SPOTTERON Citizen Science Blog

Citizen Science & Communication: Send Direct Messages in your SPOTTERON CitSci App

Wednesday, 23 August 2017 14:50
Citizen Science & Communication: Send Direct Messages in your SPOTTERON CitSci App

Citizen Science is also about communication. With the upcoming direct message feature we release the first part of a series of SPOTTERON extensions, bringing projects and participants closer together.. 

 
HOW DOES IT WORK?

This major extension allows all Citizen Science projects in SPOTTERON to send short messages directly to all smartphones of the Citizen Scientists. The messages can contain up to 140 characters like e.g. Twitter and links to the web, which are automatically shortend.

After sending a new message in the administration interface of the project, the smartphones of the Citizen Scientists will instantly make a sound. All phones display a new notification in the status bar. Regarding the operating system version, it is predefined how the notification message will look. Here an example in Android 7:

 

spotteron direct messaging notifications4

 

By tapping the notification, the Citizen Scienc smartphone app of the project opens up. It displays automatically the message panel with the newest messages on top, which are additionally highlighted.

We also implemented a new message counter in the top bar below the spot counter, so users can easily access the message panel and instantly see if there are unread messages.

 

spotteron direct messaging messages phone3

 

CITIZEN SCIENCE & COMMUNICATION

With this brand new feature, all Citizen Science projects in SPOTTERON can reach out to the participants, inform about developments and get directly in contact with their user base.

Citizen Science always should give something back to the Citizen Scientists and by having a strong messaging feature ready, projects in SPOTTERON can now get the word out for higher involvement and interactivity.

The new "Direct Messaging" feature is now available for all projects running in the SPOTTERON Citizen Science platform.

     
NEW PROJECTS IN SPOTTERON
     
During summer, new Citizen Science projects joined up in the SPOTTERON Citizen Science plattform.
     
FK xhdpi  

phenology
Fjällkalendern

This new Citizen Science project about artic phenology by the University of Stockholm in Sweden invites visitors of the science trail along the mountain Nuolja/Njullà to help with climate change research.

Scope: regional
Country: Sweden, EU
Partner: University of Stockholm
Website: naturenskalendern.se
     
 FB 96x96  

biodiversity
Fagelbär (Birds & Berries)

In this Citizen Science App for the University of Stockholm in Sweden, Citizen Scientists are doing observations about which bird species are feeding on various trees and their berries in the wild.

Scope: nationwide
Country: Sweden, EU
Partner: University of Stockholm
Website: su.se/deep
     

WGA 96x96

transportation science
Was geht ab? (What's going on?)

This project by the Institute of Transport Studies of the University of Life Science, Vienna works with school classes to research the surroundings of Viennese schools and the impact on the pupils daily life.

Scope: regional
Country: Austria, EU
Partner: University of Natural Resources & Life Sciences Vienna
Website: was-geht-ab.at
     
    You can find all SPOTTERON Apps here:
www.spotteron.net/apps
     



more Info about SPOTTERON

Interested in modern Citizen Science tools?
GET SPOTTERON 1.0 FOR YOUR OWN CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

SPOTTERON is designed by Citizen Scientists for Citizen Science. We provide a stable and reliable solution for your custom #CitizenScience smartphone apps and interactive maps for your project's homepage with ongoing updates and support..

For further questions about SPOTTERON - the Citizen Science System please don't hesitate to add "spotteron" on Skype or drop us an eMail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

More in this category:
« new User-Profiles in SPOTTERON Citizen Science gets social: SPOTTERON TWO Milestone Release »
  • ”
    Our collaboration with SPOTTERON has been essential for our citizen science project. The ideas of our research have been efficiently implemented into the app in a simple and didactic way, thanks to the good communication and professionalism of the team.
    Sara Blanco Ramirez, PhD student, Hydrology and Climate
  • ”
    Mammals Atlas Kenya (MAKENYA), an operational mobile application to submit mammal sightings by citizens was launched in January 2021. I found the SPOTTERON team very magnanimous, highly professional, meticulous and committed to their work; and definitely I recommend the team to anyone interested in citizen science applications worldwide.
    Simon Musila, Mammalogy Section, National Museums of Kenya
  • ”

    Working with SPOTTERON for our citizen science app was the best decision our team could have made! Philipp and his team led us through the design process and helped us translate our ideas into reality. As US clients, we were surprised that there was no lag in communication due to the time difference where the SPOTTERON team works. I am convinced they work around the clock! They always responded quickly to our emails and scheduled calls to meet our schedule. I highly recommend working with SPOTTERON if you are designing a citizen science app.

    Jules Bruck, University of Delaware
  • ”

    Choosing SPOTTERON for our CrowdWater project was the best decision we could have made for developing the app. Excellent implementation of our (sometimes not entirely thought through) ideas, competent advice, and a fair business model - working with SPOTTERON is a major factor why CrowdWater is working so well.

    Prof. Jan Seibert, Department of Geography Hydrology and Climate, University of Zurich
  • ”

    SPOTTERON has enabled Tea Bag Index to widen our citizen scientist engagement methods and helped us to come up with ideas on how to bring soils closer to the public. It is a pleasure to work with a company who wants to create a platform that is a communication possibility for everybody involved in the project!

    Dr. Taru Sandén, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety - AGES
  • ”

    Working together with Spotteron has been a smooth and fast way to get our Citizen Science project started! Their impressive experience in app building as well as in communication with citizens has proven to be invaluable and complements nicely with a team of scientists taking their first steps in citizen science!

    Bram Vanthournout, Ghent University
  • ”

    GLOBAL 2000 has been working closely with Spotteron for more than 3 years. Together we have started the DreckSpotz app and are constantly developing it. The SPOTTERON team is not only incredibly competent, but above all very flexible and uncomplicated. That's why we feel extremely well looked after as an environmental organization and NGO.

