Kiosks encourage vulnerable people to provide feedback on services
Nonprofit & Social Cause
A combination of hardware and software lets vulnerable individuals provide feedback anonymously without fear of recrimination
Spotted: It is a sad reality that the most vulnerable in society are also the least likely to provide feedback on the services they receive. Those needing support from mental and behavioural health facilities, refugee resettlement agencies, affordable housing units, and homelessness charities are particularly unlikely to express their views.
In such cases, power disparities between people giving services and those receiving them make it very difficult to solicit feedback via traditional means such as paper surveys, in person interviews, or even online surveys. In the words of Pulse for Good co-founder and CEO Blake Kohler, “It’s really hard to tell someone that they are bad at their job when they control your access to housing, food, and healthcare. ”
Pulse for Good is a US-based company on a mission to overcome these challenges – ensuring everyone gets a say on the services they use. Their solution is to install physical kiosks within facilities that provide a discrete, simple, and consistent way for clients to express their views. The kiosks are based on the principle of ‘aggressive anonymity’ – the idea that feedback should be truly anonymous with neither the company nor the service provider finding out the identity of respondents.
One of the key benefits of a physical kiosk, is that it allows clients to provide feedback no matter what personal devices they may or may not have access to. The combination of software that protects a person’s identity with hardware that ensures access, is what makes Pulse for Good’s solution uniquely tailored to the needs of vulnerable people.
“There are a million survey platforms, a couple dozen good survey kiosk solutions, and a seemingly infinite number of ways to solicit feedback,” Kohler told Springwise. “But almost without exception, those are built with the idea that the consumer and the provider both have a choice to be served or serve. That whole paradigm falls apart when one (or both) of the groups are put into situations they don’t want to be in but there is no other choice.”
Other innovations spotted by Springwise that help those who find themselves in vulnerable situations include solar-powered sleeping pods that provide shelter for the homeless, and an app that connects the homeless to donors through digital donations.
Written By: Matthew Hempstead
17th February 2022
Website: pulseforgood.com
Contact: pulseforgood.com/contact/
