ParkRec

ParkRec bridges digital discovery to real-world adventure. Uncover parks and activities around you with intuitive maps and rich insights. Get ready for the great outdoors at your fingertips.

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Inspiration

I was inspired to build ParkRec when I noticed there's no simple app in the market that points you to outdoor spaces. Most "Points-of-Interest recommendation" apps show you places to eat, shop, or visit as a tourist. I believe parks and public spaces deserve similar attention in terms of how easily people can browse and search for them. I wanted to build something like AllTrails, but without the overarching theme of activity-based exploration. So ParkRec was born!

What it does

ParkRec is the missing link between your screen and the great outdoors.

  • Search for parks globally and get its aerial view, and insights like ratings, opening hours, and location
  • Navigate to the park you've chosen - it will redirect to your default Maps app
  • Favourite your park. This feature is locally-saved to your device

How we built it

Basically I started with brainstorming the idea in ChatGPT and have it made me a Product Requirement Document, which is my starting point in Bolt. I then scaffold everything in Bolt, do Google Maps API integration via the .env file, add and implement features, and 'vibe debug' all the way to completion!

Challenges we ran into

The biggest challenge would be how to efficiently use Google Maps API as the app scales. I decided to implement rate-limiting, and retain queried data by session within the platform. Additionally, I also feature the most-visited/popular parks on the homepage, allowing user to explore it without needing to constantly query the API.

Another challenge is "to db or not to db". I decided not to implement a database, and instead query the park data on-demand. This (a) lift up of backend functionality due to not having to maintain user/parks database (b) reduces the app's dependency to other infrastructure beyond Google Maps API. As a result, the platform does not need your data (beyond your location, that you can choose to manually refresh) and complexity is reduced. Users just wanted to discover parks; they don't have to create an account for it.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The app is feature-complete! That's what I'm proud of. You can search for parks globally, and you can view & explore parks around your location - even your neighborhood parks!

What we learned

There's a lot of thoughts that should be put in beyond PRD - like how do we handle user account management, prevent API spams, and exception handling. Some considerations (like account management) we can avoid altogether; some requires a lot of thought before the first prompt could even hit the chat box.

What's next for ParkRec

I don't plan to monetize ParkRec; I want to launch it as some kind of public good and implement a small donation button within the site. Over time, I will make improvements to its UI and UX, and implement incremental features to match its performance and feature similar to leading platforms like AllTrails.

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