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.