GVSU releases experimental mobile app

Grand Valley State University has launched a new, free mobile application for the iPhone and Android that combines bar code scanning software, game mechanics and social media in a retail setting.

Shop Social is an experimental mobile application built and developed by student and faculty researchers in the Mobile Applications and Service Lab in Grand Valley’s School of Computing and Information Systems.

Different from other bar code scanning apps, Shop Social focuses on the social aspects of retail shopping. “Shop Social allows users to share their finds on Facebook,” said Jonathan Engelsma, associate professor of computing. “As the user shares the information and uses the app more and more, they begin to receive badges, similar to Foursquare.”

When a product is scanned, relevant photos from Flickr, videos from YouTube and product reviews are sent back to the user within seconds. The app includes four sections: the “Social” tab allows users to share their product interests with friends on Facebook;  the “Lookup” tab is where users retrieve product reviews, photos and videos; the “My Stuff” tab houses the user’s favorite products and badges; and the “Store” tab provides locations of local stores where the product can be found.

A team of three students, led by Engelsma, began work on the app last January. “While this project provides more opportunities for students to build apps, it also serves as a research opportunity to understand how users respond to mobile apps in a retail setting,” said Engelsma.

Like the first app, Laker Mobile which has more than 8,500 users, Shop Social has taken students through all stages of software development — conceptualization, building, deployment, and feedback from users.

Shop Social is available in the iTunes store here and Android app is available in Android Market.  For more information, visit the Mobile Applications and Services Lab at http://masl.cis.gvsu.edu.