monica and i will be working on developing a system for newcomers in the city to help encourage curiosity and adventure that will help them acquaint themselves with their new home. here is a list i’ve compiled of possible offline problems and online solutions for this scenario.

finding the right area to live in: there could be a map of the city where people could post commentary on different areas/neighborhoods such as experiences and attractions/establishments nearby.

finding the cool hangouts in your new city: members could have a ranking system from newcomer to resident expert. newcomers could talk to experts about what coffee shops the cool kids hangout at and such.

motivation to explore the city: there could be a challenge system that prompted you with an adventure challenge giving you something along the lines of a riddle for you to solve where you have to go to a certain location and do something.

making new friends: possibly a personality test you take when becoming a member that then suggest other members you could be compatible with.

finding people you have arrangements with: instead of the hectic phone conversations of “where are you? yeah, okay, i think i’m here but where exactly in this place are you??” maybe you could send a signal to a certain person where they could see your exact location on a map in relation to theirs. instead of directions to a place, directions to a person. which this idea could lead into another…

finding people you don’t have arrangements with: along the lines of above…being able to put social gatherings or events on the map. so when someone is looking at their location trying to figure out where they are and they see there is some dot right near where they are and they click on it and it’s like ‘hey, we’re having a charity bake sale over here. anyone in the area is welcome to come on by!’ or ‘hey everyone, you have got to see this street performer’. but maybe this has to be a group scenario where you couldn’t post something unless it was verified by another member so it doesn’t get sketchy. which comes to the point of-

feeling safe: i’m not completely sure on this one yet, it’s a big one. maybe just thinking about safety in numbers and some screening/verification of situations/people.

being in the loop of what’s happening in the city: a calendar of events where there could be some comment or rating system to let you know what your fellow community members feel are the most worth while events.

meeting new people: remember the challenge system mentioned before? maybe sometimes there would be group challenges, where multiple people would receive the same challenge and they had to work together to complete it.

damsel in distress: maybe you got a flat tire or you need a ride to the airport. maybe you could send out some kind of distress signal, but only to members you were ‘friends’ with or had met.

forming groups with common interest: the ability to be like ‘book club in the library this thursday’ or ‘yoga in the park on saturday’ some kind of club forum.

lost something?: post a notification ‘my cat ran away again, please keep an eye out for snowball in this area’

homesick already: sometimes it’s nice just to meet someone else from, say, texas so that you can talk about all the great things you miss about texas together. like whataburger honey butter chicken biscuits. maybe you could search for members by where they are from.

finding a sense of belonging: somehow receiving validation/status/achievement. ‘you know you are a kansas cityian when…’

getting support: it can be stressful and scary being alone in a new city. start a conversation with someone who is going through the same thing you are.