Onetera
Onetera
A Conversational AI assistant helping residents and staff navigate the complex landscape of government services
A Conversational AI assistant helping residents and staff navigate the complex landscape of government services
TIMELINE
FEB 2025 - Present
TEAM
3 Designers, 3 Engineers
ROLE
Product Designer for resident facing experience
BACKGROUND
Onetera is a Los Angeles govtech company, founded in 2024, building an AI-native operating system for local government. The pitch is that a resident should be one conversation away from any city service — housing, permits, business licenses, grants — with the same platform also running staff review, caseloads, and reporting.
Problem
Residents and staff are working across fragmented systems without the guidance they need to start, navigate, and complete a government process
Residents and staff are working across fragmented systems without the guidance they need to start, navigate, and complete a government process
Local government operations are typically organized around internal siloes—separate departments, disconnected forms, and isolated software systems. Because city systems lack a single source of truth for a resident's history or property record, every application starts from square one. This fragmented structure creates heavy friction on both sides: staff waste hours manually gathering documents across disconnected databases, while residents drop off due to language barriers, rigid office hours, missing documentation, and organizational complexity.
Digitizing forms or layering AI on top of fragmented infrastructure doesn't solve the underlying UX challenge. To create a seamless service experience, both residents and staff need to operate on shared data and clear system logic—while keeping final decision-making in human hands.
Local government operations are typically organized around internal siloes—separate departments, disconnected forms, and isolated software systems.
Because city systems lack a single source of truth for a resident's history or property record, every application starts from square one. This fragmented structure creates heavy friction on both sides: staff waste hours manually gathering documents across disconnected databases, while residents drop off due to language barriers, rigid office hours, missing documentation, and organizational complexity.
Digitizing forms or layering AI on top of fragmented infrastructure doesn't solve the underlying UX challenge. To create a seamless service experience, both residents and staff need to operate on shared data and clear system logic—while keeping final decision-making in human hands.
HMW
How might we turn a maze of disconnected city programs into a seamless, unified journey for residents and staff alike?
How might we turn a maze of disconnected city programs into a seamless, unified journey for residents and staff alike?
Solution
A unified source of truth for government residents and staff.
A unified source of truth for government residents and staff.
We built Onetera so residents and city staff can work together in one shared space, rather than putting a surface-level chatbot over old city systems. This allows everyone to view the same case without having to re-enter information.
Residents simply explain their situation on their phone using everyday language. The platform then matches them to the right programs, documents, and departments automatically. Residents never have to guess which forms or offices they need.
Staff get immediate access to the same case with initial reviews, compliance details, and reporting already completed. We made sure every final approval stays in human hands, so staff remain in total control of all decisions. They can add new programs—like grants or permits—one at a time alongside their existing tools. This means no expensive system overhauls, and resident data stays safe on the city’s own network.
We built Onetera as one shared record and workflow layer for residents and staff, instead of a chatbot on top of separate city systems. This let both sides work from the same case instead of re-entering the same information twice.
Residents describe their situation in chat, in plain language, on their phone. The platform matches that to the right programs, documents, and departments automatically. This removes the need for residents to know which forms or departments apply to them.
Staff see the same case with first-pass review, compliance context, and reporting already filled in. We kept every approval as a manual staff action, since automating the decision itself was out of scope. Cities add each program, like a grant or permit, as a standalone agent next to their existing systems. This avoided requiring a full system replacement and kept resident data on the city's own network.
SOLIUTION 01
24/7 Conversational AI Guidance
24/7 Conversational AI Guidance
The number one issue that surfaced over and over in our co-design sessions was this: people don't even know where to begin when they start any government process. The online resources are outdated, generic and spread across different sources. People typically resort to going in person for help.
Our platform's AI assistant answers questions on eligibility, process, and required documents, connects residents to the right programs, and guides them through the application start to finish. It cuts down the calls and emails overburdening the front desk, and gives residents a easier, more trustworthy way to navigate these processes.
The number one issue that surfaced over and over in our co-design sessions was this: people don't even know where to begin when they start any government process. The online resources are outdated, generic and spread across different sources. People typically resort to going in person for help.
Our platform's AI assistant answers questions on eligibility, process, and required documents, connects residents to the right programs, and guides them through the application start to finish. It cuts down the calls and emails overburdening the front desk, and gives residents a easier, more trustworthy way to navigate these processes.
