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Project Overview

In 2011, Whereis® released one of the first free iPhone navigation apps to offer spoken turn-by-turn directions. Proving extremely popular, the app went to number 1 in the free navigation category in the App Store. With premium navigation features available in a free app, Android users around Australia clamored for an Android version.
Working to fully leverage the native capabilities of the platform and support the full range of Android mobile devices available in Australia, the Whereis® Android App was launched in June 2013.

Organisation

Sensis®

Team

Snr Manager: Allison Caruk
Product Manager: Scott Furey, Daniel Aron
Producers: Jessica Ellingham, Jo Jette Spurling
Designers: Matthew Sarah, Jared Bon, Sue Earl
Developers: Angus Ng, Matt Cascone, Michael Gillies, Yuan Fan, Andrew Griffiths, Tony Filipe, David Weiss, James Pott, Andrew Louth
Business Analysts: Nouman Riaz
Testers: Vincent Luong, Premkumar Arumugam, Phillip Ren, Malcolm Webster, Pritpal Kaur, Andri Purmawinata, Harmik Sardar, Shashi Srikantaiah
Analytics: Christopher Mason, Nichola Harkin
Marketing: Clare Smith, Jess Hart, Anthony D’Abaco, Hamish Butler, Damian Glass

Project Brief

As one of Australia’s leading local mapping experts, Whereis® prides itself on being open and accessible to all, and delivering the best possible experience across a broad range of devices.

The rapid growth of Android in the Australian marketplace meant that Whereis® needed to develop an Android app to:
• deliver on demand for a Whereis® Android mobile app
• leverage the capabilities of the native Android platform
• support the range of Android handsets in Australia
• give Android users an engaging, premium navigation experience for free
• differentiate Whereis® from competitors in the category
• support Whereis® as an Australian brand with extensive Australian map coverage and local knowledge

Project Need

Built specifically for the Australian market, the Whereis® Android app offers extensive coverage of Australia featuring the most up to date map data from Whereis® Maps. The app also features premium enhanced mapping/navigation related functionality not typically found in a free navigation app.

Key app features include:
• Free voice guided turn-by-turn navigation
• Free Celebrity Voices
• Automatic re-route if you take a wrong turn
• Day & Night-mode views when navigating
• The latest and most up-to-date map data from Whereis® Maps, Australia’s local mapping expert
• Over 1.4 Million points of interest such as petrol stations, ATMs, car parks and more
• Quick Search tabs for commonly searched locations such as fuel, cafes, bars and more
• Search for addresses, places & businesses from Yellow Pages® such as accommodation, restaurants, doctors and more
• Simple and easy to use
• Available on all Android handsets in Australia
• Free to download

User Experience

Delivering a superior user experience for Australian Android mobile users was the primary focus in the development of the app. To ensure accessibility and a premium experience across the breadth of Android handsets in the Australian market, the app was created for multiple screen dimensions and varying device capabilities. This made for a challenging build process with regular Android software releases continually changing the goal posts. Regular and robust testing was required to ensure optimal app performance.

Key to the approach was the Beta release of the app to Whereis® social communities in early June 2013. Whereis® Facebook and Twitter followers were invited to download the app, while work continued behind the scenes to incorporate user feedback. Within a month, the first updated release was launched, delivering a series of improvements informed directly by our users.

Due to popular demand, the iPhone Celebrity Voices feature was incorporated allowing users to select one of six celebrity voices to power their navigation experience.

Feedback from our users illustrates the power of user engagement:
“Awesome effort! Love the voices. I have been waiting for this app since I tried it on my ex-iPhone. Finally it is here and it is better than ever! Can’t wait for them to put more updates and fixes for it.” (comment from Kevin via email).

“Love it. the more celebrities the better. Well done.” (comment from Sam via email)

Project Marketing

Following the full release of the Android app in late June 2013, the key marketing messages for the launch leveraged the wider Celebrity Voices campaign, with targeted messaging centered around this fun and engaging feature now being available to all Android handset owners in Australia. The campaign wrapped the novelty of celeb voices around the primary reason for use – to help you find where you want to go.

A combination of mobile & social ads targeted to device, social media and press were used to drive app downloads and awareness of the Whereis® Android/Celebrity Voices release. An outstanding success, project marketing drove thousands of downloads and helped drive unprecedented awareness of the Whereis® brand.