User Functional Specification

The purpose of this document is to specify the requirements for the KipOpen Application (i.e. the web application) in a simple and easy to understand manner.

This document is intended to be easily readable by any average or non-technical user.

Technical design specification.

KipOpen is a self-hosted web application. Anyone can download and install KipOpen in their own computer to host a crowdfunding site.

The application comes with the minimal core functionality required to operate in small computing devices (e.g. single board computers) and it has a pluggable architecture to support the addition of extra functionality (e.g. research category plugin, hardware category plugin, Bitcoin payments plugin, Facebook/Twitter integration plugin, French language plugin …etc).

Each individual crowdfunding site is part of a decentralized network of KipOpen web applications. Peer to peer communication and a distributed database allows every crowdfunding site to share important information with each other (e.g. project/developer reviews, user credentials, projects information …etc).

Why do we need a decentralized network?

The following is a simplified diagram of the network architecture: A new user sees KipOpen as a large crowdfunding platform. But It accesses the network through particular crowdfunding sites that communicate among themselves (i.e. network nodes).

Each crowdfunding site hosts open technology projects. These projects generate a profit for the developer(s), a commission for the site’s administrator and a tangible return for the individuals and the community (an economically viable alternative for all parties). Read more about KipOpen Competitive advantage.

The long-term goal of the KipOpen application is to provide a completely open alternative path for the design and development of consumer products. KipOpen incentivizes individual players (potentially from different countries) specializing in different market sectors to host crowdfunding sites specially tailored towards the problem of funding of open technologies in those sectors. For example in our future we would expect crowdfunding sites in multiple regions (and languages) specializing in any of the following categories:

Through the use of an investment platform designed solely for the development of open technology products, we aim to incentivize the use of public capital (i.e. from pools of informed consumers) to fund every stage of the design cycle. This is in contrast to the use of private venture capital for funding the development of closed/proprietary technology (which is our current standard) and the use of popular crowdsourcing sites for funding flashy proprietary tech products by uninformed or misled consumers.

Read more about the mission of the KipOpen project

The platform administrator is the individual that downloads the web application and installs it in his own small computer (e.g. it can be a spare low power net-book, or it can be an old server, a single board computer, a Game Boy - not really …etc.). This person is in charge of maintaining his local crowdfunding site so that developers and investors can trade on it. In return for his services the administrator is free to charge a commission for every project funded.

The technical developer goes to the platform because he has an interesting idea (the next open iphone … ok don’t laugh). He would like to receive capital to open his design, fund the development and make a return. Developers can also go to the platform to join the design team of a project for a financial return.

The informed consumer (note the emphasis on the word informed, this is not your typical “fashionable techie”) goes to the platform with a clear technology need (e.g. an accounting suite or a new computer …etc). He browses the site, purchases shares in relevant projects, proposes changes (add/remove features, finances or return incentives), votes on proposals and receives his return incentive (e.g. his accounting software, computer hardware, technical support …etc).

A wise yet simple minded individual (e.g. he uses GNU/Linux you see), wants to host a crowdfunding site in his computer so that he can make a hefty return while others can exchange designs and products on his site.

He proceeds to download the application and install it in his Raspberry Pi computer, then he installs the necessary plugins to host open software projects (e.g. software crowdfunding plugin, Bitcoin Payments plugin …etc), finally he contacts his local network of smart friends which start creating projects and trading in the platform at once. Soon money starts rolling in (gonna need a couple of sacks for those BitCoins, … maybe not).

A bright unemployed engineer (he is a bit cocky and has poor communication skills) comes with an idea to a crowdfunding site, he would like to create a project to receive funding and work full time on his open idea while making a decent seven-figures income (nudge, nudge).

An electrical engineer creates a project in a hardware crowdfunding site. He follows the site guidelines (builds his requirements, design and financial plan) and recruits a design team. Then he opens his project for investment and negotiates with potential investors to reach an agreement. Development starts and scheduled milestones are met, finally he completes the project, releases the design and delivers the return to all applicable investors (depending on their percent of ownership on the project).

A recent grad computer scientist is browsing through the platform to find a meaningful open project to work on (she quit her last job at the book-face.com; too many ads), she would like to join the design team of a project, work full time and earn a living.

An ad-blocker project in a nearby crowdfunding site is currently seeking technical team members. She expresses interest and the creator of the project interviews her, they negotiate potential salary conditions if successfully funded. The programmer is added to the project’s design team, the project is capitalized and the programmer starts working on the product.

An informed consumer (again note the use of the word 'informed', not marketing-prey or tv-misinformed) is browsing through the platform, he finds a site hosting an open design which fulfills his needs. He would like to purchase shares to support the project, vote on proposals and use the software application.

A well-meaning design team is currently seeking to develop an open tax platform (tus-botas) to help people understand and fill their taxes independently. An individual investor is very interested on the program, he looks over the user and technical details and purchases a single voting share on the project (e.g. worth $10). Then he launches a board proposal to add support for the form W-2 for his small company (very sneaky), the proposal receives the support of the other shareholders and is added to the requested features, a new project price is quoted for the added effort and investors vote to accept the proposal, the project is developed and the investors receive their tax preparation software (along with a new pair of boots, spanish anyone?).

A money-driven nice-looking engineering manager is browsing through the platform and finds an interesting project that could be integrated to his software application and meet a required feature at a fraction of the cost (outsourcing means bigger bonuses you know).

A manager from Soft & Micro Inc sees an interesting project that could come in very useful as a hand-writing recognition add-on to his 'little' note-taking company software (2-note). He purchases the majority of the shares on the project and votes on multiple proposals to tailor the project to fit his company needs, then he negotiates with the design team and they reach an agreement. The project is completed, released and the engineering manager receives his return and integrates the open functionality to his note-taking software, he receives a bonus and spends it on a new electric car.

An informed consumer (either an individual investor or an institutional investor) creates a project with specific user requirements. A technical team takes-on the project, receives funding and releases the application.

An informed consumer has an idea for the development of a fingerprint lock (yes, another smart lock, taking the keys out of your pocket is unnecessary, just imagine how much time you could save). He generates a set of desired user requirements and updates the status of the project to 'seeking technical developers'. An interested design team takes-on the project and continues building the campaign. The project receives funding and the fingerprint lock design is released for production.

The general home page has the following actionable items:

The login page has the following page specific items:

The About Us page has one optional actionable item: the member can pro- vide a link to his blog/professional profile by providing a link in his/her name.

The FAQ page questions are all collapsible and can be expanded by the user clicking on each question. Only one answer will be expanded at a time.

The search page has the following page specific items:

The Edit Project sections are all collapsible and can be expanded by the user clicking on each section. Only one section will be expanded at a time.

The Create/Edit page has the following collapsible sections: