BSA
Brief
A self-sustaining cooperative organization platform for grassroots organizations dedicated to building a directly democratic, ecologically sustainable, post-scarcity community and economy through mutual aid.
Solution
A platform that provides a framework for building direct democracy in every sphere of society, including the economy, with tools for founding, funding, governance, and internal + external communications.
BRIEF
A self-sustaining cooperative organization platform for grassroots organizations dedicated to building a directly democratic, ecologically sustainable, post-scarcity community and economy through mutual aid.
SOLUTION
A platform that provides a framework for building direct democracy in every sphere of society, including the economy, with tools for founding, funding, governance, and internal + external communications.
Black Socialists in America (BSA) is “a coalition of anti-capitalist, internationalist Black Americans / New Afrikans”. They came to us with a vision of a socialist platform for cooperative organizations that helps individuals create self-sustaining systems of economic democracy.
We worked to clarify their product strategy, define an overall vision, build a tech blueprint, and pave the way for future development. Key to this was a number of organizational changes our team introduced, that gave BSA tools and process to design directly with the community.
The result is a platform that provides a framework for building direct democracy in every sphere of society, including the economy, with tools for founding, funding, governance, and internal + external communications.
The Dual Power App allows community members to connect with other individuals, initiatives, and organizations in their community, creating spontaneous collaboration powering real change.
Each organization or individual can propose a working group, centered around a specific goal or action. These organizations provide structure to propose and execute projects. The app gives users access to essential infrastructures, making organizing, voting, and action easier.
Black Socialists in America (BSA) wasn’t looking for a typical agency—they’re interested in making progress together, and didn’t like the traditional model of work where one group dictates what another might need.
So we created an open design and build initiative, a process for documenting the process publicly and gathering feedback, to involve BSA’s community every step of the way.
You can find the recordings of the workshops online, and get full access to all the Figma files.
As long-term partners with the BSA, we’re designing the next generation of open and accessible organizing tools to mobilize progressives around the globe.
Our outcome was a product roadmap, which took the form of high-fidelity wireframes, defining a foundation for their team and collaborators to build on. Since then, we’ve continued to partner closely with the BSA to bring these progressive visions for America to life.