The Prologue
We started working on Play Play Play! last September. It began with that nagging feeling every parent knows: reading another article about disconnected communities and kids trapped behind screens, then looking down and realizing we’re doing the exact same thing.
So we had a brainwave—what if we turned the world of social media upside down?
Ok, it wasn’t said with quite such chest-thumping, saviour-complex bravado. But we did want to make our small contribution as parents. I didn’t want to have to answer our child’s inevitable question one day:
“Papa, what did you do during the great war against social media?”
“Ah sorry — say that again darling? I was just finishing a level on Angry Birds.”
I digress.
User Testing
What started out as a fuzzy idea about using an app to create spontaneous playdates has now reached the beta testing phase, which is both exciting and a real milestone for the project. We have crossed the idea-to-reality threshold where many otherwise brilliant ideas quietly die in a folder on a hard drive.
We currently have three families participating in our initial user testing, and we owe them a massive debt of gratitude. While the onboarding sessions revealed a few “clunky” bits (see below), the highlight happened two weeks ago.
After signing up our testing families, we took our daughter to the local playground on a quiet Sunday afternoon, before the weekend wind down rituals commenced and pressed check-in.
Within minutes another father arrived with his two kids. They played, we talked..
Proof of concept — tick!
What We Learned
Putting an app into the real world is a humbling experience. Here’s what our first testers told us:
Sign-up friction
Email verification during onboarding felt clunky.
Friend request confusion
Users couldn’t tell when a friend request had been sent or accepted.
Responding to check-ins
When someone checked in at a playground there was no simple way for others to signal that they planned to join.
Map confusion
Some users thought the red markers on the map represented people rather than playgrounds.
Safety concerns
Parents understandably asked whether the app could be misused through fake profiles or unknown users.
Location tracking concerns
Some users assumed the app might track real-time location.
What We Changed
Based on that feedback we’ve already made several adjustments.
Simpler verification — implemented
Sign-up now uses a 6-digit verification code, replacing the previous email verification process.
Map navigation — implemented
As the playground use street addresses, rather than playground names, some user didn’t recognise the location of check-ins. We’ve added a map redirect icon so locations can now be opened directly in Google Maps.
Friend request notifications — implemented
Users now receive email notifications when friend requests are sent and accepted.
Stronger privacy model — implemented
Profiles have been removed from public search. Instead of searching within the app, users now add friends using a friend request token sent directly via smartphone. In practice this means you can only add people you already know in the real world, because you need their contact details to send the token. This effectively creates a closed parent-to-parent network.
In the future we may explore verified profiles, but at our current stage storing personal identification would likely create more complications than benefits.
Location tracking clarity — implemented
Play Play Play! does not track real-time location. We are now making this clearer earlier in the onboarding journey. To draw a line in the sandpit, Chris is particularly keen to emphasise that Play Play Play isn’t a Big Tech product, but more of a “Mama & Papa Tech” effort.
What We’re Considering
Testing has also generated several ideas we are currently exploring.
Quick response icons — under consideration
We are considering a simple thumbs-up icon so users can indicate they intend to join a play session. We intentionally want to avoid internal messaging — the goal remains a simple app that nudges people outdoors rather than keeping them inside a chat thread.
More check-in locations — under consideration
Currently check-ins are limited to playgrounds. Parents have suggested expanding this to include places such as sports fields, cafés and other outdoor meeting spots.
One possible solution is allowing users to drop a pin anywhere on the map.
Notification radius — under consideration
Parents would like the option to choose the distance within which they receive notifications (for example 500 metres)
Optional notes — under consideration
Some users suggested allowing a short note when responding to play alerts, such as: “We’re bringing drinks.”
Website Updates
We are currently preparing an FAQ page for the Play Play Play website.
Many of the questions raised during testing have already helped shape the FAQ. If you have suggestions for questions we should address, feel free to send them to:
contact@playplayplay.nl
What’s Next?
We’ll continue refining the onboarding experience and expanding our testing group.
As more families start using Play Play Play, we expect to learn even more about how parents naturally organise spontaneous play.
More updates soon from the sandpit!