The Swiss Phonebook
With more than 2.8 million downloads, the local.ch app is one of the most popular apps in Switzerland. Users can quickly find contact information for residents and additional information such as opening hours for businesses.
Project type
iOS & Android app
Client, Role
The Swiss Phonebook (local.ch), Lead Designer, 2013
Bringing emotion to the function
Up until that time, these mobile applications had only worked as functional products. During three months on site, my goal was to redesign the app to convey a beautiful user experience.
Collaboration & process
We worked in sprints, in which we would focus on improving a specific feature. The goal was to progressively update the existing app with an improved version. Starting from sketches, we worked together with the local.ch team to discuss business perspectives, interaction models and visual details.
Design challenges
Home screen
The new design is emotional. It includes a contextual image that is personalised based on the user's location, and it also addresses the user's needs with a prominent search and personalised categories.
Fast and efficient search
The search is the local.ch business principle, therefore the search field was placed in the center of the screen to be easily reachable by the user's thumb.
Context-aware auto-complete
Autocomplete helps to guide the user and includes three types of suggestions: history, location and matching queries.
Restaurant guide
Book a table
One tap to book a table directly from the local mobile app.
Restaurant ratings
Up-to-date restaurant ratings and reviews have shown individually for each restaurant.
Transitional user guidance
Add motion and transitions to guide the user in the process.
Consolidating design across all platforms
Parallel to the iOS changes, the Android app was also redesigned and restructured with the same new features.
Facts of success
The new design for Local.ch mobile app launched in 2013 and the team continues to progressively improve the app, mostly focusing on the restaurant guide.
“Working together with the local.ch mobile team allowed me to share and learn a lot about how to design for mobile and understand different technologies.”