HeySquad
A digital platform that enables you to be recognised and rewarded for volunteer work or skills;
providing you with community credit that you can use to get things you need or want.
HeySquad is a platform that helps you contribute to your community and get what you need, without money being involved.
It creates an economy around reciprocal community credit, where value is measured in time, knowledge and skills, instead of money, using a culture of bartering with a standard process.
This platform has been purposely and consciously designed to support community resilience.
The principles of the platform centre around seeing value without a financial lens, empowering people to make new connections and build community networks, and aligning with kaupapa Māori, by using traditional Māori practices of reciprocity, inclusivity, and sharing of knowledge and resources. A core purpose of the platform is that people can get what they need, without money being part of the conversation.
How does it work?
The platform will:
Be simple enough that it can be used with low digital literacy, and on a variety of devices
Align with the attitudes and beliefs of rural communities, including kaupapa Māori
Enable connections to be made within the community, and encourage positive activity and reciprocal sharing
Resilience
Employment outcomes
1. An immutable record of unpaid work performed by users, verified by those who witnessed or benefited
from the work. This could serve as proof of skills or work, and could accompany a CV when applying for a
job, and places equal value on skills learned through volunteer labour as those learned in paid work.
2. Users can request to be taught new skills that they need to secure a job or perform a task for themselves
3. By enabling people on the benefit, with poor mental health, or with criminal convictions, to contribute the
same as everyone else, this can encourage them, boost their confidence, give opportunities for networking,
improve their quality of life, and potentially assist in job finding if they choose.
Community wellbeing outcomes
1. Improve connectedness within the community, strengthening local supply chains and support networks
2. Provide opportunities for those who are isolated to build relationships and foster a sense of belonging
3. Improve quality of life for community members, through uniting for a sense of purpose and encouraging
skill development
Security
The platform addresses stakeholder concerns around trust by utilizing blockchain technology and a robust
onboarding and user rating system, ensuring safety during home visits and reliable information. Users will
benefit from the platform’s tamper-proof and high trust nature without needing to understand the underlying
technologies.
Financial
More research is required to fully define the revenue streams, and the overall financial design will be dependent on several factors including working within the guidelines of any funding or grants that are received.
However, at this stage, the simplest revenue plan includes combining Paid advertising, with the option of a user subscription to go ad free, and Buy-in for credit with real money.
I believe this best fits the kaupapa of the platform, by using the subscription fee purely to remove ads rather than to enable extra functionality (which removes concerns of two tiers of users). Users can still participate fully in the platform without the involvement of money, if they choose.
In addition, stakeholders were in support of people being able to buy credit if they need something without having time or ability to earn credit first. Along with the existing functionality of donating credit to others, I believe this would be a sound structure
to start with.
Vision
By creating an economy around time, knowledge and skills, we aim to strengthen local connections and empower people to get what they need, without money.
The Future
I look into the future and see a thriving and resilient community, with residents who are empowered, aware of the value they can offer to others, and who seek to help those around them, with or without an existing relationship.
What’s the plan?
The lofty goal is to have this platform ready for adoption in September 2024.
Consultation and mockups are completed, and funding is required for continued development of this project.