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Lokal
·
iOS, Android, web
·
2026
Lokal
Neighborhood advice from a real local, for people who can’t visit before they move.
Mobile — 402
iOS, Android, web
The 30-second version
0:30 read
Role
Solo Designer
Team
Individual
Timeline
5 months, Jul to Oct 2026
Platform
iOS, Android, web
Problem
Movers can't judge a neighborhood from across the country. The ones who chose well had a friend there to ask.
SOLUTION
Lokal connects movers with verified locals who share their interests, for 1:1 conversations about the neighborhood.
5
interviews
5
usability tests
6
competitors reviewed
01 context
You can't tour a neighborhood from across the country.
Virtual tours show the apartment, not the block. One participant missed a smell a video tour couldn't catch. Another spent six months in school housing in an office district, cut off from city life
"It's better in person… you can see things, you can smell things."
02 Research
I went looking for a planning problem. Interviews didn't find one.
Initially, I set out to build a moving planner. I interviewed 5 people about their whole move with nothing to pitch. Most avoided planning tools, and I dropped the idea. The real pain point I found was judging a place from a distance. Those who didn't experience this problem had a friend who live there to rely on for advice.
key findings
What the interviews said.
03 Concept
From a moving planner to a person who lives there.
I rejected my first concept called StreetVibe, an AI tool combining stats and forum threads, because it repackaged the sources people already found lacking. Of Niche, NeighborhoodScout, Nextdoor, Reddit, and Bumble BFF, none offered verified 1:1 conversations for someone who is hasn't moved there yet.
04 define
Built for movers with no one to ask.
Two primary personas and one edge case, each moving to New York from a distance.
HMW capture what a virtual tour can't show?
HMW connect movers with residents they can trust?
05 Structure
Participants gave the map its own home.
A 6-person card sort in Lyssna showed how movers group app features and neighborhood info.
3 of 6 put the map in a category by itself, so Map became a top-level destination.
4 of 5 open-sort participants created transit and things-to-do groups, so both anchor every Neighborhood Profile.
06 Design
Every screen aims to answer: why should I believe this stranger?
Proof they live there: verified mark, years in the neighborhood, Movers helped.
Something in common first: Locals only appear if they share an interest.
Trust both ways: location shows neighborhood and borough only.
A preview of their advice: the spots they recommend.
Screen 01
1600 × 1000
07 Visual Style
Pink for Movers, indigo for Locals.
Two role colors on warm off-white. Fraunces sets neighborhood and people's names apart; Figtree handles everything you read and tap.
Style Tile
1600 × 1000
08 Testing
0 of 5 understood they had to request matches.
In 5 moderated sessions on a Figma click-through prototype, 0 of 5 people understood they had to manually request matches. They read Save as a bookmark and expected Locals to just appear. The trust signals worked, but where they ran out, people picked Locals by photo.
09 Iteration
From requesting matches to browsing Locals.
I removed the request step instead of adding copy to explain it. Saving a neighborhood now fills the Locals page automatically, and the word "matches" is gone.
However, there were trade-offs: nothing limits the amount of messages to Locals and a browsable list invites users to pick based on physical appearance of the Locals.
Screen 01
1600 × 1000
10 Reflection
Hold the solution loosely.
Interviews killed my first idea and testing killed my matching mechanic. Both times the work got better because I didn't defend it.
What I would do differently: a second interview round to answer the question of "how do you judge a neighborhood you've never seen" and use neutral probes written before usability testing sessions.
Next: test the Locals page and design the Local side, specifically why a Local would want to sign up or answer a Mover.
Screens
Screen 01
1600 × 1000
Screen 02
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Screen 03
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Screen 04
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