OVERVIEW
How do we design participatory data gathering tools for citizen scientists that center their perspectives and research needs?
UrbanHeatATL is a research organization that guides community members in using temperature sensors to gather urban heat data and investigate the role of urban greenspace, city planning, and energy burden in shaping environmental justice priorities. I designed participatory mapping experiences and tools for them to accomplish this.
Mixed-Methods Research
UX Design
Instructional Design
UX Design
Instructional Design
TOOLS
Figma, Google Forms, Observational Studies, Interviews, Python, Seaborn, Mapbox
As we worked alongside community partners and developed a better understanding of how data impacted their work, we found a misalignment between how this geospatial data was being collected and how community members wanted to benefit from the participatory data collection experience.
To address this, I crafted a research study, design workshop, and app design proposal to aid in a participatory heat data collection experience that centered the hyperlocal and embodied experiences of citizen scientists.
OPPORTUNITIES
What should data do for citizen scientists?
Many of the Urban Heat citizen scientists were not as concerned with how comprehensive the collected heat data was as opposed to how representative it was for their own experiences.
Based on my previous familiarity of working with them, I knew that for them, the data should...
- Depict the breadth of their experience with heat
- Include cultural and community context
- Promote discussion and collaboration rather than staying in the hands of researchers
What I didn’t know yet was...
- What other kinds of data would be valuable to collect?
- How was this community talking about their experiences with heat?
- How can a digital tool be used to guide reflection on heat through data collection?
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Conducting participant-observation sessions during a facilitated heat sensor workshop.
I had already been supporting facilitate these heat sensor workshops where we guide community members through the process of collecting and reflecting on data. I used one of these sessions to observe how they talked about their data collection experience. There were four primary parts of a heat sensor workshop so at each stage I highlighted key questions to keep in mind.
1. Introduction to UrbanHeatATL
How can citizen scientists gain as much from the data as our researchers?
2. Calibrating your
heat sensors
How accessible is this technology to use and understand?
3. Group walk to
collect data
How can nuances about the neighborhood and local history be reflected in the data?
4. Post-walk
reflections on heat
How can this data be presented to better support multisensory reflection?
INSIGHTS
Organizing and coding qualitative data from 25 citizen scientists.
After observing a group of 25 citizen scientists and interviewing 4 of them, I organized the key discussion points and quotes that I heard over the session to pull out two key insights.
1. The subjectivity of heat
Discussions around subjective heat were far more resonant and frequent than reflections on objecting temperature data. Even if a sensor said 80 degrees, the number could feel dramatically different depending on if you were, say, standing and waiting for the bus in direct sun versus sitting in the shade by a pond. We already had a system for more objective and scientific temperature data via the handheld sensors. What about the subjective experience?
DESIGN INSIGHT Center the experience around the embodied or subjective heat experience rather than objective temperature.
2. The relationship between heat, our bodies, and our built environment
Participants talked a lot about how heat felt in their bodies, methods they use to feel more comfortable, and how elements of thier built environment effected that comfortability. Things like awnings, fire hydrants, fountains, or hot pavement gave additional experiential context to the numerical temperature and mapped to ways that community members could advocate for impactful changes to their environment.
DESIGN INSIGHT Implement photo taking and free response capabilities