lokalein.kaufen
lokalein.kaufen [local shopping] is a self-initiated digital infrastructure developed during the COVID-19 pandemic to support local businesses in my hometown Celle. Emerging from a time of social isolation and economic uncertainty, the project explores how local services could remain visible and connected when information is scattered across multiple platforms.
Instead of creating a feature-heavy marketplace, lokalein.kaufen reduces each business to a minimal, consistent data unit containing identity, contact and service information. Businesses can maintain their own data, distributing authorship across the system. This reduction becomes the logic of the interface itself:
A chronological, filterable and responsive grid prioritising clarity over completeness.
The platform is developed using a lightweight Kirby CMS, focusing on maintainability and potential scalability beyond a single local context. Visual design choices introduce a playful interface language, aiming to counterbalance the isolation and stress of the pandemic environment, while revealing tensions around accessibility in reflective use.
As the project evolved, tensions with institutional collaboration and the growing dominance of global market platforms shifted my focus toward broader questions:
How can design intervene in systems shaped by visibility, dependency and platform capitalism?
This investigation expanded into physical space through small-scale urban interventions such as Amazon? Nein danke, translating the ideas of the platform into direct street-level communication within the city.
lokalein.kaufen marks a transition in my practice – from designing digital tools toward exploring civic infrastructure, public participation and urban communication. The project reflects my interest in reducing complexity without reducing meaning, and in using both code and physical intervention to question how local autonomy and collective visibility are constructed.
Public (Selection)
- Celle heute: “Lokal und schlicht: Neuer Online-Einkaufsführer” (2020)
- Möbel Wallach: “#supporteachother: Gemeinsam durch die Krise” (2020)
- Social Media: several mentions (2020–21)