Local discovery beyond sponsored pins

A community-curated guide for discovering local spots in Portugal. As Product & Design Lead, I owned the product design from concept to live beta, while contributing to front-end code to help our engineer ship the dashboard, listing cards, and submission flows.

Executive Summary

Live Community Beta

Problem: Instead of relying on commercial directory scraping, Places was built to help locals share and discover authentic neighborhood spots without sponsored pins.
Role: Product & Design Lead (Product design with front-end contributions)
Platform scope: Community map discovery, contribution workflows, reputation mechanics, and shareable custom lists.
Core tech: Next.js / React, Tailwind CSS, OpenStreetMap / Protomaps vector tiles, and Cloudflare Turnstile.
Current status: Live beta in Portugal (free for personal use). Community place submissions pass through a human moderation queue.
Duration: 2.5 years of active 0-to-1 development, leading product and design alongside engineering.

1Strategic choice

Why we chose community curation over a scraped directory

A map full of pins is not the same as a useful local guide. Buying enterprise place APIs or competing on scraped venue volume would make cost and coverage the product's main constraints, while still leaving communities with outdated information to correct.

We chose open map infrastructure as the foundation and human contributions as the path to richer local knowledge. Opening hours, accurate categories, real photos, and timely corrections matter more than claiming the largest directory.

2Trust & Moderation

Keeping community recommendations reliable

Opening a map to public suggestions is great for discovery, but risks clutter and outdated details. To keep information reliable, we designed a flow where submissions don't immediately go live: suggestions pass through a review queue first, and active contributors build reputation over time.

01 // BOT FILTERING
Filtering out bots at sign-up
We use Cloudflare Turnstile during registration to filter out automated scripts before they can flood the queue with fake submissions.
02 // REVIEW QUEUE
Checking edits before they go live
When someone suggests a new spot or edits opening hours, it sits in a moderation queue so duplicates and inaccurate details can be caught before reaching the map.
03 // CONTRIBUTOR REPUTATION
Rewarding reliable edits
Contributors earn points and community rank as their edits get approved, encouraging complete information (like verified hours and photos) over sheer volume.

3Spatial discovery

Responsive map discovery in the browser

Discovery needs both a useful overview and enough detail to choose the next place. The map and results share the same search context, while each viewport gives people a different way to move between them.

Yaca Places desktop discovery with category filters, local place cards, and a linked map around Porto. — Place cards and geographic context stay in the same workspace.

Yaca Places mobile map around Lisbon with category filters, place markers, and a draggable results drawer. — The results drawer leaves room for the neighborhood.

Adega São Pedro place details on desktop with Suggest an edit and Report place actions. — An edit starts from the place whose information needs attention.

Mobile place details with a Suggest an edit confirmation sheet and Continue action. — A clear handoff into the contribution flow.

4Contribution UX

A short path from local knowledge to a useful submission

The contribution flow starts with a small commitment, then opens a structured draft. Location, category, opening hours, and photos become manageable decisions rather than one intimidating form.

1 // SPATIAL PLACEMENTMap Pin DropClicking anywhere on the vector map auto-captures exact coordinates with reverse-geocoded street names to eliminate manual address errors.
2 // ESSENTIAL FACTSCategorization & HoursA streamlined form requesting only core attributes (category, community-supplied photos, seasonal opening hours) to avoid submission abandonment.
3 // TRUST GATEWAYModeration RoutingCloudflare Turnstile prevents automated spam, routing the draft directly to the founder review queue with automated contributor point attribution.

5Social curation

Turning places into shareable guides

A saved place is useful once. A collection becomes a guide someone else can use. People can group spots by trip, neighborhood, or theme, share a public URL, and make a private copy without changing the original.

Desktop Create a new list dialog with an emoji, list name, optional description, and Create list button. — A focused modal establishes the collection before adding settings.

Mobile Create a new list sheet with emoji selection, name, optional description, and creation action. — The same decisions fit a mobile sheet.

Creation asks for a name, an emoji, and an optional description. The first task is organizing places; public sharing is a separate, deliberate action.

6System architecture

One design system, two distinct products

Places and Properties share foundational typography, spacing, form primitives, and map controls. The shared system keeps interaction rules consistent while each product retains its own purpose and information hierarchy.

Shared primitives, domain-specific expression

Typography
Spacing
Form controls
Overlays & focus states
Map interactions

Civic exploration

Local categories, place details, community contributions, and shared guides.

Property evaluation

Home specifications, agency credibility, inquiries, and neighborhood context.

1 // SHARED FOUNDATION

Reuse the interaction rules

Focus states, spacing, overlays, and map controls follow common patterns. A person moving between the products should not have to learn navigation again.

2 // DISTINCT DOMAIN

Keep the content hierarchy specific

Places leads with local character and useful categories. Properties leads with price, home specifications, and agency credibility. Shared primitives support both priorities.

7Outcome & Roadmap

What's shipped and what comes next

1 // Shipped foundation

A working community-driven discovery platform

Yaca Places is live in beta with vector maps, community contribution review, custom list creation, and public sharing running in production.

2 // Upcoming roadmap

Multi-stop routes and marketplace integration

Our next milestones are shipping multi-stop route planning for saved lists and extending reviewed community submissions into Yaca Properties listings.