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CRITICAL JUSTIFICATION 2 JAMIE SAMMAN DE1083
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HOW TO USE THIS BOOK A quick breakdown of how this book is structured
Chapter title page layout
CHAPTER NUMBER Chapter Title
Page layout
TITLE Description of activity and why it was done.
Reflection point.
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Process icons
Reflection point
What does this mean moving forward
Finding
Butterfly Conservation
Lecturer
Feedback icons
Matter Studio
Farmer
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
Peer group
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CONTENTS 12
CHAPTER 1 Making butterfly friendly gardening easier
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CHAPTER 2 Making finding and logging caterpillars as engaging and enjoyable for families as possible
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CHAPTER 3 Selling the children’s products at local farmer’s markets to engage farmers’ children and making initial talks with farmers easier
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CHAPTER 4 Bridging the gap between conservationists and smaller scale farmers
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CHAPTER 5 The Final Outcome
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CHAPTER 6 Seed Pack Development Process
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CHAPTER 7 Viewer and Cup Development Processes
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CHAPTER 8 Logbook and Signpost Development Process
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CHAPTER 9 Farmer Engagement Campaign Development
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CHAPTER 10 Farmer - Conservationist Portal Development
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CHAPTER 11 Strategy Development
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CHAPTER 12 Personal Reflection and Validation from Collaborators
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INTRODUCTION Right, what do I do now?
Reflection
Lecturer feedback
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DISTILLING THE SEED PACKAGING To avoid taking on too much work, the seed packaging side of the project was condensed into a manageable size.
Had I tried to produce a range of seed packs along with all my other deliverables, I would have come unstuck. LA
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The seed pack is just a touchpoint, it highlights gardeners and garden centres as stakeholders. Don’t overthink it!
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RECORDING CATERPILLARS The process of logging caterpillars revealed opportunities to design some fun and useful equipment for kids.
I decided that encouraging children to play around with butterflies could be disastrous (butterflies are very fragile) so I focused on the more hardy caterpillars.
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FINDING FARMERS Visiting farmers markets to speak directly to farmers about conservation made it clear that there was a sensitive issue here.
A few quick discussions with farmers gave me some great starting points in terms of figuring out how to engage them. i able to restructure parts of the project to suit their needs.
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PROBLEM SPACE
2012 was the worst year on record for butterflies in the UK and numbers still remain low. Action needs to be taken, now more than ever, to protect a beautiful part of British wildlife and an essential part of our biodiversity. People across the UK seem to feel a sense of wonder around butterflies, yet few are aware of the desperate state that some species are in.
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CHAPTER 1 Making butterfly friendly gardening easier
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
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CORE OBJECTIVE
Many people would love to see more butterflies in their garden, so can butterfly conservation be integrated into the purchasing of flower seeds?
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SEED PACK ICON Can butterfly conservation be effectively promoted in garden centres?
Flower seeds that are ideal for pollinating insects get lost at point of sale.
A brightly coloured icon highlights seeds that can be used to create a butterfly feeding station.
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SEED PACK INFORMATION Once people have purchased butterfly friendly flower seeds, how can they be shown when to plant their seeds to really make a difference?
Information about butterfly flight periods is online, but it is not all in one easy to find place.
Information on the back of pack explains which butterflies will be in flight when the seeds flower, and whereabouts in the UK those butterflies can be found.
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CHAPTER 2 Making finding and logging caterpillars a as engaging and enjoyable for families as possible
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
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CORE OBJECTIVE
The trust already promotes their butterfly logging service through an app and website widget, so what could be done to encourage more families to record caterpillars?
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EXPLORER’S SATCHEL Can recording caterpillars be made easier by having something to carry equipment in?
All the equipment to record caterpillars proves hard to carry outdoors.
Carrying the items in the satchel keeps the user’s hands free to jot down any findings
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TRAIL SIGNPOST Can the location of butterfly and caterpillar trails be more effectively communicated?
The only way to be sure you are on the butterfly trail is to keep referencing a map.
A coloured marker on the signpost makes the footpath instantly identifiable as a butterfly trail.
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CATERPILLAR VIEWER How can viewing and examining caterpillars be made more engaging?
Just looking closely at a caterpillar is not very exciting, and not as delightful as seeing a butterfly.
The viewer has a fun ‘zoom’ function which, by moving the lens inside back and forth, allows the child to focus in and out on the caterpillar.
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CATERPILLAR CUP What can be done to get kids closer to caterpillars, without harming the caterpillar?
