Borrowing somewhat from hell.com's minimal interface, the site will be a black html document with a login screen. Not sure whether or not we'll even have a graphic or other design element on the page. After all, if you're going there, it's because you were invited by e-mail to join.
(Click here to see a larger version of the mock-up)
2. GUI
When you log in, you will be given access to two, side-by-side message boards: The trust fall, and the free fall. The separation allows users to have a simple way of gauging the extent of their risk – and allows us a way of measure differences in how trust is built.
Trust Fall: This message board will allow posts from users who have “paid it forward” in some way, ie, they've donated to others, or to a charity, through the trust/risk interface.
Free Fall: This message board will allow posts from anyone invited to the site who has not 'paid it forward' in some way.
The two 'streams' are side-by-side, with a clear label above each. Users can read both, and I hope that seeing both at the same time will elevate the question of trust vs risk and how we relate differently to the two groups.
(Click here to see a larger version of the mock-up)
In the future, I'd like to use the top portion to provide minimal statistics: How much people have donated, how many people they've invited, etc. One cool statistic would be to track 'generations,' so you could see how many of the people you invited have donated, how many have invited others, etc, so you can watch the number grow and feel good about it.
The top should also have a link to a list of charities to donate to if people want to earn trust status that way.
2. Payment
Every poster – that is, people who ask for help (or offer advice or comfort) on either the Trust or Free boards – will have some sort of .sig file appended to their name that contains a button to activate the payment process to this individual. The challenge here is that the name has to be completely unreadable to potential donors, but maintained by the server to keep track of payments. How we get the money from one account to another is another challenge.
I hope that in some way, this process also allows anonymous posters to be rewarded for offering help, even if that just means advice. Maybe one anon user says something particularly inspiring to other people – they can actually 'tip' the user, despite that the user isn't asking for it. This is a side-effect of this system, but it's one that I feel can actually add another element to the site.
3.Invite
Users with logins will be able to send invitations to people they trust, or whom they feel could benefit from the help. The e-mails will be sent from our server, and will come with a message about trust – what that means, the responsibility inherent within it, etc. If people get the e-mail, the hope is that the message will make the recipient aware that a) the person who invited them is someone that they know, and that by being invited, they have been given the trust of someone they know, and that if they violate that trust, they will have violated the trust of someone that they know. It will also make clear that they will probably never know who invited them, and, straight out of the prisoner's dilemma, the person who invited them will never know if their trust has been violated.
4. Browse option
I wonder if this will ultimately be necessary, but, since we want to encourage people to 'pay it forward' somehow, I'd like to get another page for charities or something going; however, this could be done by simply creating a "splash page" between the log in and the message board that highlights a random charity every time you log in and asks if they want to donate to get 'trust' status.
That's it. That's the project. The rest of the construction will focus on seeding and developing the network.
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