Philosophy of the project

History

We've been working on this concept since 2012, testing and changing prototypes and teams, and now - after many tests, mock-ups, and 2 beta versions - we have a better design and understanding of what Helpbuttons should be.

During the 2021 COVID crisis, the team could make some tests and improved the first prototype. Also, they realized the need for better social cooperation. If we want to be prepared, we need to cultivate connections and social integration with better tools every day.

Collaborative apps require a big amount of technical support and design that can't be afforded with just one in-app purpose. We see that lots of useful collaborative apps won't survive if they serve just one commitment or just serve a small community because the amount of work that needs to be done makes the project unsustainable. Making an app to help elders in your town can be a useful tool that, in many cases, won't get enough economical and professional support to live. That work is probably being done by so many others in other areas for so many small community purposes, like food sharing, transport sharing, house sharing, and so many others. Why don't we unify the efforts? Is it possible?

We think it's possible so we've been analyzing the main collaborative apps to see what they have in common. The design consists of a base skeleton with main fields that all these apps share, and modules that can be designed, added, and removed to customize the app to your needs. We need people to help refine these designs, sustain community support, and develop modules that adapt the base design to more purposes.

¿Where do we want to go?

Helpbuttons aims to become a tool for coordinating social cooperation, especially in disjointed collectives where individuals may not know each other well. Neighborhoods, towns, valleys, regions, associations, and more could utilize Helpbuttons to collaborate in sharing food, playing sports, mapping resources, selling objects, requesting special assistance, and more. The ideal state of Helpbuttons would be a network of networks that can federate to share users and content between them, facilitating better cooperation and assistance for the weak people within the communities.