Iikka Lovio visiting OtaSizzle user research team meeting at HIIT Helsinki Institute for IT, 16th June 2011

1. The role of software and online
services in Time Banking
Turning gratitude to an asset in
community building
Iikka Lovio
Iikka.lovio@gmail.com
16.6.2011HIIT

2. Master’s thesis

3. HOAS Time Bank

4. SOFTWARES
CES
Community
Weaver
Time online

5. CES
www.ces.org.za
• South African non-profit
company
• Designed for local exchange
schemes, where currency usually
reflects the national currency
• International network
• Fastest increasing groups are
Finnish Time Banks
• Free for users

6. lick and
On ec
ar ei n!
you

7. Thesis: members were seeking
geographically tight network. Software:
first page encourages to global reciprocity.

8. Time Online
• Designed for time
banks
Community weaver
• Only broker has
• Designed for time banks
access to software
• Time Banks US is using
• Time Banking UK is
using

9. Stadin Aikapankki online

10. STUDY PERIOD: 3/2010 – 3/2011
• Ethnography
November 2010
• Two international professional Active user
interviews
interviews
• Transaction data analysis
May 2010
Stadin
Aikapankki

11. November 2010: over 600
exchange offers and growing membership
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

12. November 2010: 20 % of members
had done at least one exchange.
Have done two way
exchanges
Have done one
exchange
Passive
0,00 % 20,00 % 40,00 % 60,00 % 80,00 % 100,00 %

13. November 2010: 20 % of members
had done at least one exchange.
WHO
&
WHY?
Have done two way
exchanges
Have done one
exchange
Passive
0,00 % 20,00 % 40,00 % 60,00 % 80,00 % 100,00 %

14. The age of support
membership?

15. re m ade
anges we time
exch here
ost o f the urho od w shed
M
e nei ghbo lly establi
in th as origina
ba nk w
15 active members
did over 55 % of all exchanges
in the first year

16. Hypothesis down: open access to
personal user information is the main
key to trust building?

17. Hypothesis down: open access to
personal user information is the main
key to trust building?

18. Active members were not
interested in account balances of
other users.

19. nd
nt balances a
er memb ers accou w how to
nowing ot
h kno
K t rust. You
bui lds certain n ot burglar
s.
address tha t they are makes
rea ch them a
nd
ion is, what
t quest
I mportan sting?
them intere
HOAS Time Bank

20. In the economy of regard it is the person
that interests us, not the product or
service. – David Halpern 2010

21. In the economy of regard it is the person
that interests us, not the product or
service. – David Halpern 2010
”Her fiancé was a
drummer. Just like
mine.” (STAP
member)

22. "Friends make gifts, gifts make
friends” -Sahlins
”I get these service ”The best thing is that you
requests and offers meet new people, people
mostly from the people I you wouldn’t otherwise
already know.” (STAP interact with.” (STAP
member)
member)

23. g.
e beginnin
m inus in th ith
are afra id to go w
xchange r friends
s e
1. Member e more likely to w ho thei
2. Me mbers ar it h people
kn ow, or w
peo ple they .
c ted with
ha ve intera
Photo: Time Bank workshop in Vantaa
Solution: define club meetings as an important work for the
time bank and reward attending with time credits.

24. Time Dollars & Gratitude
Time dollars oils generalized reciprocity
”We got rid of this negative ”If we had done it with out
side of reciprocity – do I time bank I would have
owe you or do you owe been worrying for many
me.” (STAP member)
weeks if should do some
favour in return. And for the
worst, that feeling would
only keep growing in
time.” (STAP member)

25. Software is secondary, but important matter in time
banking. Software is only a tool. Working with proper
tools is efficient and more fun.

26. Software is secondary, but important matter in time
banking. Software is only a tool. Working with proper
tools is efficient and more fun.
HOAS Time Bank online

27. Software is secondary, but important matter in time
banking. Software is only a tool. Working with proper
tools is efficient and more fun.
HOAS Time Bank
software

28. Software is secondary, but important matter in time
banking. Software is only a tool. Working with proper
tools is efficient and more fun.
HOAS Time Bank offline
Before there were any software or facebook group, there was 10
bottles of wine and 20 students

29. Software is secondary, but important matter in time
banking. Software is only a tool. Working with proper
tools is efficient and more fun.
You can deliver housing. It takes a family to make
it a home.