The citizen report, in a conversation

A report is worth what the data it arrives with is worth. If the place arrives as a sentence instead of a point on the map, if the photograph is missing or if the resident answered questions that did not apply, the work moves to the technician who receives it.

The platform is Mejora tu Ciudad, by Radmas Technologies, S.L., and we work on its development side by side with their team, on the conversational channel for reports —the thread of messages where a resident makes a report and follows what happens with it—: the navigation, the flows and the access.

Reporting does not need an account. We enabled use of the channel without prior registration, and registration was left for the options that require it.

We rebuilt the channel’s navigation in levels, with a way back to the previous step or to the start from any point, and we added image handling inside the flow, so the photograph travels with the report and not in a message of its own.

The reporting flow adapts to each type. Each one asks what belongs to it and nothing more, validates the location before the report goes out, and includes the image question in the types where a photograph adds information. On top of that came the follow-up: the council’s comments on the case are read and answered from the conversation, the council’s announcements arrive through the same channel, and each person adjusts their profile preferences.

Underneath, the storage of the conversation history was redesigned with per-session renewal: each session starts clean and continuous use keeps it alive, with nobody having to step in.

The report arrives ready to be handled, and it is followed from the same thread it was sent through. The relationship continues: a channel where a council and its residents talk every day stays open, cycle after cycle.