Building Kalido for the whole world, Part 1: Promoting inclusion
The original title of this post was going to be “Building apps for emerging markets” but since increasing disparity within nations means that many parts of what people consider “developed markets” are often on par with, or in worse straits, than their counterparts elsewhere in the world, we settled on “Building Kalido for the whole world” instead. This is Part 1, the story of how we think about promoting inclusion, to make Kalido useful for everyone.
Promoting inclusion
To serve a world full of people from all walks of life and all levels of income, Kalido must address a broad array of cultural challenges.
Bridging socio-economic divides
When you use Kalido for the first time, we hope you feel comfortable looking for, or providing any skill, at any level, from dog-sitting to investment banking. We don’t care where you sit on someone’s perceived status ladder, or how much you get paid per hour. We just want to help you be successful at what you do, on your terms. So, the first examples of goals you can add, the first bubble suggestions for “I want to meet…” or “I can provide…” are all over the map for a reason — it’s so you know immediately that this is an app for everyone, especially you.
Creating linguistic inclusion
For now, Kalido only supports English, due to technical constraints, but we do it for anyone who speaks English, which means we need to support British English, American English, and a thousand local variations in Canada, India, South Africa, Nigeria, and countless other countries. We also need to support a world where other languages regularly get mixed together. You can imagine how hard this makes effective matching, but it’s something we are always conscious of and working to improve. You should feel comfortable speaking the way you speak, and not be forced to speak in a way that works for us. Eventually, we hope to take Kalido’s language support to the next level, but that’s a topic for another post.
Facilitating trust between strangers
Trust is a cultural thing. Some cultures are much more open to discussions with strangers than others, so building in complete control over your privacy was something we addressed early. But to counter that, we reinforce that the way you do something matters: for example, most ride hailing services treat drivers as interchangeable, but if you found a chauffeur through Kalido, we want to recognize that that chauffeur is a human being, and not a commodity. This means we don’t rely on aggregate reviews (like star ratings),though we recognize that individual referrals can be very valuable. In many instances, having a common contact can be the difference between being willing to reach out to someone and ignoring a match. This is why we show you individual shared contacts for matches, and encourage you to check with the ones you trust, instead of just showing you that you have 20 people in common. And when you don’t have common contacts, we give you other information, like shared networks, location, and even common interests, to help you build bridges with strangers.
Acknowledging the many shapes employment takes
The idea of a single full-time position is a novelty in some economies. In many parts of the world, everyone has a side job or two. So on Kalido, we make it easy for you to list multiple professions, and multiple offers that don’t interfere with each other. When someone looking for a DJ matches with you because you provide DJ services, they see a match card with a picture of you in front of turntables, and not a photo from your other gig as an insurance broker. The new world of work also means that a permanent office is a luxury for some, and a ball and chain for others. That’s why Kalido is a mobile-first application that relies heavily on location-sharing, and not just a website. We want you to be able to hop on a bus, train, or plane, anywhere in the world, and find new clients or professionals wherever you are.
Supporting payment flexibility
Some people want to charge for their services, while others are willing to barter, or even give their services away for free. And how much you charge whom should be your decision alone. Kalido will soon be introducing options for you to price your services, but we won’t insist that you list a price, nor will we force you to guarantee that price to all of your matches. To run your business in a way that makes you happy, you need pricing control, and we respect that. This is also why we don’t take a commission from your hard earned pay.
Creating visual inclusion
In order to make sure that everyone feels welcome, regardless of colour or creed, we use a lot of animation and illustration in our advertising, rather than people-focused photographs. No matter what you look like, it’s easier to see yourself in shades of light and dark orange than to see yourself in the image of a stranger. In our imagery, we also try to consciously include individuals of all ages and genders, from all walks of life, with clothing styles that reflect the diversity the whole world has to offer, with conscious recognition of those with disabilities as well. As a small company, we don’t have a giant advertising or marketing budget, but we try to do the best with what we have. It may be a small thing, but it is one thing we do very consciously.
Next: Since we’re all about finding work/life balance, we decided to separate this post into two bite-size pieces. So, if you’ve been hunched over your device for awhile, why not get out for some fresh air and sunshine. Or if you’re ready for more, follow us to Part 2 now.
