Stadt­puls

Insight

Stadtpuls, an open data platform focusing on IoT projects in Berlin, realized at my time at CityLAB Berlin, Berlin’s public innovation laboratory. The platform’s primary objective is to enhance the public’s understanding of their city through real-time sensor data. By facilitating the connection between “makers” (comprising hobbyists, school projects, and researchers) and “takers” (including data scientists, data journalists, and scientists), Stadtpuls provides open-source sensor data from IoT devices.

Process

Stadtpuls originated from a vision aimed at encouraging a collaborative IoT data-sharing environment among diverse stakeholders, including both public and private sectors, along with Berlin’s citizens. This live open data future was envisioned as a means to deepen the understanding of the city, establishing a foundational framework for collaborative initiatives focused on its enhancement. To pave the way toward this vision, we conducted extensive investigations, interviews, and outreach to identify key actors likely to participate or benefit.

The initial phase involved crafting a prototype after gathering insights, which sparked a notable excitement, especially among IoT tinkerers. We then advanced to design a more feature-proof second prototype, enabling users to register and connect their sensors to the platform via API for data monitoring and sharing purposes. This process underwent numerous iterations, including wireframes, high-fidelity mockups, tests and feedback loops, culminating in the platform’s release. Several projects were also initiated to showcase its potential applications.

Personal role

Within this project, I took a lead role in shaping the visual identity, including designing its logo and generating various visual assets for the products. Later on, my responsibilities centered on the development and management of the Next.js React frontend codebase. I also conducted comprehensive testing of sensors, ensuring their seamless integration into the platform.

Despite the project’s discontinuation, the experience provided me with significant lessons and a sense of accomplishment in contributing to a project that aimed to make valuable data accessible to the public.