Choicely

What is it?

Choicely is a participatory budgeting voting app developed by Izwe. It displays information about a shortlist of projects and lets participants vote for the options that they think should receive financial support. Participants are given a budget or a number of 'tokens', they then browse details of the projects that are bidding for financial support and allocate their tokens according to their preferences.

How the idea developed

The Choicely app was developed as part of the Your Local Budget programme run by Nesta in partnership with the Big Society Network and PB Unit, which sought to develop approaches to participatory budgeting. Izwe received £20,100 to build web and smart phone versions of Choicely.

The app was originally designed to be used alongside participatory and community budgeting processes, but this flexible tool can be used in any process where there is a defined short-list of options that people are invited to choose from. This means the app can be adapted to fit the needs of your voting process and can be easily integrated with a wider programme of community engagement activities.

Latest news (as at 3 September 2012)

Choicely is currently being used in Greater Aylesbury and Wendover, and has also been used by the Boothtown Challenge who are one of the projects Nesta supported through the Neighbourhood Challenge programme.

A beta version of the tool is now freely available from the Your Local Budget website and from www.choicely.co.uk.

Want to know more

Thom Townsend, Project Manager @ Izwe - thom.townsend@izwe.com