Younite
The digital solution for the youth council
PROJECT CONTEXT
Advanced Design & oct. – feb 2025/26
TOOLS
Figma, After Effects, Illustrator
SUPERVISION
Prof. Henrik Mucha, Prof. Bettina Tabel
MY ROLE
Research, Concept , UI Design, Illustrationen, Prototyping
TEAM MEMBERS
Nicole Birk, Jasmin Heiden, Lena van Maris
DESIGN
PROCESS
OUR
GOAL
Younite was developed to provide digital support to youth councils and make political participation easier, more transparent, and more effective for young people. The aim of the project is to provide structured support for the entire process, from the initial idea to surveys and application preparation to implementation. The platform strengthens exchange, networking, and self-efficacy by presenting complex processes in an understandable way and facilitating collaboration. The result is a digital tool that makes youth engagement more visible and sustainable in the long term.
OUR
PAINPOINTS
To better understand the needs of our users, we conducted interviews with a range of stakeholders, including young people, youth council members, youth work professionals, and political representatives. The questions were tailored
to each group’s experiences, allowing us to gain a deep understanding of their challenges, goals, and workflows.
These conversations revealed recurring pain points that shaped the foundation of our problem space and guided our design decisions. In particular, we explored the question: How a digital system could support youth engagement from initial idea to participation and implementation, while enabling communication, co-determination, and transparency between all stakeholders.
Confusing processes
Applications go through many stages without the progress being clearly traceable.
Lack of feedback
Young people rarely receive timely feedback, which weakens motivation and commitment.
Unclear responsibilities
It is often unclear who the contact person is and who is responsible for which step.
Bureaucratic language
Political content and protocols are often difficult to understand and not presented in a way that is suitable for young people.
Lack of networking
Youth councils work in isolation from one another and find it difficult to benefit from the experiences of others.
Lack of transparency
Young people often do not know what happens to their ideas and proposals or what the status of projects is.
USER
JOURNEY
The user journey was always at the centre of our project. It enabled us to analyse the processes and phases of all three stakeholder groups in detail in the context of the younth council. The user journey served as a central basis that we could refer back to again and again in order to review processes and retrospectively validate our ideas. When creating it, we integrated important findings from interviews, pain points and other aspects in order to specifically identify those areas of the user journey in which we wanted to start.
OUR
CONCEPT
Younite is a digital platform that supports youth councils by simplifying participation, exchange, and transparent application processes. The app accompanies young people from the initial idea through surveys and application creation
to the implementation of projects. Through AI-supported functions, networking between youth councils, and comprehensible presentation of political processes, Younite strengthens young people’s self-efficacy and democratic participation.
THE APP
The target group is young people aged 12 to 25. In 2024, around 93% will own a smartphone, but only around 63% will have their own computer or laptop. That is why a smartphone app was chosen as the primary medium. Young people from the youth council stated that they mainly process applications via smartphone or tablet, which confirms the decision to use an app.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
A central component of Younite is AI as a supportive “co-pilot” for youth council members. Young people already use AI as a tool for formulating and structuring, e.g., ChatGPT. AI helps create surveys, motions, and texts and can refer to similar motions, resolutions, or meetings based on public and municipal council documents. Technically, it uses a large language model with retrieval augmented generation (RAG) via the GDPR-compliant F13 system. The AI serves as a supportive tool, lowers barriers to entry, and makes political participation more practical.
OUR
FEATURES
01
/05
ONBOARDING
During onboarding, users register via the official youth council email address, which allows them to be clearly verified. Stored interests enable personalized suggestions for suitable events and projects.
02
/05
HOMESCREEN
The home screen provides a quick overview of basic functions, the latest news, and your own projects. After creating a survey, you can always see the results on the home screen.
03
/05
SURVEYS
Create targeted surveys to quickly and transparently gather the opinions of young people and stakeholders.
04
/05
APPLICATIONS
Formulate requests in a structured manner, submit them digitally, and track their status, who is responsible, and how the decision-making process is progressing at any time.
05
/05
NEWS & EVENTS
Discover successful projects from other youth councils and showcase your own achievements to boost motivation and self-efficacy.
In the end, a concept and an app were created, which is visualized in this video.
With the help of this video we were able to make our concept easily accessible and understandable.
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