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Developing Mobile Applications for Environmental and Biodiversity Citizen Science: Considerations and Recommendations

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Multimedia Tools and Applications for Environmental & Biodiversity Informatics

Part of the book series: Multimedia Systems and Applications ((MMSA))

Abstract

The functionality available on modern ‘smartphone’ mobile devices, along with mobile application software and access to the mobile web, have opened up a wide range of ways for volunteers to participate in environmental and biodiversity research by contributing wildlife and environmental observations, geospatial information, and other context-specific and time-bound data. This has brought about an increasing number of mobile phone based citizen science projects that are designed to access these device features (such as the camera, the microphone, and GPS location data), as well as to reach different user groups, over different project durations, and with different aims and goals. In this chapter we outline a number of key considerations when designing and developing mobile applications for citizen science, with regard to (1) Interoperability. The factors that influence the usability of the mobile application are covered in both (2) Participant Centred Design and Agile Development, and (3) User Interface and Experience Design. Finally, the factors that influence sustained engagement in the project are covered in (4) Motivational Factors for Participation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    gbif.org.

  2. 2.

    opengeospatial.org/standards/wfs.

  3. 3.

    opengeospatial.org/ogc/markets-technologies/swe.

  4. 4.

    w3.org/TR/vocab-ssn/.

  5. 5.

    w3.org/TR/vocab-ssn/.

  6. 6.

    www.ecsa.citizen-science.net/sites/default/files/ecsa_ten_principles_of_citizen_science.pdf.

  7. 7.

    emodnet.eu.

  8. 8.

    earthobservations.org/geoss.php and geoportal.org/.

  9. 9.

    gbif.org/ipt.

  10. 10.

    spotteron.net.

  11. 11.

    five.epicollect.net.

  12. 12.

    scistarter.com.

  13. 13.

    birds.cornell.edu/citscitoolkit/projects.

  14. 14.

    citsci.org.

  15. 15.

    scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/.

  16. 16.

    ukeof.org.uk/catalogue.

  17. 17.

    ccsinventory.wilsoncenter.org.

  18. 18.

    biocollect.ala.org.au.

  19. 19.

    buergerschaffenwissen.de.

  20. 20.

    citizen-science.at.

  21. 21.

    schweiz-forscht.ch.

  22. 22.

    iedereenwetenschapper.nl.

  23. 23.

    ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1584/pn_collecting_information_small_business_ checklist.pdf.

  24. 24.

    verlustdernacht.de.

  25. 25.

    naturblick.naturkundemuseum.berlin.

  26. 26.

    thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/experience-design/principles-of-mobile-app-design- introduction/.

  27. 27.

    developer.android.com/design/index.html.

  28. 28.

    w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.

  29. 29.

    sapelli.org.

  30. 30.

    natusfera.gbif.es.

  31. 31.

    epicollect.net.

  32. 32.

    geo-wiki.org.

  33. 33.

    citizenscience.org/2015/11/12/introducing-the-data-and-metadata-working-group.

  34. 34.

    opengeospatial.org/projects/groups/citizenscience.

  35. 35.

    ecsa.citizen-science.net/sites/default/files/ecsa_ten_principles_of_ citizen_science.pdf.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. European Citizen Science Association (ECSA), Institute of Forest Growth and Computer Science, Technische Universität, Dresden, Germany

    Soledad Luna

  2. Nazca Institute for Marine Research, Quito, Ecuador

    Soledad Luna

  3. National History Museum London, London, UK

    Margaret Gold

  4. University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Alexandra Albert

  5. 1000001 Labs, Barcelona, Spain

    Luigi Ceccaroni

  6. CREAF, Edifici Ciéncies, Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain

    Bernat Claramunt

  7. Ecology Unit (BABVE), Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain

    Bernat Claramunt

  8. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria

    Olha Danylo

  9. Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS), University College London, London, UK

    Muki Haklay

  10. Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, Germany

    Renzo Kottmann

  11. GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany

    Christopher Kyba

  12. Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain

    Jaume Piera

  13. Technical University Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Antonella Radicchi

  14. European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Unit B06-Digital Economy, Ispra, Italy

    Sven Schade

  15. Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany

    Ulrike Sturm

Authors
  1. Soledad Luna
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  2. Margaret Gold
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  3. Alexandra Albert
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  4. Luigi Ceccaroni
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  5. Bernat Claramunt
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  6. Olha Danylo
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  7. Muki Haklay
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  8. Renzo Kottmann
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  9. Christopher Kyba
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  10. Jaume Piera
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Correspondence to Soledad Luna .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inria ZENITH Team, Montpellier, France

    Alexis Joly

  2. Centre for Research & Technology, Hellas – Information Technologies Institute, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Stefanos Vrochidis

  3. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Kostas Karatzas

  4. FMI/Atmospheric Composition, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland

    Ari Karppinen

  5. CIRAD, UMR AMAP, Montpellier, France

    Pierre Bonnet

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Luna, S. et al. (2018). Developing Mobile Applications for Environmental and Biodiversity Citizen Science: Considerations and Recommendations. In: Joly, A., Vrochidis, S., Karatzas, K., Karppinen, A., Bonnet, P. (eds) Multimedia Tools and Applications for Environmental & Biodiversity Informatics. Multimedia Systems and Applications. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76445-0_2

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