The mentors' reviews
Across the board, the mentors advised us to investigate the concept of community and what makes one.
What are the components that make up a community? What factors influence it? The formation of it.
Almost all discussions focused on defining the need and pinpointing it.
In other words, what does it mean to need community?
Moreover, most of our mentors directed us to look at the same issues - what makes a person want to belong to a community?
We chose to focus on the need for a sense of belonging!
For people to create a community and develop personal connections and a sense of belonging, we must generate interaction between community members through joint work, social initiatives, and mutual help, providing a sense of togetherness, belonging, and social identity.
What is a community? People who have formed social connections that operate within certain boundaries and are associated with a physical or virtual location. There is a common characteristic, desire, or interest in creating a partnership.
"I belong, I exist" - when people are community members, they feel a strong psychological connection to their partners. They sacrifice part of their identity to accept, adopt and protect the group identity.
Caring, participation, generosity, familiarity, trust, and confidence create a sense of community and strengthen the community's resilience.
These are key factors in fostering the development of community resilience and are even essential for increasing it.
The new idea:
Living in big cities often prevents people from forging personal connections with their immediate surroundings. You may live in the same building for years without knowing your neighbors. It can lead to feelings of loneliness, disconnection, and lack of belonging.
Through shared activities and mutual guarantees, our app strives to create a sense of belonging among neighboring residents, build a cohesive community and foster a sense of belonging.
Persona & context
Roni, 26, lives with her partner Roy in a small apartment in the center of Tel Aviv. Roni is employed by a high-tech company and works from home four days a week. Roy works as a salesman and goes to the office every day, leaving Roni to spend the days alone in front of the computer. Since Roni is originally from Ramat Hasharon, most of her friends do not live in Tel Aviv, and she usually only sees them in the evenings or weekends.
Roni wants to feel a sense of belonging to the neighborhood and building and make personal connections with people who live nearby.
Channel
Roni can use our app to strengthen her relationship with her community through joint activities and mutual support. With the app, Roni can coordinate joint activities with her community, invite neighbors to work together from their homes, lend equipment, and more. As a result, significant connections can be formed between neighbors in the building to help create a sense of belonging, alleviate loneliness, and make new social connections.
Interaction with the system 1
Roni logs in to the app, enters her residential address, including apartment number, and joins the group of tenants in her building. The app offers various categories ranging from "I need a...", "Come work with me," "Who wants to work out?", "Dinner on me," "Happy Hour," and more. The app allows building members to make personal connections, help each other, and build a strong community network.
Interaction with the system 2
Sunday morning, Roy has already left for work, and Ronny works from home. After an hour, she starts to feel lonely, and her motivation and concentration begin to wane. She logs into the app and chooses the "Come work with me" category. She invites the building's residents to join her as she works from home. She notes that there is excellent wifi, a coffee machine, and leftovers of bolognese for lunch.
After half an hour, Roni receives an alert that Smadar from upstairs will be happy to work together. Smadar arrives, they spend the day together, work efficiently, have lunch together and make a personal connection.
Interaction with the system 3
The next day, Roni and Roy decide to spoil themselves at home with dinner and wine. While preparing dinner, they realize that they don't have any cooking cream. Roni enters the "I need a..." category app and says that she needs cooking cream for dinner. She adds that whoever brings her cream is also more than welcome to stay for dinner. After 15 minutes, she receives a message from the app that Guy and Michal from the first floor will be happy to bring cream and join in for dinner.
As they spend the evening together, they connect and decide to go on a trip to the north together on Saturday.
Happy ending
Ronny was delighted to form social bonds with her neighbors. When she feels lonely, she knows there will be someone to host her, and there will always be someone she can ask for help. Roni can use the app to feel more connected to her neighbors in the building and feel more secure.