Caterpillars shouldn’t be pinched or picked up between your fingers.
The caterpillar can be scooped up into the caterpillar cup, which can then be attached onto the end of the viewer to get a better look, or dropped into the logbook to start recording it.
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EXPLORER’S LOGBOOK What can be done to make accurately logging caterpillars as fun as possible?
Logging butterflies and caterpillars currently requires lots of analytical datasheets that are hard to make sense of, especially for a child.
The logbook condenses all the sheets of paper into one portable package. Logging caterpillars is made far easier by breaking the process into clear steps.
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Once filled in, sheets are torn out and stored to be used for uploading later.
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TRAIL FINDING WEB ELEMENTS What can be done to communicate the location of butterfly trails more effectively?
Trails are not clearly promoted on the website and the only other way to find them is with a specialist map.
A widget embedded into the website allows families to easily bring up local butterfly trails, and to print off directions to those trails. Whereabouts are you?
Click where you are and start finding some trails!
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EXPLORER PROFILE WEB ELEMENTS How can children be encouraged to upload their findings online when they get home?
Once the caterpillar is logged in the book, there is a lack of incentive to sit in front of a computer and type up the records.
Prompts on the back of the logbook pages explain to the child that if they upload their findings online, they’ll get to see their caterpillar transform into its butterfly. 1. England 2. 5 cm 3. What colour was it? 3. What were its markings like?
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CHAPTER 3 Selling the children’s products at local farmer’s markets to engage farmers’ children and make initial talks with farmers easier
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
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CORE OBJECTIVE
The way that the Butterfly Conservation Trust approaches farmers is currently very dry. Is there a way to convince farmers to practice conservation activities without instantly boring them?
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FLUTTER FARMER’S MARKET STALL How can the Flutter product range be effectively promoted, and can the range help engage farmers by engaging their kids first?
The online shop that currently sells butterfly conservation products demands that people already know about butterfly conservation (they have to search online for the shop first).
Farmers markets are great places to promote butterfly conservation in the local community.
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BCT FARMER’S MARKET STALL How can market scale farmers be convinced to integrate conservation activities into their work?
Farmers will often be swayed to help out with butterfly conservation when they see where it has worked previously.
Material on the stall shows farmers some local success stories and explains how they themselves could benefit.
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CHAPTER 4 Selling the children’s products at local farmer’s markets to engage farmers’ children and make initial talks with farmers easier
PROBLEM
SOLUTION
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CORE OBJECTIVE
Conservationists make decisions about how to make a farm more conservation friendly, without speaking to the farmer and gaining a real understanding of their practices first. How can this be prevented?
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CASH FOR CONSERVATION CAMPAIGN How can the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme be more effectively promoted to small scale farmers?
Many smaller scale farmers don’t know about the HLSS grant or how they could acquire it.
Simple imagery is used to show that butterfly conservation can earn them money. The campaign would be promoted in Farmer’s Weekly and the National Farmer’s Union website.
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FARMER - CONSERVATIONIST PORTAL What can be done to bridge the initial gap between conservationists and small scale farmers?
Conservationists don’t speak to farmers about their practices before they visit the farm and begin putting conservation activities in place.
A website that promotes the work the conservation trust is currently doing and allows farmers and conservationists to have online chats about working together.
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CHAPTER 5 The Final Outcome and its Benefits to Users
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STRATEGY WHEEL - INNER RING A diagram to show the core objectives of each section of Flutter, along with their key stakeholders.
HOW IT WORKS Flutter connects various stakeholders under one strategy that is designed to get them engaged and enjoying butterfly conservation.
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Make butterfly friendly gardening easier
Bridge the gap between conservationists and smaller scale farmers
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2 Make finding and logging caterpillars as engaging and enjoyable for families as possible
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Sell the children’s products at local farmer’s markets to engage farmers’ children and make initial talks with farmers easier
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STRATEGY WHEEL - OUTER CORE A storyboard of images highlighting the physical touchpoints in each section of the diagram.
HOW IT WORKS Some of the physical touchpoints in the wheel show how the different sections interrelate, e.g. Flutter recording products are sold at farmer’s markets.
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SEED PACK ICON WHY IT BENEFITS GARDENERS AND GARDEN CENTRES Gardeners can make a small choice and get to see beautiful insects in their garden. Garden centres are able to sell themselves as having an environmental conscience.
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BACK OF SEED PACK INFORMATION WHY IT BENEFITS GARDENERS AND GARDEN CENTRES The information makes it clear to gardeners when is best to create a butterfly feeding station. It could increase sales in garden centres nationally through the butterfly flight season.
