Summary
PartOf is a local platform where residents help each other, exchange objects and join neighbourhood events. I contributed to its strategy, design and launch, through UX research and co-creation workshops.
PartOf
My role in the project
2014_2024
Summary
PartOf is a local platform where residents help each other, exchange objects and join neighbourhood events. I contributed to its strategy, design and launch, through UX research and co-creation workshops.
Challenge
The communes wanted the app to be their main communication channel. Residents wanted to meet their neighbours. The product needed to give people a daily reason to open it.
Research
UX research and co-creation workshops, and discussions with several town halls taking part in the pilot.
Solution
A product centred on people, groups, places and activities, and a new role for communes as observers of local life. Adopted by 3 cantons and 52 communes, with 36,000+ users since launch.
Impact at a glance
36,000+Users since launch
Cumulative since launch, not monthly active users.
52Communes
Using the platform.
3Cantons
Where the platform was adopted.
Adoption is a team result: I contributed to the strategy, design and launch.
My role & context
- Role
Product strategy, design and launch, with UX research and co-creation workshops.
- Product strategy
- Product design
- UX research
- Co-creation
- Setting
A local platform for mutual help, object exchanges and neighbourhood events, piloted with several municipalities.
- Methods
- UX research
- Co-creation workshops
- Stakeholder discussions
01
Whose app is it?
The communes wanted a new channel. Residents wanted to meet their neighbours.
Two expectations
The communes wanted PartOf to be their main voice: an extension of the town hall's office, publishing to residents. Residents asked for something else: to put a face on their neighbours. They would open the app for a concrete need (a sport, a sewing service, a language class, a Saturday evening out), then, out of curiosity, move between people, activities, places and groups.
_05
Welcome screen, and a neighbourhood event: a street-sport tournament.
02
Research
Two needs, one product.
What each side expected
- Communes
Be the main sender of content, as an extension of the town hall's communication.
- Residents
Meet their neighbours, and find a person, an activity or a group from a concrete need.
Research in numbers
327Residents interviewed
32 of them also took part in co-creation workshops.
22Co-creation workshops
Run with residents and municipalities.
6Municipalities
Took part in the first version of the app.
6Town hall meetings
To discuss the early concept and strategy.
Research and co-creation
03
What research changed
The product had to start from residents, not from the institution.
Insight — Entry points
People come in for a need, and stay out of curiosity
Before
The app was expected to work like a municipal channel: the town hall publishes, residents read.
Research showed
Residents wanted to know who lives around them. They come in for something concrete, then explore the people, places, activities and groups connected to it.
We built
An organisation centred on people, groups, places and activities: offers between neighbours, community members, local shops, events, and a map to discover the neighbourhood.
Result
Adopted by 3 cantons and 52 communes, with more than 36,000 users since launch.
04
Product decisions
Convincing the town halls to step back.
Saying no
From main speaker to observer
I met several town halls taking part in the pilot. I argued that apps from administrative sources, like a town hall or a canton, see low adoption among their everyday audience, and that pushing the same content as their print and usual channels would add little. Observing local life would give them more useful insight, and more reasons to act. They agreed.
The town hall as main senderSaid no
The initial request: the app as an extension of the town hall's communication.
Residents' relationships at the centreShipped
People, groups, places and activities come first. The commune's role shifts to understanding local life to inform its actions.
PrincipleResidents need a reason to open the app every day. The town hall gains more from understanding local life than from being one more broadcaster.
The neighbourhood, in the app
How people move through the app
05
Outcome
Adopted across three cantons.
Who it helped
- Residents
They put a face on their neighbours and help each other: 16 offers a week per neighbourhood, 436 events in the first year, and 62% of active users interacting every week.
- Communes
Instead of one more channel to publish on, they gained a view of local life to inform their decisions.
- At scale
3 cantons, 52 communes and more than 36,000 users since launch.
Neighbourhood activity
16Offers per week
On average, per neighbourhood.
436Events created
In the first year, across all neighbourhoods using their own instance of the app.
62%Active weekly
Of active users interact every week.
89%Active every two weeks
Of active users interact at least every two weeks.
Where it stands
- Adoption
3 cantons, 52 communes and more than 36,000 users since launch.
- Still to measure
The effect on interactions between neighbours, and on the communes' decisions.
