Build a Playspace with KaBOOM!

You might know that KaBOOM! is a non-profit organization dedicated to building playgrounds. You might not realize, however, how much emphasis KaBOOM! puts on the process by which the playground is built. KaBOOM! believes that bringing diverse community members into a collaborative team is as important as the resulting playground itself.

With that in mind, when we were hired to create their new Project Planner tool, we felt Viget had the chance to contribute to the core of KaBOOM's mission of empowering communities. The tool promotes collaboration and communication among everyone involved in a playground project. 

The Project Planner allows KaBOOM! members to start or join a project, view recent project activity, keep a team journal, post photos and files, and have discussions with other team members. Team leaders also have "mile markers" that outline incremental project goals to keep the build process on track. KaBOOM! also wanted the application to help motivate its members to participate through the "builder central" section, which highlights content across all projects.  Users can post questions and answers, as well as browse and reply to feedback requests and progress reports. There is even a widget available for each project which participants can grab and display on Facebook, MySpace, or their own web site or blog, hopefully drumming up financial support as well as community interest.

The main challenges for us were integration (KaBOOM! has an existing web presence and social network, an established design and brand, and multiple external applications) and a tight 8-week schedule! We are pleased to say that we met our goals (our application launched last Friday), and we feel the end product hits the mark.

Is it cheesy to say that we enjoyed the process of working with KaBOOM! as much as we enjoy seeing the Project Planner in its final state?  It might be; but it's true! They are really onto something with their emphasis on collaboration and team building.  We're hoping our first "achieveable win" (to borrow from their mission statement) will lead to more opportunities to work together.

Check out the Build a Playspace tool Viget created and KaBOOM!'s mission. And why not join a project or encourage someone on an existing project while you're at it?