Transcript
[ELEANOR]: Joining me is Hassan Malik, designer of Neighbourhood Note, an app trialled in one city area. It lets residents describe everyday difficulties in public spaces. Hassan, welcome. [HASSAN]: Thanks. It is not an emergency service or a replacement for formal reporting channels. We wanted to hear about smaller obstacles people notice repeatedly but often treat as too minor to report. [ELEANOR]: The trial was limited to three streets. Why not launch across the city? [HASSAN]: The software could have coped. But our categories had to follow residents' language, not office terminology. In a small area, we could hear how people described difficulties: "I can't get my buggy past the bin," or "My father avoids this corner after dark." That tells us what an ordinary journey feels like. [ELEANOR]: A larger launch might also have created expectations you could not meet immediately. [HASSAN]: We considered that, but it was not the main reason. Before scaling up, we needed to know what residents themselves considered worth raising. [ELEANOR]: What surprised you when the first reports arrived? [HASSAN]: We expected unrelated complaints. Instead, people supplied the circumstances. One person explained that a dropped kerb became difficult only when delivery vehicles blocked it. Another said a broken light changed the route older residents took in winter. A map pin can show where something happened, but not why it matters in that particular way. The reports gave us a more realistic account of moving through the area. [ELEANOR]: I had been sceptical. I worried the app would encourage people to hunt for defects and turn public space into a contest over whose street had the longest list of complaints. [HASSAN]: A reasonable concern. [ELEANOR]: What changed my mind was that users also mentioned things that helped: a bench moved into afternoon sun, or a shopkeeper who cleared wet leaves from the pavement. It stopped feeling like a ledger of irritation. [HASSAN]: Once people described the effect of a place, rather than simply calling it good or bad, the tone shifted. [ELEANOR]: You also changed a question in the app. Originally, users were asked to identify a problem and suggest what should be done. [HASSAN]: Yes, and we stopped asking them to diagnose it. That encouraged people to offer a remedy before explaining what had happened. Someone might write, "Install a crossing," when the useful starting point is, "Cars turn this corner too quickly at school closing time." That could point to a crossing, but it might equally point to parking, timing or visibility. We wanted residents to describe their experience, not supply an answer. [ELEANOR]: So the wording changed the relationship between the person reporting and the people making decisions. [HASSAN]: Exactly. Officials still decide what action is possible, but they start with a fuller account. [ELEANOR]: The map was altered halfway through the pilot. Why? [HASSAN]: The first version used large, bright markers. It implied every report was equally certain and equally urgent. But one report from one afternoon is not the same as a pattern noticed by several people over months. We redesigned the display to indicate how much evidence lay behind a pattern, so it is clear when information is still limited. [ELEANOR]: Did people find that frustrating? [HASSAN]: Some did, but most preferred knowing where uncertainty remained, provided someone explained what would happen next. That is why the app cannot be treated as a complete service by itself. [ELEANOR]: Because a map does not change a pavement. [HASSAN]: Precisely. Its useful next step is discussion: residents, local groups and council officers looking at the information together. The app can give that discussion a grounded starting point, but it cannot replace it.