    Johannes Frauscher, GLOBAL 2000, Friends of Earth Austria
  • ”

    The decision to use the SPOTTERON Citizen Science platform for our participatory project can be summarized best in this way: it was possible in a short time to create a well-working and user-friendly Citizen Science app for our research. The positive feedback on our project "Landauf - LandApp" shows that involving citizens in a scientific project can be a lot of fun when using the right tool.

    Daniel Fähle, National Archive Baden-Württemberg, Germany
  • ”

    The app developed by SPOTTERON is an ideal extension to our established methods and strengthens the inclusion of Citizen Scientists. The design and intuitive usability relate also to a young audience. Especially the community features make a direct feedback possible and it is especially motivating that the SPOTTERON team themselves are actively contributing in the app - a win-win situation for everyone.

    Irmgard Greilhuber, Mycological Society Austria, University of Vienna
  • ”Working with SPOTTERON to design the app was an interesting experience for me. As an ecology PhD student, I knew how to catch Brush-turkeys and design experiments to learn about their behaviour. I knew next to nothing about how to engage with the broader community at large. SPOTTERONS’s expertise was invaluable here, they have experience in designing apps that people want to use, and balance detail with ease of function.
    Matthew Hall, University of Sydney
  • ”
    I've worked with loads of app developers over my career, but none so high quality as SPOTTERON. Their capabilities are astounding. They are incredibly innovative, creative and agile with a keen sense of humour and lightness. SPOTTERON apps are the benchmark of how to do citizen science well. They are elevating our ability to engage with the natural world in a meaningful way.
    Jen Sutfin, EarthWatch Australia
  • ”

    SPOTTERON brings a lot of passion and lots of expertise in the field of Citizen Science to the table, to present projects - not only in technical terms - in the right light. The websites for both schweiz-forscht.ch and ecsa-conference.eu are based on good and easy cooperation with our Austrian partners.

    Yasemin Tutav, Science et Cité
  • ”

    I’m amazed by SPOTTERON's passion for CitizenScience, impressed by their energy and initiatives and grateful for what I’ve learned by collaborating with them on the Fjällkalendern app.

    Kjell Bolmgren, University of Stockholm
  • ”

    As a scientist, collaborating with SPOTTERON to create our Citizen Science App ‘Fågelbär’ was the right choice. We could focus on what type of data we want to collect and the team at SPOTTERON designed, built and are now running the App!

    Matilda Arnell, University of Stockholm
  • ”

    With our SPOTTERON App Nature's Calendar ZAMG we are always technically up-to-date. As a result we are able to offer our Citizen Scientists a tool which is also appealing to today's generation without having to worry about any technical questions.

    Thomas Hübner, Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik ZAMG
  • ”

    Working with SPOTTERON implies working with a professional partner on the topics of Apps & Citizen Science. I was always very pleased about the reliability, but also the openness to try new things and the possibility to exchange with competent partners. Thanks!

    Dr. Dott. Didone Frigerio, University of Vienna, KLF Grünau/Almtal
  • ”

    With our project Roadkill, we were on the SPOTTERON platform since its beginnings, this way we got to witness the great development of this tool first-hand and were able to contribute in the shaping process. SPOTTERON manages the fine balance between scientific research, community management and modern design. The personal collaboration on a professional level supports the comfortable atmosphere in the project.

    Florian Heigl PhD, University of Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna
  • ”

    If you are looking for a dedicated team for the development of a Citizen Science App - even if that has to happen quite fast- you are in good hands at SPOTTERON. Fast communication, straightforward coordination and running updates of the app, even after the release, characterize our successful collaboration.

    Magdalena Gärtner, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, University of Salzburg
  • ”

    Through the SPOTTERON App "Was geht ab?" we were able to create an appealing and useful possibility for kids, to spot problem- and feel-good areas in their home- and school surroundings. In the SPOTTERON team we found reliable and creative partners, that care about more than just the implementation. 

    Juliane Stark, University of Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna
  • ”

    Thanks to the experience and the knowhow as well as the basic structure of SPOTTERON, we were able to have the CrowdWater apps developed in no time. We consider the model that allows every project to use all newly developed tools very fair and transparent. This way our apps even got some new features, we didn't even know we needed before.

    Simon Etter, University of Zurich
  • ”

    Through SPOTTERON we share more than just an app infrastructure with other projects, we also share ideas. This way we get to develop and constantly improve user-friendly apps, which are easy to handle and work for many different kinds of projects.

    Barbara Strobl, University of Zurich
  • ”

    To me, SPOTTERON is the successful combination of scientific claim and aesthetic design. The apps work intuitively, are extremely appealing and still fulfill all my scientific requirements when it comes to data quality and safety. Working together happens in a very loyal and trusting way and that allows us to profit from the design- and usability experience SPOTTERON has.

    Daniel Dörler, University of Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna
  • ”

    What I especially like about SPOTTERON, is that we get to use many ideas and new tools that were developed for other projects in the SPOTTERON family without having to pay for them..

    Klaus Wanninger, Lacon
Read more about how the SPOTTERON platform works..

Short News

  • ”

    A new paper titled "Citizen Science Approaches for Water Quality Measurements" has been published by the scientists behind CrowdWater. Find it in the papers section!

    in Shortnews
  • ”

    A new paper from the Horizon 2020 project IPM titled "Genetic variability of Metarhizium isolates from the Ticino Valley Natural Park (Northern Italy) as a possible microbiological resource for the management of Popillia japonica" has been added to our page. Find this and other Citizen Science related publications on the SPOTTERON Papers & Publications section.

    in Shortnews
Subscribe to this RSS feed

Newsletter

Please enable the javascript to submit this form