How many transactional conversations do we have each and every day? Enough to make communicating time and intent cumbersome for those of us with fingers that are too fat for efficient texting. Pingsy was borne, as most successful products are, out of this problem faced by FreeAssociation partner Michael Pilliero. Constantly juggling play dates, coordinating with his wife and squeezing in soccer matches meant that Mike needed something fast and simple to communicate his ETA, a question and more.
Pingsy is an iOS app that enables communication in three simple steps. First, users can select an emoji — a cup of coffee, the car or home. Next, Mike developed an innovative interaction that allows users to slide a finger to select the time. Last, users choose recipients. Pingsy can help coordinate large groups as easily as communicating with just one other person. Each recipient can submit their response via a thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Pingsy can ask a question or make a statement.
The app was developed as part of the FreeAssociation FreeLab. My team, brought on for research, prototype development and user testing, enabled the FreeAssociation team to bring their ideas to life. After our three-month engagement, it was clear that Pingsy had the most traction. Pingsy was also the idea that the team was most passionate about. A few months later, FreeAssociation retained Niek Dekker to develop interactions and user experience for the Apple Watch. These updates were released in August 2015.