AnyWare is a project I’ve been working on closely for a while at PlaceMatters. It is a web-based tool to brainstorm and evaluate ideas both in real time and over periods of time by large groups of people. It is a definite work in progress, but we are ready to begin letting a certain set of users play with the tools and help us build something better. We developed this tool to help scale up the level of participation that could happen during a planning process. However, it could be just as useful to a Fortune 500 company, a neighborhood association, or an advocacy group.
Our primary focus has been in creating a tool that can help us reflect back the common themes that emerged from everyone in the room to a much larger group (and in real time). The ability to show people that their ideas aren’t so different is incredibly powerful. Early indications in our own work show it has the ability, when used correctly, to re-introduce honesty into typically broken processes. It can help bridge groups of people who typically don’t trust each other (i.e. local governments and neighborhood groups) and it can excite people about the possibilities. I wish this tool were far more developed during national conversations about health care.
Every time we’ve used AnyWare in our own work, I’ve grown increasingly excited about the tool’s potential. AnyWare will be focused around three major features:
- Collection of unstructured ideas
- Analysis of unstructured ideas to provide meaning and context
- Evaluation of ideas by large groups of people through polling and other methods
The second point is still under a lot of development, but using emerging web APIs allows us to parse text for semantic meaning and add a whole new level of understanding to thousands of unstructured comments.
Our basic collection system works well and we can poll ideas on the fly using a web based polling interface that works with traditional audience response keypads, text messaging, smart phones, and the web.
Here’s a 2 minute introduction:
AnyWare Planning Brainstorming and Keypad Polling from PlaceMatters on Vimeo.
If you work in any field where this would be useful, please sign up for our closed beta over at http://www.anywarepolling.com. Click on the “Request an Invite” button and fill out your name and email address. Invitations are not guaranteed and are limited. If you know someone that would find this useful, please forward this on to them. And leave me a comment below.
Tags: anyware, civic engagement, placematters, public participation