Repository for urban improvement projects & admin siteCommissioned by: The Undersecretary of Regional Development (Ministry of the Interior and Public Security of Chile)A platform to showcase successful urban infrastructure projects to be used as a baseline for local needs aimed at city managers.
Empowering city managers with actionable project data
The undersecretary needed a platform to showcase successful urban and neighborhood projects that could be available for everybody so city managers could see what's being done in other parts of the country and use the examples as baseline for their own projects adapted to their local needs.
This project started with a live prototype of the website made by our product manager and my role as the sole product designer in the team, scoped from taking the product requirements directly from stakeholders to refine the pre-existing concept and create the admin platform, document the logic behind the user-facing interactions, to ultimately design the entire experience to a ready-for-development state.
The original UI kit used in this project belonged to digital.gob.cl (deprecated by Oct 2024). For this project, I modified the UI kit for accessibility and usability purposes.
Frontend: Rosario Amunátegui, Veronica Caro
Backend: Jaime Hernández
Product manager / Ops: Paul Eaton
Product Design: Teresa Peña
Municipalities lacked a centralized system to guide city managers through project formulation. This often meant combing through fragmented resources, leading to inefficiencies in identifying, designing, and submitting proposals.
Smaller municipalities, in particular, faced barriers in accessing relevant information, which limited their ability to compete for government funding.
How could we motivate users to engage with a new system?
I had to design a platform that showcases information in a simple and accessible way while fostering adoption across municipalities with varying technical capabilities. So I worked having in mind a few points:
- Comprehensive filter options: Ensuring users could quickly locate project examples and guidelines tailored to their needs. At the same time, these filters are based on legal regulation making it easier to manage by the users in the undersecretary.
- Inclusivity: Designing for municipalities with limited technical resources, ensuring that the platform bridged gaps rather than widening them, using recognizable patterns.
- Actionable insight: Offering users tools to follow best practices and align their proposals with successful examples.
The pre-design workUnderstanding architecture and the project nature
This was my first time working closely with architects and civil engineers, not only from my team but stakeholders. It was pivotal in shaping my understanding of the project requirements and the diverse needs of future users.
of Regional Development
(Ministry of the Interior and Public Security, Chile)
Category: Public Sector
Year: 2023-2024
Frontend: Rosario Amunátegui,
Veronica Caro
Backend: Jaime Hernández
Ops: Paul Eaton
Product Design: Teresa Peña
Their insights into how projects are conceptualized and executed deepened my awareness of what users—be they municipal planners, decision-makers, or community members—would need to effectively navigate and engage with the platform.
I audited existing resources (e.g., program guidelines) to determine how the different types of projects could be organized into an intuitive format that fits the digital/interactive format.
It combined elements from existent architecture platforms for showcasing projects, real estate websites for intuitive filtering, and a website belonging to the Ministry of Housing for presenting documents clearly. This mix ensured a balance of visual appeal, functionality, and accessibility.
Details and wireframesFrom proto-prototype to hi-fi solution
The base requirement was already validated through a live prototype so my job was to apply patterns and features to enhance the experience.
of Regional Development
(Ministry of the Interior and Public Security, Chile)
Category: Public Sector
Year: 2023-2024
Frontend: Rosario Amunátegui,
Veronica Caro
Backend: Jaime Hernández
Ops: Paul Eaton
Product Design: Teresa Peña
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It was difficult for the departments in charge of the urban improvement projects to showcase the work they do across the country and explain in detail both the legal and technical requirements to help city project managers develop their own initiatives.
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Building the adminThinking about scalability
Not only we needed a simple way for users to manage the platform but also, we as a team, were working or 2 other projects that needed an admin site, this one being the first I had to think about components that could be re-used to save time for the devs.
of Regional Development
(Ministry of the Interior and Public Security, Chile)
Category: Public Sector
Year: 2023-2024
Frontend: Rosario Amunátegui,
Veronica Caro
Backend: Jaime Hernández
Ops: Paul Eaton
Product Design: Teresa Peña
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The resultsThe platform reached out all 16 regions in Chile and 85% engaged sessions.
Upon completion, program managers in the undersecretary were able to share successful projects that other cities could use either as a reference or as a base to build their own version of any project and adapt it to their particular local needs.
of Regional Development
(Ministry of the Interior and Public Security, Chile)
Category: Public Sector
Year: 2023-2024
Frontend: Rosario Amunátegui,
Veronica Caro
Backend: Jaime Hernández
Ops: Paul Eaton
Product Design: Teresa Peña
It was important that user remained engaged in the website, all we cared about is that they stayed, looked around and gather ideas for their own projects.
We are still collecting data :).
Soon. We are still collecting data :).
Internal client testimonials & press extracts
This is the feedback we've received so far:
This repository aims to promote innovation in investment projects and create a collaborative space, making the best initiatives available to other municipalities. This allows for synergies in the public sector, which are very necessary for municipalities facing more difficulties in their management.
*Press extract
This platforms translates perfectly what this Undersecretary's role is as a government agency, we usually have problems explaining people outside the institution what our job is, and this website makes it very clear, not only showing successful examples but the impact of our projects throughout the territory.
This website will enable municipalities to access the technical aspects needed to apply for various projects under the Urban Improvement Program (PMU), such as parks, community centers, etc., and the Neighborhood Improvement Program (PMB), which includes projects like sanitation or rural drinking water. This demonstrates the commitment of President Gabriel Boric’s government to provide local governments with the tools they need to continue improving the quality of life for their residents through investment.
* Press extract
