Designing With Web
Part 3 · Phase 1: Prototype
Our subject
Our subject is
Fight against the traffic of protected animal species.
It comes from the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal
number 15, which is entitled "Life on Land".
Our research question
The research question we have formulated together is "How can we raise awareness among citizens about illegal wildlife trafficking through the use of a recreational / playful app ? ". The two projects ideas below try to answer that question.
Project Zoology
Context
Wildlife trade is a lucrative business. According to the UN the annual
value of illegal wildlife trade is estimated to be worth USD 7-23
billion. Key species are turtles, tigers, rhinos, elephants, pangolins
and hornbills. Not only does wildlife trafficking drive those species to
near extinction but it also alters the livelihoods in certain
communities.
Despite the vast consequences of wildlife trade, the demand and supply
remains high, especially for ivory. The emergence of e-commerce has only
accelerated wildlife trafficking. Often customers cannot tell an
imitation and a real wildlife product apart when browsing online. In
recent years tech companies have been actively removing listings for
prohibited wildlife and products.
There is a serious lack of awareness around wildlife trafficking, as well as other ways in which citizens can be involved to tackle illegal wildlife trafficking.
Target + persona
The Zoology wildlife app is intended for users who travel, especially to countries such as Africa and South-East Asia. These are the main hot spot areas for illegal wildlife trafficking. Children and adolescents alike can use the app. There is no age limit.
Persona
- First name, age: Laurence, 36 years old
- Place of residence, country, environment: countryside of Boston, MA, USA
- Activity or profession, income: Account Manager, USD60k
- Family status: married with a teenage daughter
- List of hobbies and passions: hiking, nature, photography, animals
- List of needs, desires, dreams: travel as much as possible with her family, help animal rights, discover animals in their natural environment
- List of problems and frustrations: few time to be active and do research, finding a user friendly platform
- Major issue related to the subject: doesn’t know enough about species or local animal protection rights to get involved, need an easy to use and rapid tool to report
Service offered
What: Zoology is an application focusing on tourists of any age
(teenagers to Gen X) who travel to countries, where they are able to
discover new natural environments and local species such as in
South-East Asia and West Africa. Locals and anyone else owning a
smartphone can use the app too. They are tech-savvy but can’t find a
user-friendly app to use and more importantly they are not able to
recognize if they are in the presence of endangered species.
The objective is to incentivize people to take pictures of any species
they encounter without specifically thinking it’s part of an illegal
traffic and share them with us via the app.
How: It will be similar to a game for them where the main goal is to
take as many animals’ pictures as possible. By doing so, they gain
points which will allow them to receive awards related to animal
protection causes. Furthermore, the app will create a library of species
and analyze each picture to detect anything suspicious. Tourists will
also be able to report if they see a suspicious event.
Features + user flow
Features
- Feature 1 (key feature): Identifying species with image recognition and the AI enhanced database.
- Feature 2: Take photos with the app after logging in.
- Feature 3: The photos get uploaded to the profile and to the global database.
- Feature 4: Report suspicious activities in the app.
- Feature 5: Fill out a form under the report section.
- Feature 6: Manage and filter public libraries.
- Feature 7: Manage and filter own libraries.
- Feature 8: Collect rewards.
- Feature 9: Check visited countries on the map.
- ...
User flow
- Initial situation: Welcome page
- Step 1a: Log in via Google / Apple / Facebook or username
- Step 1b: Sign up
- Step 2: Main Page: Map
- Step 3: Camera: Take Picture or Upload picture
- Step 4: Animal Description
- Step 5: Report Tool
- Step 6: Profile
- Step 7: Rewards
- Step 8: Library
- Final situation: Quit the app
User Flow Zoology
Illustrations
