MonsterUs is a gamified pothole reporting service where pedestrian can report and draw on dangerous potholes they found during their walk. It helps raise awareness in the community, promotes safety and a sense of ownership in neighborhoods.
The team found this a great opportunity for an urban design intervention when they discovered many streets in San Jose, Costa Rica are having potholes problem that endangers the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, especially during the night.
The app is created with a backstory to engage all audiences. It weaves a story of pothole monsters that have become a menace over the last few years. Their food (tar and concrete) has slowly depreciated and they are starting to surface to find things to snack on such as random feet and tires, causing commotion in the neighborhood.
When you find a new pothole on the sidewalk, take a picture and draw your monster using the in-app tools. Once you post your submission, and if your doodle is selected, It will be painted by us, the safety vigilantes!
If you see a live monster on the sidewalk, use the camera AR mode to see the pothole monster come to life. Every ‘view’ will be logged to show how often this pothole is being seen by people. Click on the map icon to discover all the monsters around you.
Hall of fear will rank the monsters based on the most seen and most bitten data count. These results will be addressed to the local government to take action.
The team wanted the pothole spotting to be a social effort and at the same time becoming a quirky highlight of a town attraction. We sent out photos of different potholes we found during our research, and asked our cohort to draw the pothole monsters.
We were delighted to see how the collective result looks really playful with everyone's creation and changed people’s perception of potholes.
