hOurmobile, the hOurworld app, is available for download from Google Play and from the iTunes App Store. The Android version can also be downloaded from hOurworld here.
It’s a mobile app for timebanking in which one person can provide a service to another in exchange for time dollars which are stored online to be spent on other services with other people.
The app was developed by Kyungsik (Keith) Han, Ph.D. candidate at Penn State University, under the supervision of Professor John M. Carroll. The design was informed by research funded by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. IIS-1218544. Dr. Victoria Bellotti at PARC led the research team there.
Stephen Beckett and John Saare of hOurworld worked on developing the API that connects the app to hOurworld’s existing timebanking system, Time and Talents.
You must be a member of an hOurworld timebank exchange to take advantage of the app – but it’s easy enough to become one! Just select “Join hOurworld” on the launch screen (above left), and the app will find a timebank exchange near you for you to join. If you are an existing exchange member, you can use your hOurworld login and password to use the app.
We hope you enjoy it! Please let us know in the comments below.
A Survey-Based Evaluation Study
If you’d like to get more involved: in a few weeks we will be running a survey evaluation of the app. Keep watching this site – we’ll post a link to the survey when the it launches.