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EXPLORER’S SATCHEL WHY IT BENEFITS FAMILIES Having all the kit in a bag means the child’s hands are free to jot down any sightings. A shoulder strap means the bag is easily accessible. By keeping all the equipment in one place, bits are less likely to get lost.
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TRAIL SIGNPOST WHY IT BENEFITS FAMILIES The engraving encourages the family to go on more walks, as the child can collect rubbings from around the UK. It makes uploading records at home easier because the location of the trail can be instantly identified.
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CATERPILLAR VIEWER WHY IT BENEFITS FAMILIES The viewer makes looking at caterpillars a more tactile experience for children than using a pile of sheets. The process of seeing the insect magnify as they slide the knob adds surprise and delight.
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CATERPILLAR CUP WHY IT BENEFITS FAMILIES The cup allows the child to get really up close to the caterpillar, making the experience more engaging and making the caterpillar’s features easier to identify.
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EXPLORER’S LOGBOOK WHY IT BENEFITS FAMILIES By placing the cup with caterpillar in the logbook, the child can get a really good look at it whilst they go through each stage of the logging process.
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WEB ELEMENTS WHY THEY BENEFIT FAMILIES The trail finder makes locating and getting to trails as easy as possible. The child gets a delightful and educational surprise when they see their caterpillar transform.
Click where you are and start finding some trails!
1. England 2. 5 cm 3. What colour was it? 3. What were its markings like?
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FARMER’S MARKET STALL - FLUTTER WHY IT BENEFITS MARKET SCALE FARMERS, THE FARMERS’ CHILDREN AND MARKET ORGANISERS The stall gets the farmers’ attention when they see their kids engaging with Flutter. The children are able to touch and play with the products before they buy them. Market organisers can use Flutter to promote a child friendly atmosphere at events.
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FARMER’S MARKET STALL - BCT WHY IT BENEFITS MARKET SCALE FARMERS AND MARKET ORGANISERS Farmers are able to talk face-to-face with conservationists about being involved with butterfly conservation. Market organisers benefit from the various stall owners speaking to each other and establishing more of a community.
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CASH FOR CONSERVATION CAMPAIGN WHY IT BENEFITS SMALL SCALE FARMERS, NFU ONLINE AND FARMER’S WEEKLY The link on the NFU website to the farmer conservationist portal makes it as easy as possible for farmers to start discussing how to get a HLSS grant. The media used to advertise the campaign is credited in the website and so gets promoted as being aware about biodiversity.
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FARMER - CONSERVATIONIST PORTAL WHY IT BENEFITS SMALL SCALE FARMERS Farmers are able to share photos of their farm with conservationists, so that when the conservationist visits the farm to give the farmer a grant, they have a clear idea of what to expect, and don’t waste the farmer’s time.
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CHAPTER 6 Seed Pack Development Process
Reflection
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ICON INSPIRATION Taking inspiration from sticker designs to make the seed pack icon eye catching.
Upon reflection, I think the icons below look too rustic for the Flutter brand, but the layout of text inside them works well.
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ICON DEVELOPMENT Illustrating various designs for the icon and playing with the position of the icon showed what was working and what wasn’t.
I considered making the icon a sticker that employees would apply onto certain packs but I realised this was too laborious.
BETTER FOR BUTTERFLIES
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I designed the information on the back of the seed pack to fit around the current graphics, which meant some of the text was too small.
B E T T E R F OR
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CHAPTER 7 Viewer and Cup Development Processes
Reflection
Matter feedback
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IDEAS TO BE TAKEN FORWARD Using feedback from collaborators to select which ideas were going to be developed.
I think at this stage I could have explored more ideas involving viewing caterpillars as I settled quickly on the tube.
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VIEWER DEVELOPMENT A range of different viewer concepts were sketched and mocked up with magnifying glass lenses inside them, to understand how well they worked.
Quickly mocking up concepts in 3D allowed me to see how they would be held and carried. There are lots of bug viewers on the market, what can you add to yours that makes it special?
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USER TESTING Putting the soft models in the hands of kids to see how they reacted.
It was great to see Jasper and Max loving the models and I let them keep two of the models because they enjoyed them so much. More work needs to be done on the eyehole end to clearly highlight it as the part you look through.
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MAKING THE SLIDING MECHANISM Fitting a volume slider from a record deck into the final prototype to figure out how to create a smooth but firm slide.
I spent far, far too long on this and it made me lose sight on other more important things (strategy design!)
