Swarm ApplicationGuidesheet

By Carley Williams

What’s All the Buzz About• Foursquare vs. Swarm

– Foursquare announced split.

– Swarm was released on May 15, 2014.

– Foursquare will continue helping users “discover” a place to go.

– Swarm helps you meet up with friends using check-ins and automatically shares which neighborhood you're in.

Who Swarms to the Hive?• Primary demographic/ main

target: – Urban populations and

mobile users. • Psychographic group:

– Younger generations, Millennials (18-33 years old) and college students

• Users: – 500,000 – 1,000,000

installs(https://play.google.com)

Navigating the Hive: Homepage

• Homepage(Honeycomb icon): – Distance Chart: variety

of scales.– Check-In: Check yourself

and friends in.– Search Bar: search for

friends to connect with– Profile Page: personal

page

Navigating the Hive: Location Updates

• Location updates page (Three lines icon): – Posts: similar to a news

feed– Empty heart icon:

appears next to each post on the feed. This can be tapped and is similar to a “like” button

Navigating the Hive: Nearby Plans

• Nearby plans page (Notebook icon): – Share Plans: allows you

to make quick plans with friends that are close to you.

– Example:"Who's up for pizza for lunch?“

– Interested ? : friends can reply their “interest”

Navigating the Hive: Notifications

• Notifications page (Talking bubble icon): – Notifications: appear on

this tab including new messages, friend requests and if friends are interested in your plans.

Buzzzz Words

• Stickers- Similar to emoji icons which users can attach to a check-in posting.

• Mayors - You are dubbed mayor if you have the most check-ins at a specific place.

User “Bee-havior”

Communication Need

One-Way (Traditional)

Two –Way (Conversation)

Information/Consumption

Share your plans or check-in

Tag friends in check-ins and nearby plans updates

Connectivity/Entertainment

“Heart” a status or check-in

Reply as “I’m interested” to a friends plan

Hive CultureI. Artifacts Users develop a habit of

checking-in to every location they visit.

I. Espoused beliefs/values Herd mentality forms (individuals feel they cannot be alone)

Goal: to always have a friend with you and be active.

I. Basic underlying assumptions Friends = Status; the more friends you have and hang out with the higher your status.

Check-ins = Status; the more places you visit the higher your status. (Ex: mayors)

“Better-bee” Honest

“The app is user friendly and easy to use and is most appropriate for dense urban areas with lots of friends. Swarm maximized usefulness without monopolizing your attention.” (Techcrunch.com)

• The app has an auto-location setting and tries to guess where you are. That’s not the point! I am supposed to tell you where I am not the other way around. And since the location is always on it kills your battery. (Blog Review; www.taylorbentall.wordpress.com)

Future “Bee-liefs”

– The company announced the new Foursquare will come summer 2014, and that it will be "fiddling with the knobs" on Swarm over the coming weeks to address any issues or glitches customers are experiencing.