The Origin of the NearBy App Idea

The idea for NearBy came from a personal experience of living in the Trójmiasto area (It’s a metropolitan area in northern Poland, consisting of three cities: Gdańsk, Gdynia, and Sopot). Despite the vibrant local scene — cultural events, workshops, small business offers — I often found it difficult to stay updated. Information was scattered, published too late, or shared within limited circles.I noticed that:

As a resident, I would frequently hear about events only after they happened, or miss them completely

Local businesses with valuable offers struggled to effectively reach nearby customers, relying mostly on social media or printed flyers

There was no central, easy-to-use platform that connected neighbors with what was happening right around them

I wanted to create a solution that:

Would be intuitive and accessible for everyone, regardless of age or digital skills

Would strengthen local connections — both socially and economically

Would give local entrepreneurs a simple tool to promote events and offers directly to nearby residents

That’s how the idea for NearBy was born — a simple, location-based platform that works like a local marketplace and event calendar in one. It helps people discover what’s happening just around the corner and gives businesses a space to engage with their immediate community.

Research - Defining the Main Customer Needs

For this project, the research phase focused primarily on analyzing and defining the core needs of users, as well as identifying their key pain points. It’s important to highlight that the application serves two distinct user types:
- Local business owners
- Local residents

Survey

I conducted a survey using Google Forms among local entrepreneurs and residents.

Local Residents

Purpose: Understand how residents discover local events and what features they’d want in a local discovery app

Where do they find event info?
- Facebook (85%) and Instagram (60%) are dominant
- Google is also used by 45%
- Posters and word-of-mouth scored low (10%)

Insight: There’s no centralized, trusted source — users rely on scattered channels

Participation frequency:
- 50% – A few times a month
- 30% – Once a month
- 20% – Rarely or never

There’s interest in local events but a gap in information accessibility

Most requested features:
- Event list (70%)
- Notifications (55%)
- Map view (50%)

Simplicity, visual layout, and updates are key expectations

Would they use a local discovery app?
- 65% – Very useful
- 25% – Rather useful
- 10% – Neutral or negative

High interest in a well-executed app solution

Missed events due to poor visibility:
- 80% said “yes”

Indicates a real pain point and a strong reason to try the app

Local Business Owners

Purpose: Understand how businesses promote themselves and whether they'd be interested in a local promotion platformp

Current promotion methods:
- Facebook (80%)
- Instagram (55%)
- Flyers (40%)
- Only 15% use paid tools like Google Ads

Businesses rely mostly on unpaid social channels with limited reach

Marketing effectiveness:
- Only 25% say it’s “very effective”
- Most rate it as “moderately effective” or lower

Indicates frustration and opportunity for improvement

Most requested features:
- Event list (70%)
- Notifications (55%)
- Map view (50%)

Simplicity, visual layout, and updates are key expectations

Most useful features:
- Simple interface (60%)
- Event/offer publishing (55%)
- View stats (45%)

The tool must be low-barrier, visual, and give at least basic feedback on performance.

Summary Insights

Both groups expressed clear pain points that the app could solve — residents want visibility and reminders, while businesses want reach and ease of use

There's strong intent to use the app among both personas

Focus areas for product design:
- Easy content publishing
- Hyper-local filtering
- Notifications & visibility
- Responsive, mobile-first UI

In-depth Interviews

Additionally, I conducted a total of 6 in-depth interviews:
- 3 with local entrepreneurs
- 3 with residents from various districts of the Tri-City area

Local Residents

Objective: Understanding the needs, behaviors, and expectations of residents regarding local events, promotions, and life in the neighborhood.

Recruitment Criteria:
- Individuals living in one of the districts of the Tri-City area
- Age: 25–45 years
- Smartphone users, using mobile applications
- Openness to local events and initiatives
- Preferred individuals who use social media to search for information but experience difficulties with it

Local Business Owners

Objective: Understanding the realities of promoting local businesses and the barriers to reaching nearby customers.

Recruitment Criteria:
- Owners of small or medium-sized businesses located in the Tri-City
- No support from marketing agencies (operate independently)
- Willingness to promote events or special offers
- Low or moderate knowledge of digital marketing tools
- Openness to new, local promotion channels

Here are fragments of the conducted interviews:

How do you currently promote your café to people living nearby?

Mostly through social media. I post on Facebook and Instagram, but it’s hard to reach new people without paying for ads — and I don’t always know if those ads reach locals. Sometimes I put posters up in nearby shops, but it's old-school and time-consuming.

How would you feel about using an app to promote your offers to nearby residents?

That would be great — as long as it's simple. I don’t have time to learn complicated tools. If I could just log in, add an event or promotion, and see how many people saw it — that would be really useful.

What would make you not want to use such an app?

If I had to spend a lot of time setting things up, or if it felt like another social media platform I have to manage daily. I need something light, fast, and focused.

How do you usually find out about local events or what's happening nearby?

