Building a Foundation for Growth
From concept to launch, I led the design efforts for Future Maps, guiding the team through feature development and beta testing. The result is a refined product shaped by insights from 1,500+ beta testers. It is supported by 250+ cooperative members and partners such as Ecosia, Recup and GLS Bank.
Company
Future Maps
Role
Design Lead
Year
2022 - 2024
Leadership
Strategy
Product Design
Design Systems
Social Challenge
Over 40 million people in Germany want to live more sustainably, but 89% feel overwhelmed and distrust corporate claims. Despite the availability of sustainable options, they are rarely top of mind. Existing ratings often focus on narrow aspects of sustainability, leaving people unsure where to begin. Future Maps addresses this by simplifying sustainable decision-making.
My Design Decisions
Strong focus
To build a strong brand and become top of mind, we focused on gastronomy as a starting point due to its high relevance and frequent engagement. Restaurants and cafés provided repeat interaction opportunities, enabling the creation of targeted filters for a clear audience and a sharp, memorable offering.
Sustainability Rating
Making sustainable choices can feel overwhelming, so I streamlined the process. The app features only businesses that meet strict sustainability standards, ensuring trust and simplicity. For those seeking more details, in-depth ratings remain available in the background without adding complexity.
Returning users
Beta testing and interviews revealed that while users loved the app, they often forgot about it after initial use. To improve retention, I focused on increasing communication and engagement through three onboarding emails within the first ten days and timely push notifications. Before the public launch, we prioritized proving the effectiveness of this approach to ensure the product fosters long-term engagement.
How we built it
I led the design process from concept to pre-launch, growing the beta testing base to over 1.500 people. In collaboration with the product manager, priorities and user journeys were refined, while implementation was guided alongside two developers. After a year of intensive development and testing, the app is ready for launch, with an experience users naturally return to and recommend.
In surveys, beta-testers are asked about their experience. Combined with in-depth qualitative interviews and feature tests, these insights are collected on the left side of the product management board. Together with the product manager, they are prioritized, aligned with development, and added to the sprint (green).
Result
The goal of the one-year beta testing phase was not rapid growth but ensuring high product quality. This laid a solid foundation for the official launch.
Beta Success
Over 1.500 organically reached and registered testers during the beta phase.
Growing Community
250+ members joined the cooperative.
Strategic Milestone
Secured a Letter of Intent to become the default map for Ecosia.
User Love
4.8-star rating in the Apple App Store.
Monthly Sessions
Reflection
Future Maps is more than just a project, it is a shared mission. Not only the internal team but also partners and the broader ecosystem are deeply purpose-driven. This creates a unique, trust-based collaboration where everyone is aligned, working towards the same goal.
The project is designed to be lean and well-structured, with a strong focus on learning during the public beta phase to refine usability. While we achieved this, I wonder if we should have prototyped marketing strategies in parallel, exploring the right channels and communication approaches to maximize reach.
Team
Simon (Founder & Product Manager)
Mimi (Community & Communications)
Theresa (Operations & Processes)
Janosch (Developement)
Chrisy (Development)