. To keep straight, one long buzz. If you miss your turn, or go the wrong way, the watch will give three buzzes- long, short, long- to put you back on the right track.
“ENJOY WHERE YOU NEED TO GO.”
The Ströll app has three modes: traveler, commuter, and explorer. The mode you’re in influences the behavior of the Ströll AI companion.
In Traveler mode, the AI prioritizes vacation-based activities and keeping the user within a broad proximity to their travel accommodations (the exact distance of which can be customized by the user), and highlights public transport spots if the user wishes to use them. It also provides the real-time distance from their accommodations, and how long it would take for them to walk back to them. If the user wishes to use public transport, the vibrate feature eliminates language-barriers by letting travelers know which stops they’re meant to get off at, preferable to scrambling to compare their itinerary to the signs or PA announcement. The Ströll companion won’t store route data for later since it knows you’re visiting, but still tracks the places you’ve visited by marking it with pins or stars.
Explorer mode is similar to Traveler, but it uses the user’s city to recommend new routes or locations for users who want to explore more of where they live. After the “stroll” is over, the app collects data to evaluate user satisfaction with the location recommendation to further tailor future recommendations. Users can also use Explorer mode to keep track of places they’ve explored, which is accomplished using a golden highlighted boundary and star tags over map locations to show users the total percentage of an area they’ve explored. This encourages users to go on frequent walks to see what else they may discover!
Commuter mode is for individuals who utilize public transport for their daily commute and wish to have more free time during the ride. Oftentimes when using public transport, a certain degree of vigil is needed to not miss your stop, leading to minor instances of paranoia if you’re worried about falling asleep, zoning out, or simply being unable to see or tell if your stop has arrived if your vision or hearing is being blocked. This mode allows the Ströll AI companion to store route information and closely monitor it for potential delays, obstacles, accidents, and so on. Ströll automatically detects when you’ve boarded a bus, subway, streetcar, or other form of public transportation by detecting your device’s speed and pre-programmed route. Once on board, the user can sit back and read a passage in a book, listen to music, or catch up on some Zzzs while Ströll monitors the route for them. An alert vibration pattern will play the stop before the user is set to get off, and then give another indication once it’s almost time to disembark. This vibration intensity can be set high enough to wake up a sleeping commuter, if the user desires. Eventually, when in commuter mode, the Ströll companion will no longer need to be pre-programmed for a route and will automatically start the route for you.
You can quickly change between the three modes on the homepage, or let the Ströll AI companion naturally detect the mode you need (applicable for traveler and commuter, after enough data has been acquired). Users also have the option to be given a randomly generated location for them to explore based on their tastes and preferences, which can be generated using a button on the side of the user interface.
Like all apps, there is a bit of a learning curve, especially when it comes to the vibration patterns. That’s why there’s a tutorial for first-time users when they boot up Ströll. This tutorial allows them to get acclimated to the system, where they can replay cues as many times as they need, and are given short practice routes to walk around their block to get them used to how it works. Users are also reminded here that they can change the vibration patterns and intensity in the settings if they would like a different configuration.
In order to avoid confusion between notifications and directions, the Ströll app automatically suppresses any incoming notifications and switches the phone to silent mode. This feature can be adjusted and changed in the settings if the user desires.
This app is compatible with most smartwatch systems, like Fitbits, Samsung smartwatches, and Apple Watches, so long as the watch has a vibrate feature and Bluetooth. It’s compatible with both Android and Apple operating systems.
Don’t have a smartwatch? No problem! For accessibility purposes, the Ströll app can also be switched into smartphone mode to send vibrations to your phone instead. Just make sure to place the device into someplace where you can still easily feel the vibrations, like a back pocket, outer section of a purse, or a fitness armband.
To reduce resource usage and preserve battery life, Ströll automatically turns off Bluetooth and closes the app when it detects you’ve reached your destination. When you’re ready to head to your next destination, simply reopen the Ströll app and it will turn Bluetooth on for you.
Users can pin and save their favorite routes to quickly retrieve them for later. The Ströll companion also suggests certain routes based on collected user data from time of day, the day itself, walking in a certain direction, and so on. With enough data, Ströll is able to automatically pull up a specific route if it knows the users habits well enough.
“LOOK AT EVERYTHING YOU MISS OUT ON WHEN YOU HAVE TO USE YOUR PHONE.”
