On SPOTTERON, we provide interactive, community-driven, and feature-rich Apps and digital tools for Citizen Science, User engagement, and Citizen Action projects. A strong focus on design, technology performance, and digital privacy ethics form a reliable and innovative basis for user-centric applications for crowd-sourcing and communication-enabling applications. Our in-house team maintains the platform and the Apps for optimal stability, compatibility, and digital security.
SPOTTERON offers a hassle-free and flexible way to include the public in projects and utilize modern online communities' power.
A complete Citizen Science App Toolkit
Running a Citizen Science or User Engagement App Toolkit for an interactive project does not need to be complicated. With the SPOTTERON Platform, we provide innovative Citizen Science Apps and interactive tools, with many features and functionalities out-of-the-box for improved user participation, data gathering, and citizen engagement. The scope of a project is flexible - we provide Apps for national and international projects and from small initiatives to partnerships in Horizon 2020 / Horizon Europe projects.
All Projects on the Platform consist of:
Smartphone Apps
Custom-tailored project Apps for Android and iPhones with many included features
Web-Application
Browser-based App for participating in the project on laptops or desktop computers
Data Administration
A central hub for data and community management, communication, and data exports
App Updates & Maintenance
Our team takes care of all Applications running on the platform, and we provide regular App updates.
We also develop additional custom tools for advanced requirements in projects.
Please see the "Custom Tools" section for more information on custom data measurement and validation tools, Citizen Science Games, and other special digital instruments.
Platform design for Citizen Science & Public Engagement
SPOTS & MAPS
All spots are displayed with image thumbnails, and everything is optimized for fast loading times and performance.
CUSTOM DESIGN
Logos, information areas, colours, buttons and all input options are completely customizable and ready for translation. The input dialogue for new submissions is flexible, and input options can be organized hierarchically for best usability.
USER NEWSFEED
The central hub for the users shows notifications for various events by people they follow and the project itself.
SPOT LISTS
The spots are also accessible as dynamic lists or a list of newest submissions and can be filtered
DETAIL VIEW
All submissions are accessible in-App and are displayed in the spot detail view with various options.
DATA VISUALIZATION
The spot data visualization panel is built in the detail view of a spot and can be used to display number-based data as a chronological line chart.
IMAGE EDITOR
Your users can add custom project-related "Stickers" to their photos for science or fun.
SPOT COLLECTION
The user's submissions are listed in a "My Collection" panel across all apps in the SPOTTERON Citizen Science Platform
COMMENTS & LIKES
Users can comment on spots, like (hearts) the spots and even single comments.
Flexible design for all kinds of projects
SPOTTERON is built with flexibility in mind. The Apps and tools allow broad customization and project-specific data inputs for users to record observations, participate in surveys or submit feedback for locations. Every project App integrates user interaction, communication, and community-building tools in the interface. Projects on the platform range from location monitoring and citizen action to natural science or social science.
Collaborative platform
Don't walk alone - every new feature a project contributes to the SPOTTERON platform is available for all other projects to adopt for free.
Your project will benefit from the extensive feature set built over the last three years, and you don't have to start all over from scratch.
Social citizen science
All projects on the SPOTTERON platform include a full feature social network built seamlessly into the apps and interactive maps, creating a buzzing community of Citizen Scientists and researchers with a high level of interactivity and long-term motivation.
We don't track users
As an ethical decision, we have chosen a flexible subscription-based model for project costs simply because we never monetize user data. We do not create ad profiles of Citizen Scientists, nor do we include third-party trackers in your Citizen Science apps. Simply because privacy matters.
Co-creation and Project collaboration
Projects running their Citizen Science and Public Engagement Apps on SPOTTERON work together. We actively support project collaborations, open data publishing, and co-creation. This collaborative approach is also reflected in our core platform concept of shared features. Whenever one project funds the development of new functionality, every other project on the platform can freely use it without extra development costs. This principle enables new project Apps on the platform to start with a wide range of features, and all projects together can build on efforts and experiences.