Seatzy

Defining the Problem
University students struggle to find a coffee shop that provides a productive environment for studying or working. Individuals often spend significant time searching for locations that are not overcrowded, excessively loud, or lacking available seating. Instead of focusing on their tasks, they waste time traveling between cafes or checking multiple locations.

Goal
The goal of this service is to streamline the process of finding a productive coffee shop environment. By providing real-time updates on crowd levels and workspace conditions, users can make informed decisions and spend more time focusing on their work instead of searching for a location.

Project By: Lisa Green and Aurora Phan

Student Survey

Surveyed students to understand productivity challenges when studying in coffee shops. Discovered that uncertainty around seating and noise significantly impacts time management, shaping the app’s focus on real-time environment insights.

Takeaway:

Findings showed that while students commonly study at home or in cafés for 2–5 hours, their experience is heavily influenced by seating availability, noise level, and crowd density. Seating emerged as the top pain point. Most students will leave immediately if a space is full, especially during peak afternoon hours and high-pressure periods like midterms and finals.

Whose problem are we solving?

This app is designed for students who depend on coffee shops as reliable study environments but lack visibility into real-time conditions before arriving.

User Personas

College Students

Competitive Analysis

Pain Points

Not knowing how busy or noisy a place is before going
Wasting time going somewhere that’s full or not suitable
Visiting multiple spots just to find a good seat
No reliable info on outlets, Wi-Fi, seating, lighting, or table space
Crowd info doesn’t show if it’s actually usable for work

How might we…

Solution

Seatzy is a service that helps students and remote workers quickly find productive coffee shops and study spaces in real time. The application uses a map-based interface to show nearby locations, along with live crowd and availability data so users can see how busy a space is before they arrive.