Community Christmas Map

Product Design · Figma · Leaflet · 2026

A map app for Marmalade Trust, built with Scottish Tech Army, to help people find community Christmas events near them. Marmalade Trust works on loneliness, and Christmas is the sharpest point of it. Plenty of community events exist, but finding them is harder than it should be.

The Problem

Community Christmas events are scattered across council pages, church newsletters, and local Facebook groups. If you're isolated and don't already know where to look, they might as well not exist. The map pulls them into one place, so the question becomes "what's near me?" instead of "where do I even start?"

My Role

I run design and PM for a team of three: me, a designer, and a developer. I also talk directly with Marmalade Trust as the client. It's a volunteer project through Scottish Tech Army, which means keeping the scope honest. Small team, limited hours, and a hard deadline of October 2026 so it's live well before Christmas.

What I'm Working Through

The app is built with React and Leaflet, and most of the design problems live where the map meets a small screen.

• Map UI: how much the map should do versus stay out of the way. A map is a great way to answer "what's near me?" and a bad way to read details.
• Event cards: what someone needs to know before they commit to showing up. When, where, who it's for, whether they need to book.
• Filtering on a small screen: most people will use this on a phone. Filters, the map, and a list of events all competing for the same viewport is the core layout problem.

Where It's At

In progress, aiming for an October 2026 launch. I'll update this page as the design settles and the app goes live.