Create a marketable iOS utility app that adds notifications and location-aware alerts to drinking out on the town at bars and clubs, enabling users to keep track of their running total and the number of drinks on an open tab.
- Timeline
2011
- Team
1
- Role
Owner | Product Designer | Engineer | Content & Marketing
I kept hearing from young men in their 20s that they were constantly forgetting to close out their bartab at the end of the night, schlepping back the next day – hungover – to pick up their credit card. When the iOS SDK began to offer the capability to monitor location in the background, using local notifications to alert people about places of interest nearby, I decided to look into offering an app for these thwarted bar goers.
The app featured a basic edition that also allowed users to track their spending and consumption according to customized limits, receiving an alert when they’d exceeded the mark.
The greatest challenge here, of course, was in packing the app with full functionality and flexibility, while keeping it intuitive and easy to use for bar goers imbibing for the night.
A PRO in-app purchase add-on provided customized location menus, custom drinks, and a tab history with statistics.
As a solopreneur in this endeavor, all product design, content, graphics, video promotions, and marketing materials fell to me to produce.
The Results?
While I got a lot of positive feedback from users and bartenders, my marketing chops (not my strong suit) fell short as the App Store grew and competition increased. I maintained the project for several years before shutting it down and removing it from the App Store permanently.
Best compliment I received on this app? A customer in Belgium wrote to me to make some suggestions and eventually ended up letting me know that he found the app so useful that it wound up on his home screen. That’s worth a lot in the app world!
✪ Featured in the App Store under Apple’s “What’s Hot” list for Lifestyle in April and May 2012
✪ “This thoughtful little app does much more than your plain old calculator app does and you will put your mind and wallet at ease.” ✭✭✭✭✩ — AppAdvice.com
✪ “BarTab Keepr might be the best buck you spend, except for penny beer night.” — www.collegekegstand.com
✪ “BarTab Keepr by AE’G-wiz is a great application for those heavy nights out on the tiles.” — www.product-reviews.net
✪ Named one of “5 Great Beer Apps to Kick-Start Your Summer” — www.wisebread.com
✪ Featured in the App Store under Apple’s “What’s Hot” list for Utilities in June and July 2011
✪ “The last thing you need while you’re out having fun and having a few drinks is an app that is difficult to use. The BarTab Keeper isn’t like that. It is quite user friendly.” ✭✭✭✭✭ — George Norman, FindMySoft.com