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STRAP DECISIONS Attaching different sized straps onto soft models identified what was useful and what got in the way.
At this point, I decided to scrap the strap. Having the viewer hanging off your wrist made doing anything else (e.g. writing) extremely hard, and the neck strap left the viewer bouncing around on your chest (very unpleasant). I then decided that a bag could do the same job, with the added benefit of being able to hold all the equipment.
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RAPID PROTOTYPING 3D printing the CAD model to make it feel more precise than a hand made model.
Rapid prototyping seemed the best option to make my model because of my questionable model making skills and the need to fit a lens inside it.
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ASSEMBLED WORKING PROTOTYPE Assembling the parts with blu tack mid way through the finishing process to make sure everything worked.
I realised that I had spent almost 4 weeks sanding, finishing and assembling this model, and I still had many other deliverables to execute. The model looks good, but don’t forget about the presentation! The last 5% on a model could mean 80% on the presentation.
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CUP DEVELOPMENT Defining the design of the caterpillar cup in 3D through card models and seeing how it worked with the viewer soft models.
I needed to see the size of the cup in relation to the viewer, and in relation to the average size of caterpillars, so quick models were ideal.
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VAC FORM MOLD REFINEMENT Turning various domes with different radii to create a clear vac form (the bottom part of the cup) that looks resolved and feels desirable in the hand.
I used 3mm clear plastic to make my final vac form as previous iterations with thinner plastic felt too flimsy.
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LASER CUTTING PIECES Laser cutting two pieces of acrylic (one with holes to fit the magnets inside) to make the cup accurately.
The magnets I used were not as strong as I expected and I had to add in some more powerful ones on top. These were hard to cover up.
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CHAPTER 8 Logbook and Signpost Development
Reflection
Matter Feedback
Butterfly Conservation Trust Feedback
Peer Group Feedback
Lecturer Feedback
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IDEAS TO BE TAKEN FORWARD Deciding which post-it note logbook ideas will be taken forward and developed.
I felt the process of folding and unfolding the chart idea would be annoying. The butterfly conservation trust already has an identification app so I scrapped that idea. I really like the idea of a notepad with preformatted out sheets for recording.
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LOGBOOK DEVELOPMENT Mocking up the logbook to see how well some of the ideas would work.
I think the tabs worked well, but I feel that had I explored with transparent plastics I could have achieved some nice layered effects.
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FINAL LOGBOOK PROTOTYPE The final iteration of the logbook. Each page is split into a space for the trail mark and spaces to log caterpillars.
I should have experimented with the cup fitting in the logbook at this stage because I only resolved that detail in the final book. You could arrange the logging system by colour or texture of caterpillars. Push the book further!
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SIGNPOST ENGRAVING IDEAS Sketching designs for the engraving to quickly see what would be exciting enough for children to collect.
I wanted to do a range of different engravings for walks around the UK that are heavily populated by butterflies. LA
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Do not spend too much time on the signpost. You have far more important things to worry about.
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ENGRAVING REFINEMENT Illustrating designs for the chosen trail in vector form so that they could be laser engraved later.
It took me a few attempts to create an illustration that looked playful and not minimalist or too mature. The one with no illustration looks boring, why would a child want to collect that?
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CHAPTER 9 Farmer Engagement Campaign Development
Reflection
Finding
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CAMPAIGN FLASH CARDS Making the ideas from the brainstorm with Chris Winnick into campaign messages to be given to farmers.
I felt the tone of voice of the cards was right for farmers; slightly witty but mature. That said, some of the messages were a little obscure (e.g. “some butterflies aren’t picky”.) I decided that the messages would feed directly into the content of the website for small scale farmers.
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SHOWING THE CARDS TO FARMERS Testing out the campaign messages at local farmers markets to understand what would make the campaign and website really impactful.
I only showed the cards to farmers on these pages, because the others turned me away before I could get their opinion. Only a handful of farmers knew about the HLSS grant and none of them had worked with the Butterfly Conservation Trust.
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A PRESENCE AT FARMER’S MARKETS Deciding that the best way to get conservationists talking face-to-face with farmers would be if they were present at local markets. I found two farmers in particular extremely helpful. They both felt that conservationists need to be on the ground speaking to farmers directly. D AV I D
Natural England decided to take all grazing sheep off upland hills, to try and protect a species of bird. Now its wasteland up there.
BEN
If I’m honest, most conservationists make decisions behind desks.