To be honest, I usually scroll through Instagram or Facebook, but it's chaotic. There’s no guarantee I’ll see something relevant unless I follow a very specific page. I’ve missed some cool local workshops or pop-up events just because I didn’t know they were happening.

Would you use an app that shows you events and offers based on your current location?

Absolutely. If it’s clean, simple, and focused on my area — yes. I’d love something that filters out the noise and just shows me what’s happening around me, like a new art exhibit or weekend brunch spot that opened nearby.

What would make you stop using such an app?

If it starts feeling spammy or full of irrelevant ads. Or if it's hard to use — I don't want to dig through menus to find what's nearby.

User persona

Based on the analysis and interviews, I developed a user persona model for the app to better understand exactly who the app is being designed for.

Anna - local resident

Age: 32
Occupation: Sales Specialist (remote)
Location: Gdańsk, Oliwa
Tech Comfort Level: Intermediate
Lifestyle: Busy, social, intrested in local activities

Goals & Needs

Discover nearby events and activities easily
Support small, local businesses
Find ideas for spending free time close to home
Use an intuitive and simple app interface
Stay updated with personalized local recommendations

Pain Points

Hard to find up-to-date info on local happenings
Local promotions are often lost in irrelevant ads
No single platform with curated neighborhood content
Stay updated with personalized local recommendations
Find ideas for spending free time close to home

Why She'd Use the App

To quickly find relevant, hyper-local events and offers
To stay in touch with what’s happening around her
To avoid cluttered or impersonal platforms like Facebook groups
Discover nearby events and activities easily
Support small, local businesses

Mark - Local Business Owner

Age: 41
Occupation: Coffee shop owner
Location: Gdynia, Śródmieście

Goals & Needs

Increase visibility among local customers
Promote events (e.g. concerts, workshops) easily
Find a low-cost way to advertise without hiring an agency

Pain Points

Online ads are too expensive or ineffective
Difficult to stand out against bigger brands
No time or skills for complex marketing platforms

Why He'd Use the App

To promote his café directly to nearby residents
To post events or special deals with minimal effort
To compete locally without needing a big marketing budget

Wireframes & Copywriting

Based on the insights gathered from the analysis, I began outlining the core features the app could offer. I then moved on to sketching wireframes and working on the copy.

The name NearBy reflects the core idea of the app — helping users discover what’s happening right around them. It’s short, memorable, and instantly communicates local relevance. The capital “B” gives it a branded feel and hints at a smart way to connect nearby people and places.

While developing the app’s functionalities, I focused primarily on the findings from the research. My main goal was to ensure that users looking for local events could easily discover what’s happening in their neighborhood, while local business owners could quickly add and manage their events.

The most important features include:

Quick event search for residents — no login required

Two main categories of listings: events and special offers

Dedicated business account

Simple option for business owners to quickly add events

Event management features for businesses: edit, duplicate, delete

Events automatically disappear from the public list after they end

Mockups

Based on the wireframes I created, I started working on mockups. I began this stage of the project by selecting the main colors and font.
Since I was acting as the Product Owner for this project, I had full freedom in choosing the color palette and typography.

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Main colors

Deep Teal Green used as the primary background and base color, this rich, dark teal brings a modern, trustworthy, and tech-forward aesthetic to the app. It creates a focused, calm environment while providing a strong contrast for accent elements. The dark theme also supports content readability and draws attention to key interactive areas.

Warm Orange Accent serves as the main accent color, applied to calls-to-action, highlights, and interactive UI components. It adds energy and approachability, creating clear visual hierarchy and guiding user attention toward important elements. The contrast with the dark base helps deliver a balanced, inviting interface.

Poppins

Font

The Poppins typeface was chosen for its clean, modern look and excellent readability across screen sizes. Its geometric, slightly rounded forms give the interface a friendly and approachable feel, perfectly balancing the app’s community-driven purpose with a tech-savvy design.

Poppins ensures clear visual hierarchy and consistency across headings, body text, and CTAs, working especially well within the dark UI for optimal legibility.

When it comes to layout, my goal was to achieve a clean, visually appealing, user-friendly, and modern design that encourages exploration with minimal friction. The prepared mockups, of course, include both desktop and mobile versions.

Header navigation

Limiting navigation to just one key action ("Add post") reduces cognitive load and creates a strong, guided entry point for user-generated content

Hero section

The layout establishes trust and relevance through localization and simplicity. The call to "start browsing" is visually emphasized with a subtle downward arrow to encourage scrolling

Location selector

Location-first interaction ensures that all content shown is relevant to the user’s real-world context. It supports the core idea of neighborhood engagement

Navigation tabs and filter

This flexible filtering system helps users quickly narrow down results, enhancing discoverability. The use of "pills" and toggle behavior fits well in both desktop and mobile use cases

Event listings

Clear card structure supports scannability. Using images adds emotional engagement, while the consistent layout allows for quick comparison between events. The use of orange for CTAs ensures they stand out on the dark background

Visual and branding consistency

The interface strikes a strong balance between functional clarity and emotional warmth, supporting the app’s dual role as a local guide and community hub