Concept Development

Crowd-sourcing environmental data to inform government policy

NSW Department of Planning & Environment

Policy makers rely on large quantities of environmental data to understand and respond to environmental change. One way to gather this crucial information is from community volunteers who record observations of plants, animals or environments.

Objective

Engaging citizens in the collection of environmental data

Sandbox worked with the Environment and Heritage Group to develop a concept for a Citizen Science platform that connects, encourages and empowers citizen scientists.

Approach

Testing multiple concepts to identify critical features

After identifying the needs of the different user groups of the platform, we were able to design and test various potential features of the hub. We uncovered that fundamentally Citizen scientists are motivated by the opportunity to make a positive contribution, and by knowing that their data is going to the right place – which led to the redesign of several key elements of the hub.

“If I could see the progress I was making I’d be proud. I’d send a screenshot to my family”

Citizen Scientist

“Sandbox was integral in helping us understand community motivations for engaging in citizen science. We had some initial assumptions that were proven wrong”

Client
Outcome

A compelling case for funding

The final hub design represented a significant shift in thinking for the Environment and Heritage Group, giving the team new confidence in the value proposition of the platform. We put together a pitch pack and concept prototype to assist the team with the funding process.

View All Work