The short answer
Ente Ward brings civic issue reporting down to ward level. K Krishnankutty, a minister in the Government of Kerala, described it as a unique achievement that might have begun a revolution of tech in the civic space.
The situation
Civic problems are local. A blocked drain, a broken light, a road that floods. The people who know about them are the residents, and the people who can fix them sit inside a structure that residents find hard to reach.
Most civic technology fails on that gap. It is built for the institution rather than for the person standing next to the problem.
The constraint
Public sector work carries a constraint commercial work does not: the thing has to be usable by everyone, including people with old phones, poor connections, and no interest in learning software.
That constraint is clarifying. It rules out most of what makes a product demo look impressive, and leaves the part that matters.
What we built
A reporting app at ward level, so that a resident can raise an issue where they are and it reaches the people responsible for that specific area.
What happened
Ente Ward is a unique achievement. You might have begun a revolution of tech in the civic space. I'd personally love to see how it grows.
K KrishnankuttyMinister, Govt of KeralaA sitting minister putting their name to a piece of software is not something we take lightly, and it is a large part of why this project matters to us more than its invoice did.
What civic work teaches about scope
The lesson generalises to every project we run.
Civic software cannot include a feature because it would be nice. Every screen has to justify itself against a person who has never used the app before and will not try twice. That is exactly the discipline a fourteen-day sprint imposes on commercial work, except most commercial clients have to be persuaded into it.
Case studyBuilding for a community movementWhat a small organisation gets for the price of a modest grant.