With our beta app testing (the second phase of software testing) kicking off this week for Hyperlocal Rainfall we have been pretty busy over the past month getting everything set up and the app ready for our user testers. This has given me the opportunity to finally try out the beta version of the app for myself and I thought I’d share my experience to give everyone a taste of what the app will offer!
The rain came and went pretty fast last week, with quite a few sharp, heavy showers, and I think I may have been the only person in the country happy about this, because it gave me a chance to put the app to the test!
I thought I would test out the Hyperlocal Rainfall app by planning a couple of short walks around Peterborough city centre, trying to get some nice walks in between the showers. On my second walk I could see via the app that I might get caught by some heavy rain towards the end of my walk, so to see if this actually would be the case I grabbed my coat and planned to take some shelter when I got to that part of my walk (in the lovely gardens behind the Cathedral)! Just 3 minutes before the app had predicted the rain came and, from the app, it looked like I’d have a short wait before the next break in the rain. It was right, and with a bit of patience I could finish my walk and get back to the office nice and dry!
Now the version of the app I was using only provided prediction every 10 minutes so I was quite pleased with the rain starting within 3 minutes of the prediction! But our lucky testers will be getting our full predictions down to 5 minute intervals, so hopefully they will have an even better experience with it.
Also, in the last week I’ve managed to use the app to avoid some very heavy rain on my walk home from the supermarket, which I was quite thankful for. I’m now looking forward to using Hyperlocal Rainfall as a staple of my commute to and from the train station and helping me be more prepared for my longer cycles when I’m not at work.
Over the next month we will have our user testers trying out the beta version of the Hyperlocal Rainfall app, finding out how it can support them walking and cycling around Peterborough, what other uses they may find for it, and if there are any more tweaks that are needed to improve it. From there we will be gearing up for the Green Festival on Saturday 13th August where we will be showcasing the app for everyone, stay posted for more details!
As always, if you want to know more about the Hyperlocal Rainfall project and how you can get involved please get in touch!
Freya Herman is the Project Officer for Hyperlocal Rainfall. For more information on the app, please email [email protected].