Critique My App: yourmuni for easier bus riding in SF and soon other places

#1

Post by mihasya » Wed, Jan 28, 2009, 6:47 PM UTC

Just a small app using Django and the Google App Engine for improving the workflow provided by nextbus.com. Write up here: http://mihasya.com/blog/?p=203, source here: http://github.com/mihasya/yourmuni

Critique My App: yourmuni for easier bus riding in SF and soon other places
yourmuni.appspot.com

Re: Critique My App: yourmuni for easier bus riding in SF and soon other places

#2

Post by asimjalis » Wed, Jan 28, 2009, 6:48 PM UTC

Is the site layout optimized for the iPhone?

Re: Critique My App: yourmuni for easier bus riding in SF and soon other places

#3

Post by mihasya » Wed, Jan 28, 2009, 6:49 PM UTC

asimjalis wrote: post #2

Is the site layout optimized for the iPhone?

Yeah, but it works on most other phones its been tried on (limited audience so far, but I know it works well on the G1, as well as on some basic browser phones with small screens)

By the way: any feedback as to how it looks on non-smart phones + screenshots would be really appreciated.

Re: Critique My App: yourmuni for easier bus riding in SF and soon other places

#4

Post by mihasya » Wed, Jan 28, 2009, 6:51 PM UTC

Hmmm I guess if you submit a link, the "text" field gets ignored.

It uses Django and the App Engine. Data is just a scrape of nextbus.com.

The write up is here: http://mihasya.com/blog/?p=203

Code is here: http://github.com/mihasya/yourmuni

Re: Critique My App: yourmuni for easier bus riding in SF and soon other places

#5

Post by aristus » Wed, Jan 28, 2009, 7:06 PM UTC

It's nice if you already know the routes, names, etc. But what if I want to go to Golden Gate Park and only have a vauge idea how to get there, transfers, etc?

Re: Critique My App: yourmuni for easier bus riding in SF and soon other places

#6

Post by mihasya » Wed, Jan 28, 2009, 7:11 PM UTC

aristus wrote: post #5

It's nice if you already know the routes, names, etc. But what if I want to go to Golden Gate Park and only have a vauge idea how to get there, transfers, etc?

Well, at least at this phase, I'm solving the very specific problem (dogfooding like crazy here, btw) of having a very set routine that can involve N number of busses where N > 1. Instead of having to look up departure times for each bus individually, you just set a bookmark. Now every morning, I just click "To Shuttle" and have everything I need to know.

Stuff like directions is already handled by Google Maps, though I realize that's not available on all phones.

Re: Critique My App: yourmuni for easier bus riding in SF and soon other places

#7

Post by okeumeni » Wed, Jan 28, 2009, 7:14 PM UTC

Between the ‘pick a direction’, ‘pick a stop’ and displaying the actual time, if you could show some location graphic it would be nice. Also I will suggest you use Google Maps or any similar service to give it some colors. Great idea!!!

Re: Critique My App: yourmuni for easier bus riding in SF and soon other places

#8

Post by mihasya » Wed, Jan 28, 2009, 8:28 PM UTC

okeumeni wrote: post #7

Between the ‘pick a direction’, ‘pick a stop’ and displaying the actual time, if you could show some location graphic it would be nice. Also I will suggest you use Google Maps or any similar service to give it some colors. Great idea!!!

I like that... I'll have to see if there's a way to locate the stops short of just maintaining a database. I'll also need to be careful with browser detection - I don't want to be loading a Google map on an edge connection. I'm trying to walk a fine line with having a nice user experience and making it usable on ANY mobile device.