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Sidequests helps university students break out of repetitive routines by transforming their available free time into small, personalized, and easy-to-start activities.
Its value proposition is strengthened by two complementary types of functionality. Smart features help the application improve the relevance of recommendations according to the user's preferences and previous interactions, while Context-Aware System (CAS) features help ensure that those recommendations are also appropriate for the user's current situation.
The Smart Features of Sidequests generate value by reducing the effort users need to invest in deciding what to do and by making recommendations increasingly relevant to their preferences and previous interactions.
Instead of showing the same activities to every user, Sidequests can use information such as interests, accepted quests, skipped quests, completed quests, feedback, preferred difficulty, and social preferences to improve which Side-Quests are prioritized.
The main value generated by these features includes:
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More relevant recommendations: Side-Quests can be prioritized according to the user's interests and previous interactions.
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Reduced choice overload: Instead of requiring users to browse a large number of activities, the application can prioritize a smaller set of alternatives that are more likely to be relevant.
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Adaptive difficulty: Previous completed and skipped quests can help the application adjust future recommendations to a challenge level that better matches the user.
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Greater recommendation diversity: The history of accepted, skipped, and completed Side-Quests can be considered to avoid repeatedly suggesting very similar activities.
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Better alignment with social preferences: Recommendations can consider the user's preferred level of social interaction, reducing activities that may require an uncomfortable degree of social exposure.
These features support the core value proposition of Sidequests because they reduce the planning and decision-making effort normally required to find something new to do.
The Context-Aware System (CAS) features of Sidequests generate value by considering the user's current situation when determining which activities are appropriate.
A Side-Quest can be interesting in general but still be unsuitable at a particular moment because the user does not have enough time, is too far away, or the current conditions make the activity impractical. Context-awareness helps reduce this problem by making recommendations not only personally relevant, but also feasible at the moment they are presented.
The main contextual factors considered by Sidequests include:
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Available time: Recommendations can prioritize activities that fit within the amount of free time currently available to the user.
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Location: When location information is available, the application can prioritize activities that are reasonably accessible from the user's current position.
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Time of day: The current time can help determine whether an activity is appropriate at that moment.
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Environmental conditions: Relevant external conditions, such as weather, can help determine whether certain activities remain appropriate.
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Location availability: When travelling is inconvenient or location access is unavailable, the system can still support location-independent Side-Quests.
The value generated by CAS features is therefore based on reducing the gap between receiving an interesting recommendation and actually being able to complete it.
Together, Smart Features and CAS Features allow Sidequests to recommend activities that are both personally relevant and contextually feasible, supporting the application's goal of making spontaneous exploration easier than planning an activity independently.
View 1: Main Explore View
This view illustrates the main interface of the 'Explore' page, which serves as the primary landing page users encounter after logging into the application. As demonstrated in the prototype, the page offers a robust set of features, including customizable filters (sorted by sidequest duration, category, and location), personalized recommendations, interactive sidequest cards, and notifications for group sidequest invitations.
View 2: Sidequests List View
This additional view within the 'Explore' page displays the complete list of available sidequests, extending beyond the personalized recommendations generated by the customization engine. Users can filter the list by category, and clicking on any sidequest card seamlessly navigates them to its detailed view.
View 3: Social — Friends' Mission Photos View
This view corresponds to the 'Social' tab, where users can see the verification photos their friends have shared after completing sidequests. The content is visible only to friends, and a counter at the top shows how many friends the user currently has. Posts can be filtered by category (All, Sponsored, Outdoors, Food, and more). Each post shows the sidequest name, its category, the author, how long ago it was posted, and the number of likes. Tapping "Ver →" takes the user to the sidequest's detail view.
View 4: Sidequest Detail View
This view shows the complete information of a sidequest before the user decides to start it. It displays the sidequest's name, description, category, estimated duration, and approximate cost. When the sidequest is sponsored, a label shows the partner business, and the description can include a promotional code. From this screen, users can go back to the previous list with the back arrow, or accept the mission with the "Aceptar misión" button, which takes them to the mission in progress view.
View 5: Profile — Preferences & Achievements View
This view shows a lower section of the Profile page focused on the user's preferences and progress. The "Mis preferencias" section lists the user's interest categories, which can be modified through the "Editar" option. Below it, the badges grid shows which achievements have already been earned and which are still locked. Finally, the "Completadas recientemente" list shows the sidequests the user has recently finished, including their date, category, and duration.
View 6: Profile — Published Photos & Settings View
This view shows the last section of the Profile page. The "Fotos publicadas" area displays the photos the user has shared, and when there are none, an empty state explains how to publish them by enabling "Compartir en Social" after completing a mission. The "Ajustes" section lets users switch dark mode on or off, enable notifications about nearby missions, and set a daily reminder. It also shows the account's email address.
View 1: Profile — Friends View
This view displays the user's profile and social activity within Sidequests. At the top, users can see their personal information and progress indicators, including completed sidequests, current streak, and explored categories. The Friends section allows users to manage their current connections, review each friend's username and completed missions, and remove contacts when necessary. The same screen also provides access to rewards and achievements while preserving the persistent bottom navigation for quick access to the application's main sections.
View 2: Profile — Friend Requests View
This additional view within the Profile page focuses on managing social connections. Users can review received friend requests and either accept or ignore them directly from the list. The interface also separates sent requests, allowing users to identify invitations that are still pending. By organizing friends, received requests, and sent requests into separate tabs, the screen keeps social interactions clear and easy to manage without leaving the Profile section.
View 3: Group Missions — Invitations View
This view allows users to manage invitations to group Side-Quests. Each card shows the mission name, the person who sent the invitation, the remaining time to respond, and the current number of participants who have accepted. Users can either reject or accept the invitation directly from the card. The progress indicator and participant avatars provide quick visual feedback about how close the group is to being fully formed.
View 4: Group Missions — Accepted Missions View
This view displays group Side-Quests that have already been accepted and are currently waiting for the remaining participants. Each mission card shows the organizer, the users involved, the current acceptance count, and a progress bar representing group formation. This screen helps users quickly check the status of upcoming group activities without needing to open each mission individually.
View 5: Missions by Location - List view of nearby missions
This screen shows the "Cerca" (Nearby) tab, where the app surfaces side-quests around the user's current location on a radial map. Each quest card lists its distance, estimated duration, and difficulty level, and indicates whether completion needs to be verified by a photo, GPS check-in, or both. The location-sharing prompt appears when precise distances haven't been enabled yet, so quests are still listed but without a measured distance.
View 6: Mission in Progress - Overview of Steps in a Side-Quest
This screen displays the name of the mission, the steps required to complete it, and where it takes you. For each step, it provides information on how to complete that part of the activity. Finally, depending on the activity, you’ll be asked to provide proof of completion, this could be a photo or your location.