Going Local with LocalBini

Lukasz and Adam, our Code & Pepper Founders, have just got back from a mountain trip to the Swiss Alps. They went there to hike with Mateuszand Thomas — remarkable characters who came up with the idea to make guiding their business. This shared experience marks an important milestone for their project which is closing the production stage of the LocalBini platform. This means delivering the iOS and Android apps to customers as well as launching the website after more than a year of challenges in the fields of design, development and project management. Code & Pepper had been chosen by LocalBini to create their product.

Beginnings

LocalBini is a new face of travelling that offers the experience of locality in a place that we travel to. This is by connecting guides and travellers and making this connection a social experience with the help of a mobile app (iOS, Android). Don’t be misled by how simple and effortless it sounds — the road from the idea to the product was not an easy one.

On the contrary, the beginnings of the climb were tough and risky. The peak of the mountain was very high and there were two teams at the foot: a small but ambitious design & development house in the middle of Polish nowhere and a Swiss couple of idealists with a talent for business and IT. In order to succeed they had to face a number of challenges: communication had to be established, tools needed to be chosen, the scope needed to be redefined countless times. There have been budget issues, mistakes to be fixed, lessons to be learnt. What helped them to pull it off in the end was persistence, willingness to grow and mutual trust that both parties were doing their best to achieve the common goal.

Sticking to this agenda has made it possible to finish the project that stands out thanks to three qualities. LocalBini is an opportunity to discover things instantly, to do it from a local perspective and last but not least, it can be a social experience even when travelling alone.

Let’s go local!

The biggest attraction that LocalBini has on offer is an experience of locality. This is achieved by joining two groups of people: guides and travellers. Guides are passionate locals who are ready to share their knowledge about their places. As a result, travellers, by meeting ordinary people, are offered authentic access to a foreign culture. It enables them to have a glimpse at the life and perspective of a local. You get to see places you would not normally discover, you do things you would not usually do. This way, even visiting such landmarks as the Eiffel Tower gains another dimension. Experiences range from exploring Parisian gothic churches, visiting the most up-and-coming districts of the North East Paris to going to a burlesque brunch show.

Let’s go social!

By being local, the platform is also social. LocalBini is the entertainment centre for both guides and travellers. It is a way of gaining and enriching international experience. You take part in an amazing intercultural exchange. This is what really makes LocalBini stand out from the competition even as powerful as Google Trips. Google’s latest product, attractive as it is, fails to provide that social aspect to travelling. It is an excellent planner that makes travelling easier and more enjoyable. However, with such a tool, travelling is still simply ticking off places from the list. In contrast, LocalBini has it — it really brings people together. It offers an original and meaningful way to network internationally.

Let’s do it now!

LocalBini offers the experience of instant discovery which is achieved thanks to especially two features. One of them is Around Me Now. This is a feature which was designed to answer the need for a fast service offering experiences on-the-go. To use this feature all you have to do is give permission to locate your phone. Then, by pressing the AMN button, you are presented with your exact location on the map of Paris and all the experiences currently available within adjustable range. Below, there is a list of these experiences containing all the necessary details.

AMN is complemented by a guide’s calendar which requires marking availability. All the changes marked in the calendar are synchronised with the content of the Around Me Now section. As a result, the experiences on the Around Me Now list are only those that are really available. So with a short series of taps you can instantly choose and book an experience that will allow you to explore Paris in a memorable way that really matches your preferences. The simplicity also applies to the method of payment thanks to the integration of Braintree system. No cash withdrawal nor planning is necessary.

To make it even more adaptable to your needs, the app is fitted with a semantic search engine that relies on the database of tags. This was created to help travellers find experiences that would really suit their taste. The search can happen in two different ways. A traveller can either insert a single tag or choose a theme that will automatically present him with a group of predefined tags. As a result, you are offered a selection of experiences that you are most likely to enjoy. No other choice left but to explore!

Currently local for Paris, LocalBini teammates are busy promoting the platform and handing it over to the public. However, the project has the potential to take its locality worldwide. That is one of the mountains yet to climb ahead for the LB founders. Taken their persistence and the strength of their concept, the odds are that they will succeed. Let us keep our fingers crossed!

To explore the LocalBini platform go to Website or download the app in the AppStore or GooglePlay.

Do you need team for web or mobile app development? We’re happy to help.