Dev Diary: The Ethics of Building for Vulnerable Communities

A behind-the-scenes look at how we build 3mpwrApp. — Every design decision in 3mpwrApp happens in the context of a user who may be unwell, financially stressed, and in active conflict with systems that have more resources than they do. That context demands a different standard of care than building a productivity app for well-resourced professionals. We have an obligation to be honest. When an AI feature suggests something, we label it clearly. When a letter template is a general guide and not legal advice, we say so explicitly. When we cannot support a use case, we direct people to the human experts who can. Community co-design is not a checkbox. It is how we figure out what to build in the first place. The features in 3mpwrApp exist because members of the disability and injured worker community told us they needed them. —

Technical Details

  • Users are often in adversarial systems - insurers, employers, government - while using this app
  • Data ethics go beyond PIPEDA compliance - they require genuine respect for user vulnerability
  • Community co-design is mandatory, not a PR exercise
  • We are honest about what the app can and cannot do - we never oversell

  • The “always free” commitment is an ethical stance, not a startup strategy

    In Practice

  • We never imply that 3mpwrApp replaces legal advice - we direct users to human experts
  • Community members sit on our informal advisory group and directly shape the roadmap

  • We are public about feature limitations alongside feature capabilities

    What We Learned

  • Building for vulnerable communities amplifies the harm of getting things wrong
  • Co-design is the difference between a tool built for a community and one built about them

  • “Free” as a business model can still extract value - our commitment is to never do that

    Follow Our Development

    We believe in building in public - the community we serve has been failed by opaque institutions too many times.

  • a GitHub
  • Ya Join Beta Testing
  • Y Community Discussion