Lancashire based tech company Pulse Media Group is adding the finishing touches to a new app built with fully-funded support from Lancaster University software developers.

For the last 20 years Pulse Media have worked with SMEs to support them with websites, databases and app creation and offer data led solutions to problems. Last year during a slow commute Director Jawad Bhatti had an idea.

“I have a data led mindset and this idea came from being sat in traffic every day and recognising the negative impact it had on my health and the environment. I knew that existing map applications redirected congestion, and this is ineffective. Commuters all receive the same messages at the same time and consequently block up small pedestrian streets.”

“The concept for our app ‘Trafficly’ is that it will inform users of the state of congestion ahead of a journey and will recommend timely stop off points such as café's and beauty spots to rest, recuperate and most importantly to avoid the traffic.”

This journey planning mobile application aims to improve the mental wellbeing of commuters and reduce car emissions by minimising the number of cars moving slowly through congested areas at one time. Users also have the option to offset the journey’s carbon footprint by donating to a tree planting foundation.

Around the time the idea for ‘Trafficly’ was born, Jawad decided to register for a free Health Innovation event delivered by the University’s Health Innovation Campus (HIC).

“I attended a really interesting health innovation event last year and met Glyn from the University, he suggested I attend a workshop where I could learn a useful process to test my concept.”

“At the workshop I liked that is was a small group because we all felt confident enough to express ourselves and everyone was paying attention and offered fantastic feedback from different perspectives.”

“With peer support, I was able to validate my idea using the Design Thinking process and this gave me the confidence I needed to move it forward. Before we left it was great to hear that it wasn’t the end of the line; there is more support available should we need it.”

“The facilitator directed me to Stewart and the University’s digital team, who, immediately saw the potential of our concept and told me his team could develop a prototype for free.”

Jawad and the digital team worked together closely for several months to develop a workable prototype.

“Stewart and his team covered all the key elements and definitely saved me thousands of pounds. They provided me with constructive feedback and the result is a testament to the team. An app can sometimes take years to build but with the University’s support we are now a matter of weeks away from completion. We are currently making the final tweaks and will be launching it on android and apple devices this summer.”

Jawad went on to say, “The whole process was above and beyond what I expected! It is going to sound cliché but I have attended many business support programmes in the past and this has been by far the most impactful and eye-opening.”

“You can tell Lancaster has made a concerted effort to differentiate, the offering is full circle, the team helped me validate my idea, built a proof of concept and generate awareness; it has been a fantastic experience.”

Trafficly are currently accepting early adopters for beta testing, for more details please visit www.trafficly.net.

The Health Innovation business support is fully-funded through the European Regional Development Fund and available to Lancashire-based SMEs (eligibility criteria applies). To find out more about upcoming opportunities and how to sign up visit www.lancaster.ac.uk/health-innovation/business or contact 01524 595005.