An open-source, digitally enhanced and gamified volunteering experience.
*In Welsh 'da'n gilydd means together.
Volunteering, of course! Especially in environments where training and governance are essential - like first aid. But, it is also about using open-source and your digital skills to help your local communities.
I think it is important.
The early 2020s changed a lot. For one reason or another, we don't volunteer in our communities as much as we used to. That's a phenomenon experienced by several organisations I know.
There are many reasons. I have yet to find a definitive academic paper on the subject, but volunteering organisations are looking into it. You can read more about it on Track It Forward or CharityChoice.
My hypothesis is that this is driven by the change in how we experience the world. We expect a different, often digital, mobile-first experience. We want to instantly see what we have achieved and our impact. Without it, we lose interest and motivation.
No wonder gamification is an increasingly popular technique in many areas. We can bring it to first aid volunteering and help with volunteering experience, recruitment, retention, but also satisfaction and governance.
By doing it as an open-source project, we make digital first aid volunteering possible with the benefits accessible to local communities worldwide.
Let's use the modern user-centric design approach to build a free, mobile-first volunteering experience app. Something that will help engage with a new generation of first-aid volunteers. Something to help them sign up, find the necessary training, measure their progress and show their impact on their communities.
To do it, we will need to assemble a cross-functional team of people interested in software, and digital services, but also in saving lives in their communities. You can join the team too!
What will be the end result? It is difficult to say right now. We will need to find out what is most valuable. After all, it is just an idea, a set of working hypotheses backed by a few assumptions.
What is certain is that the solution will have to be secure. It will deal with the personal information of volunteers. It will need to provide reliable information to deal with medical governance and show that people involved in volunteering had adequate training to perform specific roles.