SOLIUTION 02
Personalized Journey
Personalized Journey
From our ongoing intro meetings with government staff, we saw that residents pursuing a goal like opening a business or renovating a home have to navigate a labyrinth of disconnected systems, forms, and websites, often not realizing how many programs their situation touches until they're already stuck in one.
The Journey feature lets a resident describe their situation once, in plain language, instead of guessing which department to start with. The platform maps it into a personalized checklist: numbered phases with the specific programs, forms, fees, and time required, unlocking in order so residents always know what's next and have the relevant information they need.
From our ongoing intro meetings with government staff, we saw that residents pursuing a goal like opening a business or renovating a home have to navigate a labyrinth of disconnected systems, forms, and websites, often not realizing how many programs their situation touches until they're already stuck in one.
The Journey feature lets a resident describe their situation once, in plain language, instead of guessing which department to start with. The platform maps it into a personalized checklist: numbered phases with the specific programs, forms, fees, and time required, unlocking in order so residents always know what's next and have the relevant information they need.
SOLIUTION 03
AI Powered Document Review
AI Powered Document Review
From our ongoing intro meetings with government staff, the most significant delays in an application review process come from inaccurate or missing documentation, often because residents don't know what "correct" looks like until after they're rejected.
Our platform analyzes documents, like construction plans for building permit applications, against hundreds of ingested building code documents and returns a grade with reasoning and sources, so residents see exactly where a document failed and how to fix it.
Each jurisdiction and document type had its own requirements, so we built a configurable review model instead of a custom solution per city, flexible enough to handle jurisdiction differences, but consistent enough that residents got the same quality of feedback everywhere.
From our ongoing intro meetings with government staff, the most significant delays in an application review process come from inaccurate or missing documentation, often because residents don't know what "correct" looks like until after they're rejected.
Our platform analyzes documents, like construction plans for building permit applications, against hundreds of ingested building code documents and returns a grade with reasoning and sources, so residents see exactly where a document failed and how to fix it.
Each jurisdiction and document type had its own requirements, so we built a configurable review model instead of a custom solution per city, flexible enough to handle jurisdiction differences, but consistent enough that residents got the same quality of feedback everywhere.
SOLIUTION 04
Post Submission Task Handling
Post Submission Task Handling
After a resident submits an application, they typically get tasks to complete, like uploading a missing document or revising a plan. Normally that means emailing documents back and forth or going into city hall to resolve any issues that come up.
Our platform streamlines that experience with timely notifications, resolving the action in a few clicks with real time validation, and storing everything in the application as the source of truth.
After a resident submits an application, they typically get tasks to complete, like uploading a missing document or revising a plan. Normally that means emailing documents back and forth or going into city hall to resolve any issues that come up.
Our platform streamlines that experience with timely notifications, resolving the action in a few clicks with real time validation, and storing everything to the application as the source of truth.
Our Impact
Our Impact
<30
<30
min completion of application compared to a few days
95%
95%
reduction in administrative time.
35
35
applications submitted in <10 days
Research
Research Overview
Research Overview
Four Co-design Sessions in Four Months
Four Co-Design Sessions spanning four months with key public sector stakeholders to pulse-check the most pressing issues city staff face — informing relevant use cases in the earliest stages of product development.
Ongoing Intro Meetings and Walkthroughs
Continuous intro meetings and demos with city partners surface real-time reactions and uncover new gaps as we scale.
Initial Partnerships
Partnered with the City of El Monte to deploy their rental assistance program, taking on a customer support role to experience admin workflows firsthand.
Usability Testing
Conducted usability tests with 10+ participants to ensure that new features, layouts, and interactions are intuitive.
Four Co-design Sessions in Four Months
Four Co-Design Sessions spanning four months with key public sector stakeholders to pulse-check the most pressing issues city staff face — informing relevant use cases in the earliest stages of product development.
Ongoing Intro Meetings and Walkthroughs
Continuous intro meetings and demos with city partners surface real-time reactions and uncover new gaps as we scale
Initial Partnerships
Partnered with the City of El Monte to deploy their rental assistance program, taking on a customer support role to experience admin workflows firsthand.
Usability Testing
Partnered with the City of El Monte to deploy their rental assistance program, taking on a customer support role to experience admin workflows firsthand.