2. abstract:
i love foursquare and think that it is
awesome. i wish more people would
use it and think that is awesome. by
looking at different types of users
and thinking about the new memory
layer that 4sqand7yearsago builds
upon the foursqaure platform, i feel
that by incorporating 4sqand7years
ago into foursquare and adding some
improvements, foursquare could be
an even better and more profitable
experience for users and the company.
3. first, my foursquare credentials:
528 days out
2,643 Checkins
45 Badges
11 mayorships
Level 1 superuser
4. what is 4sqand7yearsago?
simple! after logging in with foursquare, every day the user
receive an email from abe@4squareand7yearsago.com with
all the places checked into on this day... 365 days ago.
5. why is this awesome?
it builds an exciting new, more personal, more
engaging layer onto foursquare... the “memory layer”.
4sqand7yearsago provides users with another reason to
checkin. foursquare was originally created to let users know
where their friends are when you go out, now users can
easily remember what they and their friends were doing in
the past.
memory layer
deals layer
game layer
foursquare checkin platform
6. why is this awesome for foursquare?
it provides a valid reason for new users to start using
foursquare, and existing users to use foursquare more.
potential users always ask me why
they should bother with foursquare.
4sqand7yearsago is a great answer. these
are usually people who have smartphones
and love taking photos of their food and
their friends and what
is going on around
them to remember later. foursquare
adds another layer to this, providing the
context of place. once people experience
4sqand7yearsgo and have the moment
of reconstructing a particularly exciting
day from an email they recieve from abe, they become
heavier users of the foursquare service.
7. foursquare users are not all the
same, but there are a few standard
usage patterns, each of which could
benefit from 4sqand7yearsago
these users try
one & out foursquare
done for a few days or
weeks but don’t
feel compelled to
continue using it.
these are casual
users who only
Big checkin at exciting
moves places that they
also want to share
through Twitter
and Facebook
these are the
whales of
24/7
foursquare who
checkin everytime
they enter a new
venue or event.
9. improvement:
PeoPLe Love sPeCiaL events
and HoLidays: send custom holiday
and event themed messages, with quirky,
unique messaging. for
the new years email, for
example, providing the
times of last year’s checkins
as what the user was doing
on new years in another
country.
one & Big 24/7
done moves
10. improvement:
graduate tHe Periods tHat
emaiLs get sent to users. a year
is a long time for new users to get engaged and checking
in as a habit before unlocking the memory layer of
4sqand7yearsago. to change this and have users invested
more in the foursquare experience, the time period that
4sqand7yearsago covers should change the longer that a
user uses foursquare.
emaiL wHat HaPPened emaiL weeKLy Begin
tHe Previous weeKend,
digests of traditionaL
wHat HaPPened year ago
HoLidays a montH ago
emaiL
day 1 9 montH 1 year 1.5 year
one & Big 24/7
done moves
11. improvement:
aLLow tHe oPtion of weeKLy,
montHLy digest emaiLs, as
weLL as tHe daiLy one. many people
don’t want to get daily emails... furthermore most people don’t
want to checkin because they don’t think
that they do that many exciting things
beyond going to work, the grocery store,
the gym and coming home. to combat
both of these things, there could be the
option of sending monthly or weekly
digests of past events presented in
interesting infographic ways similar to
the stats tab or 4sqmap.com making
4sqand7yearsago not only less intrusive,
but more interesting and fun as well for
new and seasoned users.
one & Big 24/7
done moves
12. improvement:
integrate deaLs into
4sqand7yearsago emaiLs people
may sign up to receive the daily, weekly or monthly emails, but it
doesn’t necessarily mean that they read them. why not include an
incentive in them with foursquare checkin linked deals and specials
possibly tied to american express? it would be simple, using the
context of what they had done a year ago, providing the user with
an incentive and opportunity to relive part of that exciting day.
if the user had checked into a
movie theatre a year ago... insert
a coupon in the email that they
receive today for a free small
popcorn to incentivize them to
go back and further their overall
engagement with the foursquare
experience.
one & Big 24/7
done moves
13. bottomline:
•4sqand7yearsago is awesome!
•it adds a memory layer to the platform
•foursquare should include it as part of
the service to drive engagement from
new, casual and seasoned users.
•there are some improvements that
could be made to 4sqand7years ago
to drive engagement in all levels of
forsquare user and create a more
profitable experience for the user and
foursquare!
14. if you want
to talk more,
connect with:
foursquare: foursquare.com/merritte
linkedin: linkedin.com/in/merritte
twitter: @merritte
facebook: facebook.com/merritte
slideshare: slideshare.net/merritte
tumblr: merritte.tumblr.com
flickr: flickr.com/merritte
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