Product/Design : Group Avatar
What Problem Does It Solve?: It is hard to form persistent, robust organizations online. The Group Avatar is a series of screens and software code that help people assume various roles, manage the organization’s affairs, see the state of mind of the group (the status of its decision-making process) and manage relationships with third parties.
How Does It Do That?: By making the group more visible to itself and others. It makes creation, acceptance and fulfillment of roles more visible. It assists groups in selection of shared goals. It facilitates the group decision-making process. It helps to administer the deployment and distribution of group assets.
Why Is It Different? : Online systems have been used to create markets. But few have helped people create firms.
Who Will Use It? : Anyone seeking to found, join or operate an organization that can own assets of its own. People seeking to join together to pursue shared goals by adopting complimentary roles. People seeking assistance with the ministerial work associated with operation of a legal entity. Peer production processes that want to collectively appropriate the value of their work product by entering into transactions, as a group, with third parties.
Other Potential Uses : Less formal groups that want to cooperate to advance a cause.
More Detailed Description : The Group Avatar is currently under active development by a group of students at New York Law School.
Lead Designer : David R. Johnson
Sponsors: The Group Avatar team is seeking sponsors and partners.
For More Information: email: bnoveck@nyls.edu;(202) 674-0187.
Download Powerpoint from New York Law School Capstone presentation, April 6, 2006. |
