Referandom
Overview
Referandom.com is a civic engagement platform that makes Turkish Parliament legislation accessible and interactive for everyday citizens. As co-founder and head of product, I led the redesign from an endless-scroll feed to a card-swiping interface, a shift that earned us the "Tinder for politics" label, grew us from a few thousand users to 5 million, and helped us raise $1M.
Role:
Co-founder, Product & Design
Date:
2023
Platform:
Responsive Web (Desktop, Tablet, Mobile)
Tools:
Adobe XD, Figma, Jira, Trello, Google Analytics
Users
Engaged citizens (especially youth), activists, and anyone interested in tracking, understanding, and participating in Turkey’s legislative process.
Problem
Turkey's legislative process was largely inaccessible to everyday citizens: buried in dense, bureaucratic formats. Referandom aimed to change that, but the original design created its own barrier: an endless scroll of lengthy, paragraph-heavy cards that overwhelmed users the moment they landed on the main page.
Process
I started with analytics, user interviews, and public comments to understand where people dropped off and how they felt about the experience. The data showed that over 60% of users left within the first few scrolls, and average session time was >1m. I interviewed around 15 users and reviewed 200+ of community comments. The pattern was clear: users were overwhelmed on entry. Faced with an endless feed of long, text-heavy cards, most didn't engage before leaving. The experience felt passive and exhausting.
I prototyped several approaches and worked closely with 5 in-house and 2 contract developers to land on the solution: a card-swiping model. Each swipe gave users a sense of accomplishment while keeping them informed and engaged longer. For longer content like municipal parliament reviews, I introduced a separate blog format. This kept the core experience lightweight and action-focused, while still offering depth for users who wanted it.
What I delivered
A complete responsive design system across 30+ screens, working with 5 in-house and 2 contract developers
Grew monthly active users from a few thousand to 5 million, making Referandom one of Turkey's most-used civic engagement platforms
Introduced a blog format for long-form content, reducing homepage bounce rate by 45%
Redesigned the core voting experience from endless scroll to a card-swiping model, increasing average session time from under 1 minute to over 4 minutes
Helped raise $1M in funding, with the redesign serving as a key proof point for traction
Outcome
Grew from a few thousand users to 5 million monthly active users. Helped raise $1M in funding. The redesign earned Referandom the "Tinder for politics" label and established it as one of Turkey's leading civic engagement platforms.