Resident directory app — who lives where, kept truthful
The directory is infrastructure. Stale directories are misinformation.
Every society function leans on one dataset: which human is currently attached to which flat, and how to reach them. Collections need it, emergencies need it, the courier at the gate needs it — and in most societies it lives as a two-year-old Excel that is confidently wrong about a third of the flats.
The directory problem is not collection but decay: people move, numbers change, and no one's job is noticing. A directory that works is one that gets corrected in the flow of normal society work.
What goes wrong today
Decay is invisible
The Excel looks complete; only usage reveals that B-404's number reaches a tenant who left in 2023.
Tenant churn outruns updates
Rental flats change hands yearly; the update depends on someone remembering to tell someone who remembers the file.
Overwriting erases history
Typing the new tenant over the old destroys the answer to "who lived here — and paid — in 2024?"
Directories leak
The full sheet gets forwarded once, and every resident's number is now in unknown hands. Convenience without boundaries.
What good looks like
Correct in the flow of work
The best update moment is a doorstep interaction — a collection, a delivery issue — when the mismatch is discovered. Editing must be that easy.
History, not overwrite
A new resident opens a new dated row; the old row closes. The flat accumulates a truthful timeline instead of a rewritten present.
Access by role
Volunteers see what door-work needs (name, phone, flat); the full directory stays with the committee. Share views, never the sheet.
Payment records anchored to people
Each payment snapshots the payer, so directory edits never falsify who actually paid — the two datasets stay honest independently.
Where Zenia fits
Frequently asked questions
How does Zenia handle a tenant change?
Save the new person on the flat: the previous resident's row closes with dates, the new one opens, and household details reset. Every historical receipt keeps the original payer's name.
Can volunteers see resident phone numbers?
Volunteers see the current resident's name and number on the flat they're collecting from — what the doorstep needs — with a tap-to-call link. Administration of records sits with admins.
Is there a resident-facing directory?
No — Zenia deliberately doesn't broadcast the directory. Residents see receipts and the ledger; personal contact data stays inside the committee's working screens.
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