Turn One — Your Race Weekend Companion
This is a part of a challenge I’m doing, 28 concepts in 28 days. If you want to read about it head over to the Introduction.
I am a massive Formula 1 fan, I’ve been following the sport heavily since 2013. This was one of a few ideas I came up with when I won the Formula 1 Innovation challenge in 2017. (This idea was pre-COVID, would not fly right now)
We’re living in an age of rapid technical development, every day there are new applications and gadgets that push experiences to new heights. Formula 1 has been taking massive steps forward connecting fans in the stands right to the track, but how can we improve a game-day experience even further? “Turn 1” will bring fans even closer to the action, allowing the complete F1 experience right at their fingertips.
Race day can be overwhelming, there’s so much to see and do. Fear of missing any action can be daunting, and if that special moment is missed it can upset the whole day. “Turn 1” is a fan’s launch pad of exploration with the Formula 1 experience. An application that shows all possible insights, with goal-based challenges that create an immersive experience, fostering engagement. Every fan should feel like a VIP, an application for all ages will give each fan a tailored and memorable experience, ensuring that Formula 1 is viable for generations to come.
As fans of a competitive sport like Formula 1, being able to compete with your peers is an exciting way to get to know new people, and potentially gain bragging rights. That’s why the heart of the “Turn 1” application is an achievement and scoring system where fans compete to collect points. To gain these points, fans must complete challenges that encourage participation with game-day festivities. These challenges offer stakeholders the opportunity to market their events and merchandise to a captive audience, and fans will be completely immersed ensuring they don’t miss out on a single F1 experience.
Along with the app, “Turn 1” fans are given a connected bracelet, but this is not an ordinary souvenir. Similar to Disney’s Magic Bands, what we’re calling the “Challenger Band” can be tapped throughout the track. Things like purchasing merch, marking their app challenges as complete, and even their ticket information is managed with the bracelet. So fans can look up and enjoy the events without worrying about missing out on their points.
Successful companies such as Cineplex (Timeplay App), Pokemon Go, and Disney Parks, have utilized similar technologies to improve upon an already exciting experience. By tailoring the experience to each unique user, this gives valuable insights into customer behaviors in order to improve their experience even further. Bringing these technologies and ideas to Formula 1 is not only exciting for fans but allows the collection of valuable data to improve future races.
🗺 Track Map
When the application is opened, fans are greeted with a map of the track giving insights on all the hot locations, explore open challenges, or simply use as a guide for the must-see game day events.
🏆 Location-Based Engagement Events
Throughout the weekend users will get push notifications as they walk around the track that are triggered by location. If they pass the Fan Zone, it will alert them of an active challenge: “Get a picture with the F1 sign, post to Instagram tagged with #f1challenge to collect 10 points!” or “Go to the Fan Zone to unlock a secret challenge!”. This ensures no event is missed and can drive traffic through the park.
📣 Global Notifications
In case of unexpected schedule changes, emergencies, or other track wide issues, a notification can be sent out to all connected apps. When the race starts fans are directed to the live stream or other pertinent race news. Context is key, it is crucial that connected fans are given the right information, right when they need it.
Competitors
This idea was a pretty innovative one, but a lot of these concepts were based on the original Pokemon Go game and Ingress. Since proposing some of the core concepts of the Turn 1 application now existing in the official Formula 1 Track App
