Buoy
Buoy is a tool designed to quickly connect people with trusted friends, family members, advocates, and other allies in times of need.
Built by the Better Angels collective, Development for Buoy originally began at the September 2015 Tech for Justice and NM Legal Aid event to develop technology-based justice tools around the issue of domestic violence.
The Buoy project currently consists of a fully functional prototype for a web app (implemented as a WordPress plug-in). The ultimate goal of the Buoy project is to develop a mobile web/native hybrid app version of the tool that can be used as a decentralized and scalable emergency dispatch system that consists entirely of free software and functions in a manner completely independent of government, corporate, academic, or non-profit institutional influences.
ℹ️ This section provides a bird's eye explanation of how Buoy works. For the complete, step-by-step process, see Buoy Walkthrough.
A user joins Buoy by making an account on a WordPress site that runs the Buoy plug-in. After signing up, the user chooses the members of their Buoy crisis response team (their "Team"). These are trusted friends, family members, advocates, and other allies who the user wants to alert in case of an emergency. The user can add or remove members from their Team at any time. All Team members must also have Buoy accounts on the same server.
To contact their Team, the user opens Buoy, which can be saved as an app icon on the user's mobile device, and taps one of the "Alert" buttons (one of several large red buttons on the panic screen). Optionally, the user can add some text about what's happening to them. Once the alert has been activated, the user is taken to a dedicated chat room unique to that particular alert. If no Team members have entered the chat room yet, the screen displays a list of hotline numbers and basic safety planning information. This information can be customized by a Buoy administrator for specific communities, locales, or special needs.
When the user activates an alert, all members of the user's Team will receive a notification, either via SMS/txt message, e-mail, or other notification mechanism, that the user needs help, and including a Buoy link. When the Team member clicks the Buoy link in the notification, they are taken to a page displaying a map of the user's location at the time they sent the alert, as well as any message the user has included.
On the map page, Team members can choose to "Respond" to the alert. Tapping the "Respond" button makes them a "crisis responder" and takes them to the dedicated chat room unique to that alert. All other responders will also be in the chat room, as well as the user who sent the alert (who may or may not be active, depending on the nature of their emergency situation). The map of the user's location is also visible in this chat screen, and markers on the map display each responder's location relative to the location of the emergency alert signal.
Crisis responders can now communicate with each other and coordinate about how best to assist the user.
ℹ️ For more information, see Buoy promotional materials.
- 9.30.15
- Complete Buoy Walkthrough available for new users and testers.
- 9.22.15
- First prototype for web-based app (Wordpress plug-in) completed.
- 9.20.15
- Comprehensive wireframes, an HTML demo of projected UX flow, and preliminary code for a web-based app wins Buoy first place at TechForJustice hackathon.