The kinds of users expected and why the audience should care

There is a large potential user base for HoyaPark, and it starts with Georgetown University. As the garage provides a discounted rate for Georgetown employees while charging full price to regular customers who are also able to park in the garage, the primary users will be Georgetown University faculty and staff. Of the Georgetown users, there will be a particular draw from members of the School of Continuing Studies due to the close proximity of relevant buildings, classrooms, and other amenities. HoyaPark will have a number of key features and user tasks, providing the audience with a number of different paths to successfully integrate the app into their parking habits.

Other users include Georgetown students, specifically graduate students enrolled in the School of Continuing Studies, who are working or taking classes on campus. It must be determined if students receive a discount or just faculty and staff. That discount would increase the size of this user set. The final anticipated users would include general residents and workers in Washington, DC, without affiliation with Georgetown University. Parking in DC can be scarce and hectic, and oftentimes, drivers park based on location convenience. As the School of Continuing Studies is located in a central and popular area of DC, there would likely be a group of users open to paying a full price based on timing necessity or location convenience.

The Georgetown administration would also be keeping a close eye on the success and popularity of HoyaPark. There would be an opportunity to expand the pilot to other garages on Georgetown’s campus can be marketed as an incentive for employees and students, an example of campus modernity and innovation, and act as a revenue driver from parking fees.

What can users do with it

HoyaPark is a mobile application for individual users on all mobile phone platforms. In HoyaPark, a user can reserve a parking spot at the garage at 909 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20055. This can be done in advance or during driving to the parking garage. There will be an available live map of the parking garage to gauge the availability of immediate parking. Using the app, once a user books a spot or drives up to the garage (when parking is available), HoyaPark will generate a digital mobile ticket to remove the need for a printed ticket.

Through the application, users can log in with Georgetown credentials to be eligible for discounted rates, which will be a digitally created discount parking validation ticket. Within a user profile, a user can save preferences, including payment methods and previously used parking spots. The parking garage will be updated to accommodate HoyaPark, including QR codes on the walls next to individual parking spots. For users that drive up for same-day parking, this provides the opportunity to scan the QR code to save the parking spot your car is in to avoid inconvenience or a lost car within a large parking structure. For users that have reserved a spot in advance, the parking spot number and location are saved to the reservation in the app.

The application will be more effective if it first employs a small-scope approach and iterates on primary app function like reserving parking in advance and creating digital tickets. Perfecting individual product elements will allow the user base to grow, and then the app can develop further to introduce other tasks, like creating a live map of currently reserved spots.