Interview Findings

My interview findings were pretty interesting. First of all, they showed 8/10 responses that people tend to go to a theme park approximately once per year. People’s best experiences at the park tended to either be centered around the group of people they were with, a ride that they rode, or short line lengths at the park, while worst experiences involved riding super scary/painful rides, waiting in line for a long time, or super crowded park visits. Those that had used a fastpass to get in front in the line fell at 5/10. Everyone said that they would be willing to take a smart device (iPhone, iPod Touch, Android) to the park if the park offered rewarding services. Some pointed out, however, that this would be contingient on the park offering good free WiFi, while others pointed out that they would not feel comfortable bringing an iPad/Tablet to the park for fear of losing it, not being able to put it in a pocket, etc.

I also asked people what information that they would like to know about a ride/attraction before walking to it. Almost everyone mentioned that they would like to know the wait time. Others wanted to see reviews from park visitors, information/stats on the ride, and ratings in terms of how scary the ride is, how intense the ride is, and health warnings for the ride. Lines tended to be deemed important for deciding which rides to ride, especially for ones that may not be the “extreme” rides that are the most popular at each park.

Most people were excited to hear about the prospect of my App as described, and said they would love to use something like it. When I asked for suggestions for additional features, I got quite a few interesting suggestions. Some suggested having the ability to look at the park in an augmented reality interface to see overlays of information. Others suggested having ratings from the park visitors, others suggested having the ability to look at line lengths, menus, and food prices for eateries in the park. Another suggested having a list of showtimes for various other attractions.