I have always held the belief that there is too much conflict in this world, and that the most productive leaders are willing to bridge this gap of conflict. After research into consensus-building exercises like the infamous Heineken #OpenYourWorld ad, and r/changemyview, I realised a gap for a digital tool that could continually bring our views to be less extreme by continually facilitating this discussion. The Heineken ad showed how much more raw and visceral it can be to confront these issues in person, rather than behind the screen
As a result, changemymind was borne. It is intended to be an app that facilitates real-world, safe, constructive discussion on any topic between two open-minded individuals.
It was conceptualised to be a minimum viable product, and as such is missing some features that might be considered necessary during the earlier stages of the hypothetical product development pipeline. However, certain other features were more consciously omitted to keep the app from being misused. The app originally included a harsher warning when offering to change a view, as well as a numerical, graphed scoring system but feedback during the prototyping stage pointed out to me that this gamified the user experience; so I eliminated it in line with the vision I had for the UX.
As a result of this research and testing, the final app was characterised by a gentle, relaxed UI and a conversational, casual tone, which both lacked any harsh warnings.
The key feature, however, was in the Thought Hub; the ideas which people presented were conceptualised to hover, shrink, and move in direct response to the popularity of the discussion. However, with the absence of a ranking system, the idea of popularity becomes arbitrary, and so the Thought Hub becomes a space where the most interesting ideas, and not necessarily the most abrasive or most popular, take precedence.
Other features were necessities from the beginning; safety features like the option to involve app-validated moderators, and a profile with a "positive-votes-only" system, to bring a negative vote into parity with a no-vote.
I'm always open to working on innovative products and experiences.
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