(posting on an alt b/c I'm probably gonna end up doxing myself and i don't want my banger memes tainted by my being a fed irl)
Hi!
I made a lil webapp that I'm looking to get early feedback on.
Basic idea is to have a library of things made up of stuff that individuals are willing to lend out.
Alternatively, it's like craigslist/fb marketplace but for borrowing stuff.
This was inspired by my local org managing the same concept in a spreadsheet, and I thought that a UI on top would make it more usable (and hopefully prompt more folks to join in).
General concepts:
- Users add things they're willing to lend
- Users join groups and share things with folks in that group
- View and request things that other folks have shared
Goals:
- Help folks save money and (hopefully) build community
- Easy to start new group (can start with immediate neighbors or friends)
- Easy to add folks to existing groups (e.g. new members in an org)
- Visibility controls for different levels of trust (lend your jewelry to friends but not strangers)
How to test:
- Link: https://mutual-aid-library.vercel.app/
- For the security conscious w/o a VPN, this web proxy is free.
- Create an account
- There's no email verification, so feel free to just use a made up email address
- To add things, you'll need to go to 'my profile' and add name & contact info, then 'add new thing'
- If you don't want to create an account, you can log in with email
hexbear@hexbear.net, passwordpigpoopballs
- idk poke around. Create a group. Join a group. Add a thing.
- Please don't do malicious stuff. It'll probably work, and I'll be sad.
Feedback requested:
- If nothing else, just a thumbs up/down would be nice
- Is there something like this already?
- Is working on this more a waste of time?
- Would this be something useful to you personally?
- Do you think others would use it?
- What should be added/removed/changed?
Some of the best feedback I could get is "don't continue this for reason," or "direct your energy to project instead."
I'm fully expecting this to go nowhere outside of my org, so don't worry about hurting my feelings.
Actually, worry a little bit. Like don't call me stupid or something. But you can criticize the app. Constructively.
Thank you!
Known issues
- Many! The app is pretty shit atm
- UI is dumb
- Inefficient as all hell
- Group admins can leave groups w/o a succession plan
- Group admins can't kick group members
- A single 'contact info' field isn't right
- Likely full of security holes
- Location stuff needs work - searching, fuzzing, filtering, etc
- Vibe coded. I don't like it either, but I don't know how to do fronted stuff and it's just for a proof of concept.
Having a system to mark things as borrowed or in-use would be good. I like the idea for a requests board as well. Looking for
lawn mowertype stuff.People might want to know if the thing needs to be transported and who will do that. Transport by Owner / Transport by Borrower type status.
I remember using an app way back when called Bill Monk which was basically a reconciliation app. Like, Bob owes Bill $10 but Bill owes Frank $20 and Frank owes Bob $15, it effectively helped settle up peoples balance. In this case, I think the simplest settlement would be for Bill to pay Bob and Frank $5 as that would break everyone even. There are a lot of ways to solve that problem.
Typically it was used to settle up if people paid for others at a dinner or some such.
Might be outside the scope of the project but could be an interesting thing to play around with.
Thanks for checking it out, and thanks for your feedback!
Request board is a great idea! I'll probably implement that next.
I haven't thought about transportation info - added it to the backlog!
Available / checked out status should be pretty easy to add, but I've been holding off.
Mostly, I'm worried that it wouldn't get used and/or have a bad signal to noise ratio, and I was planning on adding it if usage got to a point where it'd be useful.
In a similar vein (but way bigger in scope), I'm not planning on adding a queuing system for who gets a thing next unless that becomes necessary.
RE: reconciliation app, are you saying that this app could do the same thing?
I think that'd be outside of the project scope (at least for now), but maybe there's something there with the combination of requests and offerings... We'll see!