Case study – fillo
How interactive click tutorials break down barriers in social counselling and relieve counselling centres
The fillo app
Diakonisches Werk Württemberg e.V. is one of the large umbrella organisations of independent welfare work in Germany. As an umbrella body, Diakonie Württemberg represents around 2,100 legally independent institutions and services – from social counselling centres and care homes to sheltered workshops for people with disabilities. More than 50,000 professional staff and numerous volunteers support many thousands of people in different life situations every day. To reduce bureaucratic hurdles in counselling and simplify access to social support, the association is actively driving digital transformation in the social sector. Together with readyplace it developed the fillo app: a digital solution that makes complex official procedures understandable through interactive click tutorials, gives people seeking advice more independence and provides lasting relief for professionals.
Source: About Diakonisches Werk Württemberg
Starting point
Social services are under growing pressure: rising demands from people seeking advice meet shrinking resources at the providers. Filling in bureaucratic, complex applications – often across language barriers – ties up an enormous amount of time and capacity that professionals actually need for real counselling.
How did the fillo app come about?
The fillo idea was sparked by two employees from the KDV Ludwigsburg who know the daily stress and time pressure in counselling centres first-hand. A co-creation process between Diakonie Württemberg and readyplace followed and brought the fillo app to life. At the heart of the app are readyplace’s interactive click tutorials, which explain official procedures simply, understandably and visually.
What was the goal?
A double win: people seeking advice gain empowerment and participation through “digital self-help” with click tutorials. At the same time, professionals in the counselling centres are relieved of repetitive form-filling assistance and regain capacity for personal and professional support. All under one premise: innovative, low-barrier and humanly close.
How did Diakonie Württemberg and readyplace implement it?
Through the interplay of social expertise and modern technology: readyplace provides the platform (including the app) for fast, AI-assisted creation, management and delivery of interactive click tutorials for complex applications. Interdisciplinary content teams review the content editorially, while intelligent geolocation automatically assigns applications to the right location. Diakonie Württemberg anchors the fillo app directly in everyday counselling via local “Erklärcafés” – a seamless combination of digital self-help and human support.
How big is the success?
60–70% of counselling time is usually spent on application support rather than psychosocial counselling. fillo significantly reduces this time and frees up valuable resources for individual counselling. The concept proves that digitalisation in the social sector works as a driver of inclusion and strengthens the resilience of counselling networks.
What does Diakonie Württemberg say about the cooperation with readyplace?
“With readyplace we have the ideal cooperation partner at our side. The AI-assisted click tutorials take over the bureaucratic application assistance, leaving our professionals valuable capacity for personal psychosocial counselling. By combining readyplace’s intelligent technology with our local Erklärcafés and alternative communication and counselling channels, we create a low-threshold, multilingual offering that seamlessly unites digital self-help and human support.”
– Phillip Neurath, Officer for District and Regional Diaconal Offices, Diakonisches Werk der evangelischen Kirche in Württemberg e.V.
What distinguishes the cooperation between Diakonie Württemberg and readyplace?
Social innovation as a cornerstone
The cooperation between Diakonisches Werk Württemberg (DWW) and readyplace AG combines social expertise with technological innovation. At its centre is the idea: “Digital help takes over standard processes – people take over counselling.”
Shared values
We are committed to ensuring that everyone involved benefits from the partnership. Our cooperation is based on trust, mutual appreciation and an open exchange on equal terms in order to sustainably strengthen social participation.
A common ambition: fewer barriers, more clarity
When digital innovation meets deep social expertise, tools with real added value for society emerge. We share the conviction that technology must empower rather than administer. Our common denominator is the will to break down bureaucratic hurdles: we combine technical excellence with human closeness to create new opportunities for participation and low-threshold support in the social sector and public administration.