Showcase City of Rotterdam

Services provided
UX Design, UI Design, Low-code development

Release date
2018

Industry
Public Sector

Category
Low-code app

Rotterdam is one of the largest cities in the Netherlands and the modern government is moving along with the energy of the city. Of all the cities, Rotterdam has the largest ICT department and works with the most advanced technologies, striving to push forward Rotterdam’s innovation.

Managing, securing, and further developing ICT initiatives, both within the organization and in the city, are the daily challenges of the IT department.

In order to promote the demand for acceleration and cooperation from ICT with all parts of the municipality, Rapid Application Development (RAD) was started in January 2018 using Mendix’s low-code platform.

In 2016, the City of Rotterdam began a digitization program. An analysis of the current situation regarding the service provision for the Rotterdammers brought to light some important points for improvement, including in the areas of care and assistance.

The Challenge

The municipality strives for ‘one way of working’ for all counters and wants Rotterdam citizens to reach the right people to help them within the municipality as fast as possible. Therefore, it must immediately be clear which counter the Rotterdam citizen needs the first time around.

The Solution

First Mendix application for Rotterdam citizens

In addition to a chat function, being able to make online appointments for counters, and animated films on subjects that are difficult to understand, a project was started for the first app for the Rotterdam citizen to improve their service.

The main objectives of this application include helping Rotterdammers locate the correct counter for a care request and increase their self-sufficiency.

To achieve these goals, a question tree was built with the Mendix App Platform. By means of the question tree, the Rotterdammer is led to the right counter at the municipality for his or her request for help.

The app also allows users to schedule their own appointment online or chat with someone from the municipality. Rutten, the Project Success Director, is pleased with the results, saying: “The question tree fits well within the platform. A lot of changes in the counters, so the back of the question tree has to be adaptable, that is possible with Mendix.”

Henry Rutten

Product Owner of Gemeente Rotterdam Project

“What is special about the development process is that the UI/UX specialist and the Mendix developers worked in parallel, instead of first designing and then development. The Mendix developer from Mansystems started at the back and worked forward, while the UI/UX specialist worked the other way around and worked towards each other.”

The Result

The Mendix platform is very suitable for an Agile process and thus after 1 sprint, it was visible what could be achieved. Due to the ample amount of information already available, the app was built in 3 sprints of 2 weeks.

The fast nature of working with a low-code platform also comes in handy when making adjustments. A lot of changes can be made within the counters, therefore the back has to be adjustable to suit ever-evolving needs. The question tree has also been built so that it can be used for other clusters and target groups within the municipality, such as an app for the business counter or an energy saving app.

Henry Rutten believes that Mansystems had the right Mendix consultants for the project along with the right knowledge and personal characteristics.