DAVID KNIPEY
BEN BOWERMAN
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CHAPTER 10 Farmer - Conservationist Portal Development
Reflection
Lecturer Feedback
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WEBSITE MAP Mapping out each screen of the website to understand exactly how a farmer would use it.
Upon reflection, it would have been better to map out how a conservationist would use the website as well, because the objective of the website is to cater for both parties.
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WEBSITE FIRST TRY Putting together a first draft of the website to see whether the choice of images suits the audience (small scale farmers).
I personally thought the website looked effective, engaging and made sense. However, I had not considered if the user would think this. LA
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Why is there so many pictures of kids? It looks like a website for children. This won’t work for farmers.
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INTERACTIVE PDF ANIMATION Animating some of web elements to bring them to life on the video.
On reflection, I would have had less hassle with this had I used Squarespace to get web templates with interactions built in.
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CHAPTER 11 Strategy Development
Reflection
Lecturer feedback
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STRATEGY STORYBOARDS Sketching how each of the stakeholders would use their section of Flutter, to tell the entire story of the strategy.
The storyboards became very useful tools for planning out which shots I needed for the video. LA
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Remember to stress how the end of each section links to the start of the next one.
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STRATEGY WHEEL DRAFT Sketching the strategy wheel to highlight any areas that needed work.
At this point, I was missing a key part of the strategy: the website to engage farmers with conservation. This part of the wheel is shown with dashed lines. LA
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What happened to the website? Think about what type of farmer would use it.
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FLUTTER VIDEO Filming people interacting with the touchpoints in the strategy to show how they all link together.
When filming a child using the viewer, I almost collapsed when they broke the lens inside. I learnt that when working with children, your instructions have to be firm and clear.
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CHAPTER 12 Overall Personal Reflection
With no knowledge of how butterfly conservation works before I started this project, I spent a lot of time speaking to various conservationists about the UK butterfly issue. They spoke about the project from a geographical point of view as opposed to a design one. I had to strike a balance between a practical solution that could have a large positive impact on butterfly species, and a more emotional outcome that might not have as much benefit to butterflies but would create awareness of the issue. Engaging various different people with butterfly conservation seemed the best way to strike this balance. Finding the key stakeholder to engage was something I struggled with at first. I put off speaking directly to farmers about conservation, who are the people who can make the biggest difference in terms of creating habitats for butterflies. Had I done this earlier, I may have produced a solution that was catered for the needs of farmers, as opposed to something that persuades them to join conservation. One thing I found many times when speaking to stakeholders was the importance of showing them designed things. A quick mock up of a viewer instantly got kids playing with it, and a slightly witty campaign message brought a smile to many farmers’ faces. Without these ‘props’, the project would have fallen flat.
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I believe I may have taken on too much in terms of the number of deliverables I created. Attempting to finish a model and a website to a high standard, amongst the many other items I delivered, left me no time to produce the trail finding and explorer profile web elements.
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Personal Reflection on the Parts of the Strategy
Making butterfly friendly gardening easier I think this section of the strategy has less value than some of the other parts because it is almost independent from the rest of the concept. If it was removed, the strategy would still work. That said, I think it effectively highlights another place where butterfly conservation could be promoted.
Making finding and logging caterpillars as engaging and enjoyable for families as possible I was generally pleased with the turnout of this section, though certain details in the viewer need to be thought over more (e.g. clear plastic covers on the holes at each end). The sliding mechanism as it currently is not feasible at all. How the caterpillar cup and the signpost work with the logbook is something I think is truly engaging. I feel that the logging equipment could be easily adapted to be a pond exploration kit, or for other insects.
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Selling the children’s products at local farmer’s markets to engage farmers’ children and making initial talks with farmers easier This as a concept seemed a little bit fluffy at first, and I do feel that it maybe doesn’t tackle the problem of unengaged farmers in a very mature manner, but that helps move it away from the technical and dry approach the conservation trust currently takes.
Bridging the gap between conservationists and smaller scale farmers I feel like this section could have been explored further in its early stages, and it had the potential to be more than a campaign and a website. Some of my earlier research looked at the John Muir Award Scheme, for farms who made a significant contribution to biodiversity and their local community. A system that was focused around this could have been more interesting.
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Validation from Collaborators
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KERRY STADDON Publicity Officer at Butterfly Conservation
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BEN BOWERMAN Farmer and Managing Director at Godlingston Manor Springs Ltd
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PAULA AND JASPER User case study
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JOHN MACDONALD Senior Designer at Matter Studio
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MATT WRIGHT Director at Matter Studio