Firm: Texas State University MFA Program | Class: Interaction Design | Designer: Trey Terrell
The Task
The overarching theme in Interaction Design was that of open source ideas and user generated content. When asked to examine a problem in our community I thought about the parks in my city and how they are underutilized. The parks and recreation department does a great job of organizing events at our parks and informing the public about them. However, city sponsored events account for a small amount of the use the parks see each year.
The Solution
In my proposed mobile app users can create and view events happening at their “home” parks or in any park near them. Users can also explore the features in their parks such as facilities, interesting plants, and wildlife sightings – all of which can be added by their fellow users.
The companion site for the Parq mobile app allows for a larger interface users and expanded features. It also allows municipalities a means to manage parks listed in the system. The background for the site is an interactive map based on the user’s location. Regular users can use the site to explore events in their area or the plan a tip to a neighboring town. Administrative users can define new parks in the system and edit the features of those parks.
