Should I Build It Should I Build It
30 Jul 2025
Travel Social Media

I want to create an app to discover activities across the map ...

...(potentially near you) for your free time

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Run Away

Multiple attempts have failed with clear negative feedback. Continuing down this path would likely waste your time and resources when better opportunities exist elsewhere.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

The idea of an app to discover activities is in a tough spot, falling into the 'Run Away' category. This category suggests that similar attempts have failed, indicating potential challenges ahead. With 8 similar products identified, the competition is notable. Though there is medium engagement, indicating some interest, there is no signal to use or buy the product. Given this context, treading carefully and rethinking the approach is advisable before investing significant time and resources.

Recommendations

  1. Dive deep into the negative feedback from similar apps. For example, Ambulate received criticism regarding clunky interfaces and poor mobile experiences. Understand the core reasons why users didn't find value in existing solutions. Focus on the consistent failures of similar products to identify critical problem areas.
  2. Explore if your skills can be applied to a related but different problem within the leisure or activity discovery space. Consider a niche that hasn't been adequately addressed. Think about creating a product that focuses on a specific demographic or interest group.
  3. If you've already developed a prototype, assess if the underlying technology can be repurposed for a different application. Can the location-based features be adapted for a different industry? Maybe it could be repurposed for logistical or even emergency applications.
  4. Reach out to individuals who have tried similar activity discovery apps and conduct thorough interviews. Focus on understanding their unmet needs and pain points. Ask specific questions about what they wished the app could do better or differently.
  5. Before abandoning the idea, try pivoting to a hyper-local model with intensive curation and quality control. Address user feedback by improving booking system handling, UI/UX, mobile usability and transparent information and pricing. Then collect user feedback on the new version.

Questions

  1. Given the negative feedback on existing solutions, what specific, unique value proposition can your app offer to differentiate itself and attract users?
  2. How can you ensure a seamless and user-friendly experience on mobile devices, addressing the common complaints about clunky interfaces and poor mobile usability in similar apps?
  3. Considering the challenges in booking systems and user frustrations with third-party sites, how will your app facilitate direct bookings and ensure reliable transaction handling and customer support?

Your are here

The idea of an app to discover activities is in a tough spot, falling into the 'Run Away' category. This category suggests that similar attempts have failed, indicating potential challenges ahead. With 8 similar products identified, the competition is notable. Though there is medium engagement, indicating some interest, there is no signal to use or buy the product. Given this context, treading carefully and rethinking the approach is advisable before investing significant time and resources.

Recommendations

  1. Dive deep into the negative feedback from similar apps. For example, Ambulate received criticism regarding clunky interfaces and poor mobile experiences. Understand the core reasons why users didn't find value in existing solutions. Focus on the consistent failures of similar products to identify critical problem areas.
  2. Explore if your skills can be applied to a related but different problem within the leisure or activity discovery space. Consider a niche that hasn't been adequately addressed. Think about creating a product that focuses on a specific demographic or interest group.
  3. If you've already developed a prototype, assess if the underlying technology can be repurposed for a different application. Can the location-based features be adapted for a different industry? Maybe it could be repurposed for logistical or even emergency applications.
  4. Reach out to individuals who have tried similar activity discovery apps and conduct thorough interviews. Focus on understanding their unmet needs and pain points. Ask specific questions about what they wished the app could do better or differently.
  5. Before abandoning the idea, try pivoting to a hyper-local model with intensive curation and quality control. Address user feedback by improving booking system handling, UI/UX, mobile usability and transparent information and pricing. Then collect user feedback on the new version.

Questions

  1. Given the negative feedback on existing solutions, what specific, unique value proposition can your app offer to differentiate itself and attract users?
  2. How can you ensure a seamless and user-friendly experience on mobile devices, addressing the common complaints about clunky interfaces and poor mobile usability in similar apps?
  3. Considering the challenges in booking systems and user frustrations with third-party sites, how will your app facilitate direct bookings and ensure reliable transaction handling and customer support?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 8
  • Engagement: Medium
    • Average number of comments: 7
  • Net use signal: -11.3%
    • Positive use signal: 7.6%
    • Negative use signal: 18.9%
  • Net buy signal: -7.3%
    • Positive buy signal: 1.5%
    • Negative buy signal: 8.7%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

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Heavy on linked data.

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