Lab 2

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  1. Describe a new “contextualised” app for Dublin City, i.e. An app that is specifically tailored for the people of Dublin.s
  2. Describe three potential revenue sources for App Development and Commercialisation the app.
  3. Choose one and justify your choice.

Exercise

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The Research;

Looking at Dublin and all the services that Dublin offers to its residents and tourists, I have to find an application that will appeal to both markets and find and application that is not already there.

Most "big" companies that provide a service have already created and official application and are already competing with non-official applications

Official

Unofficial

Further to these applications, there are other applications that are being built at the moment. The Taxi Regulator has announce that an application will be built where the end-users can check a license number and get the information on regards of the vehicle maker, model and registration.

This means that I have to find a niche within the market where an application can create a ripple by being the first.

After researching more about Dublin and the services available, I came across a website (http://hittheroad.ie) the website shows in a map, the route to take from Point A to Point B using all means of public transport (Dublin Bus, LUAS and DART). The application is built locally, as it only works for Dublin greater area and does give very detail information on the public transport, including times and route numbers for the Dublin Bus.

The Income;

Before releasing an application and even before developing the application, I need to understand the revenue string that this application will offer; knowing the way to generate income will help on the development of the application.

As per the lecture time, we discussed multiple ways in which an application can generate revenue for the developer or company creating the software. Some of these methods are Sales (charging a one-time fee), Advertising (displaying ads), Freemiuns (two versions a free and a pay), Subscriptions (charge every month) and others.

Looking at the application to be developed (Hit The Road) and looking at the profile of users, residents (both long term and new) and tourists, we need to find a revenue usage that will be steady and not a renew that would peak and then stop.

Sales;

We could sell the application at a low cost between €1 and €2.50; this is not at expensive price, and given the turn-around of tourists in Dublin, this would present a continue cash flow. Tourist to the city will not consider the price that expensive, as it is less than the cost of the ticket for public transport.

Subscription;

We could charge a monthly subscription, this too presents a regular income, tourist can pay the monthly fee once while residents pay every month. This option will offer a more stable income as regulars will pay monthly and the tourist income would be more seasonal.

Pay-per-Use;

Although this method was not discussed during the lecture, this option could suit this application better than the other two options. A Pay-per-use seems t0 be a nice compromise between both options, it lets the application be free, but charges a small fee, similar to a premium message, when it is used.

My Decision

Given the offering of the application, giving directions using public transport, the third option seems to be the most suited for this application. This option presents a regular income, regardless of the end-user being a resident or a tourist. The application is free, this means people can download it and test-it for free; for example 1 or 2 trips are free. Thereafter, when the application is used again, the customer will pay a small fee of €0.10 or €0.25, same as a premium text.

On the first option, we are heavenly relaying on the tourist market to provide the income, as we are expecting lots of people paying to buy the application. We know this is not great from the point of the market, as we now free applications are downloaded 10 times more than paid versions.

On the second option, we are relaying that the residents of Dublin would use the applications to such an extend that they see a fee as a benefit to them. Given the nature of the application itself, few people would really see the need to subscribe. On this model tourist would not like to subscribe, as they may be afraid of charges after the application is no longer used.