Starting My Master's Thesis Journey: Building a Smarter Way to Change Your Address

Moving to a new place is exciting, but let's be honest – updating your address everywhere is a nightmare. Banks, insurance companies, online shops, utilities, government offices... the list goes on. You spend hours filling out forms, calling hotlines, and hoping you didn't forget anyone important.

That's exactly the problem I want to solve with my master's thesis.

The Big Idea

I'm working on something I call the "Address Change Service" (working title, I know – might need something catchier). The concept is simple: What if you could update your address once, and it would automatically notify all the services you use?

Think of it as a central hub for your address. Instead of visiting 20 different websites and filling out 20 different forms, you'd update your address in one place, select which services should be notified, and boom – done.

Why This Matters

Here's a fun fact: In Germany alone, people move around 8-9 million times per year. Each move means updating addresses across an average of 15-30 different organizations. That's millions of hours wasted on administrative tasks that could be automated.

But it's not just about convenience. Wrong addresses can lead to:

• Missed bills and late fees
• Undelivered packages
• Important mail going to the wrong place
• Problems with government services

The Challenge

Now, I'm not naive. I know this is complex. Every company has different systems, security requirements, and processes. Some have modern APIs, others still work with fax machines (yes, really).

The big questions I need to answer:

• How do we make this secure enough that companies will trust it?
• How do we verify that someone really has the authority to change an address?
• What happens if the system goes down?
• How do we handle different types of organizations – from startups with modern APIs to traditional institutions?

What I'm Exploring

Right now, I'm looking into a few key components:

• BundID integration: Germany's digital identity system could help verify address changes
• API standardization: Creating a common interface that different services can implement
• User consent management: Making sure users always control who gets their data
• Audit logging: Keeping track of every change for security and trust

The Road Ahead

I'm at the beginning of this journey. Over the next few months, I'll be:

• Diving into the technical architecture
• Talking to potential stakeholders (banks, insurance companies, postal services)
• Researching privacy and security requirements
• Building prototypes
• Testing with real users

I'll document everything here – the wins, the failures, the moments where I question all my life choices. Because that's what a real thesis journey looks like.

Why I'm Doing This

Beyond just completing my master's degree, I genuinely think this could make people's lives easier. We live in a digital age, but somehow we're still stuck with analog processes when it comes to basic things like changing addresses.

If I can contribute even a small piece to solving this puzzle, that would be pretty cool.

Stay tuned for the next post where I'll dive into the technical architecture and the stakeholders involved in this mess – I mean, challenge.