While not technically unplugged, Ströll aims to provide pedestrians with a means to reduce their screen time in areas of life where screens have become a small necessity, such as navigation. It’s especially perfect for people visiting new countries, cities, or areas who want to enjoy the sights and not their phone screen. The software gives users the chance to engage with their environment again, which positively affects pedestrian safety.
According to Injury Prevention, a journal published by peer-reviewed medical journal BMJ [¹], pedestrians who are texting or browsing their phone are at greater risk for accidents, vehicular or otherwise, than those who are talking on the phone [²]. This is because their eyes have been torn away from their surroundings, leaving them open and vulnerable to incidents. Another study reported by CBS News claims that pedestrian deaths are up 53% in the last ten years [³], a concerning trend that started in 2009, around the same time as the advent of smartphones.
While Ströll isn’t promising that pedestrian-related accidents will plummet overnight- not everyone is using their devices for directions, after all- it does alleviate potential accidents by granting pedestrians the freedom to use their eyes for observation. Ströll not only encourages pedestrians to connect with their environment again, but grants them the opportunity to engage fully with their surroundings and be present in the moment, and that is the first step to eliminating distractions for anyone who wants to enjoy a stroll.
“TIRED OF LOOKING AT YOUR PHONE?”
Marketing is a crucial aspect to the success of any brand or product, especially incoming ones. The Ströll campaign sets out to put its best foot forward by succinctly and immediately informing targeted audiences to the purpose of the app.
This is accomplished with two distinct campaigns. The first campaign is delivered through a video medium, specifically an animation and motion video produced in After Effects. While putting an emphasis on brand colors, the advertisement uses illustrated vector images often spotted in the app in tandem with dialogue that paints a vivid image for listeners bogged down by navigation apps. These 15 to 30-second advertisements are always ended by a narrator saying one of the four phrasal variations:
- It’s a beautiful day outside. Why not go for a Ströll? (Explorer)
- Get more out of your travel plans. Why not go for a Ströll? (Traveler)
- Your commute could use more free time. Why not go for a Ströll? (Commuter)
- There’s so much to explore. Why not go for a Ströll? (General)
The end card will always use the Ströll logo and main slogan, “Enjoy where you need to go.” The keyword is “enjoy” to drive home the idea that the app is not just about getting the destination, but finding pleasure in the journey, too.
The word choice in the phrase variations also utilize the power of suggestion. Rather than outright tell the listener they should download Ströll, it states an idea or concern the listener may have, then follows it up with a suggestion (and participatory advertisement has greater rates of success in the age of advertising oversaturation. By returning the option of participation back to the viewer, it makes them more likely to consider what the ad is offering). The first half of the phrase having a variation also helps with indirectly informing the listener of the multiple functions the app has, and the second half ending with the same question creates a secondary tagline that the user comes to associate for the Ströll app.
The second ad campaign consists of a magazine spread (one or two-page, depending on the image). It features three different variations, each displaying a beautiful, breathtaking sight that is obnoxiously covered by a hand holding a smartphone superimposed over the image. The smartphone screen has a generic navigation app open. Carefully laid large, bolded text on the image reads, “Look at everything you miss when you have to look at your phone.” In the lower corner are the Ströll logo and its availability in the app store.
The point of the campaign is to visually bother the reader, who would no doubt be a little annoyed by the phone covering the bulk of the page, but the language used in that banner sentence is meant to summarize that annoyance succinctly. The keywords highlighted are “everything” and “phone” in the brand color of yellow, chosen to encapsulate just how much in the world can be missed due to distraction. The phrasing and delivery also works as a stark contrast to the other ad campaign. Rather than be a gentle suggestion, this one is direct and in-your-face. It’s showing you what you miss instead of telling, like the other ad was, and sometimes, there’s nothing better to show what you mean than through a demonstration.
Citations
[¹] BMJ. “About the BMJ.”
https://www.bmj.com/about-bmj
[²] Minnesota Post. “Some smartphone distractions are more dangerous for pedestrians than others, study finds.”
https://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2020/02/some-smartphone-distractions-are-more-dangerous-for-pedestrians-than-others-study-finds/.
Retrieved from Injury Prevention, “Plight of the distracted pedestrian: a research synthesis and meta-analysis of mobile phone use on crossing behaviour.” https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/26/2/170.
[³] “Study: Since Invention of Smartphones, More Pedestrians Being Killed By Cars.”
https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/distracted-walkers-and-distracted-drivers/.
HAPPY 