Hoho - Hobby Horse

Brief

‍Living in Thailand has been truly life-changing, especially as an expat. There’s so much to explore and countless activities to experience—if only you know where to go or who to ask. This project grew from my own experience. When I moved to Bangkok, reconnecting with my hobbies was a challenge. I soon realized I wasn’t alone in this struggle. This inspired me to create a platform that would connect hobbyists with their activities, directly engaging with the activity businesses.

Especially going to unfamiliar locations, the struggle of finding direct, easy and reliable contacts is still often a challenge. Our platform’s goal is straightforward: to provide streamlined options for discovering hobbies, emphasizing hobby-specific locations, community engagement, and personalized recommendations tailored to each user.

Research

Our research focused on two key personas: hobbyists (users) and business owners (partners). Through our study, we discovered that Thailand is home to approximately 3 to 4 million expats, many of whom actively seek new activities. Simultaneously, Bangkok hosts over a thousand hobby-related businesses — a largely undervalued and overlooked industry. Business owners in this space often struggle to balance managing operations with effectively promoting their offerings.

A major breakthrough in our research came through retrospection and cultural analysis. We found significant differences in how Thai people perceive hobbies and leisure compared to how expats approach activities. These insights reinforced the importance of understanding culture and user behavior in shaping the design, user experience and most especially the entire business model.

While statistical data validated our findings, it was the nuanced observations that shaped our approach. Every element—from visuals and user experience to branding and marketing strategy—was designed with intention. Our vision goes beyond being a simple marketplace or classified ads platform. We aim to be a digital companion that fosters meaningful, lasting experiences for our users.

Hence looking at the business side, with thousands of hobby locations, Thailand has a vibrant hobby market, and we see a significant opportunity here. Along with my partners, we plotted a comprhensive financial model which targets to acquirie 10% of our MVP hobby-related businesses or 150 business partners across six activities by 2025, with a total market value over $270,000.

Design

Our design philosophy centers on creating an experience that’s practical, exciting, and intuitive. We meticulously structured a sitemap and user flow, incorporating features designed to make the platform useful and convenient. Key features include activity discovery, friend searching, direct booking, and gear purchases with ratings and reviews. Since the app is free for users, all they need to do is explore, book, connect, and go—enjoying their hobbies with ease.

Prototype

The platform was designed to feel approachable, fun, and human-centered. We prioritized images that showcase movement and excitement, capitalizing on the popularity of first-person perspectives and having that team competitive spirit, creating a unique challenging experience. This approach helped us address initial concerns and deliver an engaging, practical interface.

Marketing

Our marketing strategy focuses on highlighting the benefits of staying active, and importance of engaging with a hobby as a way of help people to stayt healthy. We want to emphasize the ease of finding reliable activities and connecting with like-minded community as a way to deviate from stress that would benefit user to be more focused at work. Thus, Hoho would be a good business tool that drives visibility, customer engagement, and growth by tapping into Thailand’s vibrant expat and local communities, through hosting events to foster community engagement, ultimately driving word-of-mouth awareness through fun and exciting experiences.  

Presentation

This project had been through many battles in the course of one year. We tried to revamp, ideate and even kill the idea, just so to see if there is real potential to it. On the day of the presentation, we were thrilled to unveil our ideas to our community during our graduation ceremony. We showcased our concepts, including an interactive prototype, marketing video, along with a comprehensive pitch deck, illustrating how passionate we are moving forward with this project.  

Learnings

Through this project, I’ve realized the importance of prioritizing functionality over aesthetics. Simplifying the user journey, reducing friction, and adopting a more streamlined approach to the interface and features will be key to delivering a better experience. While I anticipate challenges and mistakes along the way, I’m eager to refine the platform as development progresses.

Given enough time and resources, I’m determined to make this platform a reality. Starting a company may seem ambitious, but I firmly believe in the vision we’ve crafted. With a huge untapped hobby market waiting to be explored, not just in Thailand but in many counties in the world, I’m confident we’re on the right path. I’ve learned that talent and a strong idea are only part of what it takes to succeed in the startup world. As my professor once said, “You need both luck and grit to succeed in business.” This perspective has stuck with me throughout the process.

As my capstone project for the MA in Interaction Design program at Harbour.Space Bangkok, this project has been an incredibly well-rounded experience. Along with my partners, we conducted months of research, strategized a marketing plan, built a financial model, developed branding, and designed a prototype. Over a year of contemplating and working on this project has shaped me into a more thoughtful creative, product designer, and aspiring entrepreneur, thus gave me invaluable insights into every aspect of business and product development, solidifying my skills and igniting my passion for entrepreneurship. Cheers!