Empowering citizens all around the globe to make their city a better place
Role
End-to-end Product Designer
Timeline
4 weeks
Responsibilities
User research
UI Design
Prototyping
User testing
Motion design
Tools
Brain
Figma
Jitter
Illustrator
Project background
I've encountered many situations where people passionately discuss issues plaguing their city. While they often have great ideas for solutions, it seems like they never take any real action to make a difference. It made me wonder: why don't they help improve their city?
Research
I kicked off the process with thorough desk research, diving into articles, competitor insights, and Reddit discussions. To deepen my understanding, I conducted interviews with a mix of potential users of small to large cities in the EU and the US. I also got the opportunity to talk with an urban city planner.
Analysing Market and Competitions
The Challenge
Synthesis
User persona and user journey
Ideation
Citizens need an intuitive, all-in-one platform that empowers them to actively engage with their city, make a real impact and contribute to shaping a better, more inclusive city, where everyones voice is heard.
At the same time, city officials and urban planners require a platform that serves as a direct link to residents, providing real-time insights into community needs and being able to take quick action. It should ensure all relevant information is organized and directed to the responsible city department.
I started designing the three most important flows: reporting a problem, creating an idea and interacting with social posts in the community (now "connect") section. From there I built some more interactions. I then tested as early as possible with less invested, so it' easier to hear feedback and make changes. Then, repeat again. Here you can see some screens from the first testable prototype.
Testing
Lowering the barrier to effortless user reporting
One of the key challenges I faced was lowering the barrier for users to report problems and share ideas. I noticed that many users would drop off at the description form, and during interviews they often mentioned how annoying long forms were. To make the process smoother and more user-friendly, I implemented predetermined answer choices and an AI voice reporting feature to enable quick and easy submissions. Check out the voice feature in final design section.
Smoother navigation: easy back and quick Create
Users mentioned that when they viewed an idea, they could only go back by using the back button, instead of intuitively using the bottom navigation bar. Also, when they wanted to create their own idea, they had to go back to the previous screen to find the “Create Idea” button.
I addressed these problems by making two changes:
Added a “Create” destination to the bottom navigation bar that takes you to an overview where you can create any type of post. It is only highlighted when no other primary button is visible, preventing conflicts between main buttons.
Changed the “Ideas” destination so that while users are viewing an idea, it’s in it’s inactive state and tapping it acts like a back button, making the navigation smoother and more natural.
Accessibility considerations
While testing I was inspired to go over and redesign some features to ensure every user can use them comfortably. This is one example.
If feedback is only visual, visually impaired users might miss order changes. While drag-and-drop can technically work with screen readers, it's often not practical. To improve accessibility, I designed two modes: one for drag-and-drop, and another using only tab navigation.
I also added privacy reminders to reassure users their data is secure and anonymous, leading to more valuable survey insights.
Summary
The problem
Despite widespread concern about city issues and many great ideas from residents, actual participation remains low. Citizens often don’t know how to get involved, feel like their efforts won’t make a difference or get frustrated by complicated city processes and lack of updates. Participation is often limited to older residents with more free time, leaving many voices unheard. This disconnect results in missed opportunities for collaboration between citizens and city officials, leaving many community needs unaddressed.
The solution
Citify is an intuitive all-in-one platform that empowers residents to share ideas, report issues and connect with others in their community. This makes it simple for everyone to actively engage and help shape a more inclusive city where every voice is heard. At the same time, city officials get real-time access to community feedback and visualized data, enabling faster and more effective responses. Citify bridges the gap between citizens and city leaders, encouraging collaboration to make the city a better place for everyone.
Reflection
Takeaways
No hard stops
During the citify project I’ve learned the importance of keeping users in the loop. Eliminating hard stops ensures users always know what to do next, making the experience intuitive and frustration-free.
Next steps
New features
To make reporting even easier, I’m considering a few new features that need more exploring. One idea is to add a button to Maps, so users can quickly report potholes or faulty traffic lights while driving. Since drivers can’t safely user their hands, I’d like to explore a voice-activated option, letting people report hands-free on the go.
Marketing campaign
For the platform to really work, lots of people need to use it. That’s why the next step is a solid marketing campaign to get the word out and encourage citizens to join in and make their city a better place.