UXMAL = User Designed Mutual Aid and Liberation

For this project we are recruiting from the vast part of our galaxy.

Calling all who are Artists, Designers, Coders, Storytellers, and YOU!!!

*We need user feedback throughout development.*

October 29–31, 2025 · remote & async-friendly

October 30th – in-person option (masking required, + other covid precautions)

Affiliation: part of Seattle AI Week 2025

To get involved: UXMAL at riseup dot net

Wesbite with more info: qtbb.org

Also check out:

The App ~ The Purpose ~ Prototyping ~ Security ~ Organizing Structure ~ User Engagement to Date (aka UX Research) ~ More Info about Concept ~

FAQs (aka So many apps & websites, why one more)

Collaboration Tools: Kanban ~ Miro or Figma ~ Git

Communication Tools: Slack ~ Reddit ~ Discord ~ Signal ~ Mastodon

This Hackathon was born out of an opportunity to be a part of Seattle AI Week but UXMAL has been evolving for over fifteen years from Google Pages to a Wiki, then a Facebook Page, and then a Discord Group which is now being built as a community platform that blends a pixel-art social justice dungeon, a collaborative wiki/resources, andsocial groups governed by decentralized autonomous community organizing groups (COGs) or hubs if you are familiar with that organizing theory. At its core, the platform will use (optional) ethical AI that is trained only on a limited, community-defined dataset — to make learning and access easier while keeping security and values intact. You can read some thoughts about AI here: Side Article About AI and Women in Tech.

Passing Dungeon levels unlocks access: as people complete themed levels (e.g., Trans 101, Disability Justice), they gain entry to groups, editing privileges on the wiki, and pathways into shared decision-making.

NO CODING SKILLS NEEDED. We welcome artists, writers, organizers, testers—and coders too.

If you are a developer, UX researcher, accessibility advocate, or other tech builder interested in shaping an app from the ground up, we especially invite your contributions.

~> sign up here <~

(Form is encrypted)

application reviews on: Oct 1 and Oct 13 · rolling admissions through Oct 20

We are asking for donations to help cover costs – specifically, we are trying to provide a stipends to those who need one to participate. We are waiting to hear back about some grants we applied for.

Questions: Contact Us (uxmal at riseup dot net)

Our goal is that this app will contribute to the wellness of our community which will help our community create more art to combat erasure…

And create a living history of these turbulent times we are going through.

UXMAL stands for user designed and developed (UX) for mutual aid and liberation (MAL), think ancient Mayan city in Mexico that was thought to be a pyramid of knowledge. The etymology is disputed; another possibility is Uchmal which means “what is to come, the future.” Tbh the app acronym (name) came and then there was an aha this word is familiar and realized it fit really well. We are not stuck on it though.

To be clear these are some ideas – this is just a place to start – nothing is set in code, er, stone. This will be a collaborative and we will adjust these ideas as the community involved see appropriate. If any of this (but maybe not all) resonates please reach out and give (constructive) feedback or

better yet to collaborate. (Uxmal at RiseUp dot net)

We need YOU to help make this project!

We are working on a visual prototype of this idea still under development and needs support from the community to create a visual prototype. (Paper prototype sketched out = more soon).

We need comrads who can help with:

Outreach and Recruitment Folks to help get the word out there

Coding

Backend support – ftp = command code to upload and install instances (code)

Problem solve challenges include visualization, technical barriers, and balancing user autonomy with structured guidance

UX Designers & Developers

User Testers aka feedback wanted.

Feedback around STORYTELLING the idea – how, when, what, concerns.

Resources/Funds/Fundraising for folks to organize it and put it together (prototyping, finding the right technology). We work with a very underserved and under resourced communities.

Work on tech vs accessibility conundrum –

Most apps have accessibility challenges.

All apps have broader access issues.

Moreover, supporting our communities seeking to replace the community lost when we go sober (alcohol, drugs, social media, etc. (e.g. alcoholic found some support, if not healthy, in the bar scene).

How do we not become the thing that we hate so much? (IG was fun at first and then Meta made it commercial with a bunch of advertisements, followers).

Repeat tl;dr From Project aka Hello World! page:

UXMAL is aimed at creating an app that serves as a Mutual Aid and Liberation space for Intersectional Marginalized Individuals, with a specific focus on Trans, Disabled, and Non-white (especially ANAI) identities. The app will combine resource–sharing, community–building, and an anti-oppression curriculum integrated into an interactive game format designed to promote conflict resolution and transformative, restorative, social justice and liberation. The interactive interface can be customizable like Finch or Reddit. Individuals will be able to earn sparkles (or some point system) which can be earn through (user defined) self–care tasks and throughout the dungeon. These sparkles can be used for customizations and upgrades.

The framework and curriculum have been developed with ongoing input from a COG/Hub and will continue to evolve through community engagement, hackathons, bootcamps, and grants. The project will be led by this decentralized Community Organizing Group (COG), operating in alliance with and under the oversight of our main CoG, and will have membership overlap between our main COG/Hub. This structure ensures continued collaboration and guidance for the app’s development. UXMAL will have its own COG/Hubs while also contributing to CoG’s Main Hub, ensuring collective decision-making and shared leadership.

UXMAL aims to bridge gaps in resource accessibility for marginalized communities by providing a safer, more inclusive digital space. Unlike platforms such as Craigslist, Reddit, Facebook, NextDoor, etc., which can be hostile to marginalized communities, UXMAL will integrate resources that focus on self-care, liberation, and the reduction of oppression. The anti-oppression game is conceptualized as a pixel dungeon, where players complete anti-oppression puzzles to progress through levels. As they advance, they gain access to more groups, leadership opportunities, and resources.