Challenge
In 2018, Consid was chosen as the partner and supplier who, together with Vision, would develop an app for the union’s elected representatives. Just over a year and a half later, it was time to open up the app for members and add a number of functions, as well as to invest in maximum membership benefits and to get closer to the members.
A good digital membership meeting was the basic idea where Vision wants to be close to their users; members should have the compartment in their pocket. The union should not just be something you use when there is a crisis.
– We wanted to create a digital member meeting that is present where we do what we can to show the benefit and what you pay for, Eva Ottosson at Vision says.
Based on the existing app for elected representatives, we started the project around the members’ everyday tasks – training calendar, recruitment of new members, benefits and contact list. There was a lot to build and good opportunities and conditions to be able to develop the app.
In addition to the everyday tasks, great focus was placed on functionality. Because a lot of information and data was in third-party systems, Karma, Episerver and Microsoft, part of the challenge was to “jack” these parts into the app to create good support for both elected representatives and all members.
The connections to Vision’s CRM were another challenge, as Vision have a complex organizational structure as a trade union. We wanted to succeed in creating simplicity in the app with this in mind. As a union, Vision also have sensitive information, which places high demands on security and that information is not disseminated or shared between the two target groups – elected representatives and members.
The project began in January 2020 with the goal of a major launch campaign in November 2020. We thus had a sharp deadline, which in itself was a challenge.
Solution
After an internal workshop with Vision, the most important functions were developed. Then we made a clickable prototype that we tested with users; members and potential members.
We also used user groups and did user tests to find out what we thought would be best. Vision are already based on the Karma framework, so we built on this existing system.
However, the app was completely independent of Karma and these were therefore built together. A cross-platform solution with Native apps built in Swift and Kotlin for iOS and Android, respectively, became the end product where we also built on additional functionality such as new salary statistics and new chat.
Result
The project goals, which consisted of increasing membership benefits, increasing member satisfaction, gaining a better attendance, creating an updated image of Vision as a union and increasing union strength, were met. As many as 15,000 members downloaded the app during the launch month, which was the goal. The visibility campaign that took place during the launch month and January 2021 also helped achieving the goals.
Many connections have been made between different parties, we have had workshops and we have been seen digitally with reconciliations twice a week. This has facilitated the project and will continue to do so as we together further develop the app on an ongoing basis.
– Vision has been very determined and had great importance in the project landing right in the organization. They work in a modern way and it has been very fun to explore it together. Here we combine the handling of sensitive data with showing that the app increases the value for users. We had some technical difficulties and obstacles to overcome along the way, but I also think that we have had a very good dialogue about these and we have further developed Vision’s internal system for the app to work well. We have not changed big processes and how things work, but small things that make us go further and understand the challenges before the next step. It has been a rewarding journey for us at Consid to be involved from a technical perspective. The development continues together with Vision and this is just the beginning, Alexander Hansson, Project Manager at Consid says.
About Vision
Vision is a union organization for public and private employees with connections to the municipality, region and church. With the Vision app, you as a member get an overview of your membership directly in your mobile. There you can take advantage of your benefits and get in touch with Vision when it suits you.
