Formative Research Plan

Public Displays of Water Quality Data

Research

We plan to gather data for the project through two methods: interviews and contextual inquiries.

Motivating Questions:

• What specific water-related information do we want to present?
  • What data do scientists and / or parks and recreation or public health officials have, what do they think is important information to share with the public about bodies of water?
  • What information do users of public bodies of water want to get? How are they currently getting this information or is there some information that they wish they could get but currently can’t?
• How do we present this information? (Feasibility of public displays with a possible mobile / wearable integration)
  • What devices do people have when they go to do typical recreation activities? (Do they have their phones, tablets, wearables, etc?)
  • Where specifically do they go (do people doing different activities go to different places)? This will help us think about whether a public display is appropriate and if so possible public display locations

• Do we want to include some sort of citizen science or data collection activity as part of the experience?

  • What data do water quality scientists or public health / parks and rec officials think that people could collect?

  • Would public water body users be interested in collecting data?

• What is the approximate market size for this sort of application? How is it impacted by seasonality?

Note: We have currently scoped this research to be about both Boulder Creek and Boulder Reservoir, however we may need to adjust this and focus on just one body of water based on who we can recruit and how seasonality impacts our ability to collect observational data about the use of these bodies of water.

Interviews

Interviewee Subjects

We have identified three different groups of people to target for our interviews:

1. Water Quality Experts
2. Boulder Parks and Recreation Employees
3. Active Users of the Boulder Reservoir and Boulder Creek (Swimmers, Fishers, Rowers, Kayakers, Tubers)

Recruiting

1. Water Quality Experts (~1-2 people)

   We want to reach out to water quality experts to gain a better understanding of how they collect data, the type of data they collect, what they do with this data, and the problems they face regarding the data. We have two groups in mind to achieve this.

   We can reach out to students in the Water Engineering Management Program to ask these questions and better understand the research.

   We can also reach out to the Department of Public Health and Environment’s Water Quality Division in Colorado, although we will be at the whim of whether they answer emails.

   Example Email

   “Hi [Name],

   We are Computer Science graduate students at CU Boulder conducting a study about information needs and opportunities around public bodies of water. We are planning on designing an experience for conveying water information that uses public displays or mobile phone applications, and that may integrate a citizen science component. We are interested in learning more about what water quality data you collect as [water quality scientists/public health officials] and how you share and analyze this data. If you are interested in talking with us, please set us know. We can talk over the phone or in person in Boulder.”

2. Boulder Parks and Recreation Employees (~1-2 people)

   The Boulder Creek passes through multiple Boulder parks, so we should be able to reach out to Parks and Recreation staff to figure out who would be a good person to talk to by looking at the Boulder Parks and Recreation website.

   There is a reservoir contact information section with the names and email addresses of the staff who run the reservoir. We have contact information for Stacy Cole, the reservoir manager, Matt Soderberg, the reservoir assistant manager, and Lena Dow, the program coordinator. We will plan to reach out to these staff members via email, and hope for a response.

   BBSC is a company that organizes different triathlons at the Boulder Reservoir, including the Boulder Sunset and Sunrise series. Craig Towler is an active volunteer for the organization who lives in Boulder, CO and helps coordinate events at the reservoir. We can reach out to him, or any other volunteer who helps coordinate events on the water.

   Example Email

   “Hi [Name],

   We are Computer Science graduate students at CU Boulder conducting a study about information needs and opportunities around public bodies of water. We are planning on designing an experience for conveying water information that uses public displays or mobile phone applications, and that may integrate a citizen science component. We are interested in learning more about what water quality data you collect as [parks and recreation employees] and how you share and analyze this data. We also want to learn some specific usage information about the Boulder Creek and Boulder Reservoir. If you are interested in talking with us, please set us know. We can talk over the phone or in person in Boulder.”

3. Active Users of the Boulder Reservoir and Boulder Creek (~5 people)

   We can reach out to the CU Boulder Triathlon Team, and Rowing Team to understand the needs of the swimmers and rowers who use the reservoir. We can ask the organizers of the clubs to reach out to their team, and see if anyone would be interested in helping with our interviews.

   We will also send out broad inquiries on forums (Facebook groups, subreddits) focused on CU students or Boulder residents, asking for participation by people who use the Boulder Reservoir or Boulder Creek for recreation.

   Example Online Post

   ” Do you use the Boulder Creek or Boulder Reservoir for recreation? We’re interested in talking to people who use these bodies of water for activities such as swimming, fishing, rowing, kayaking, or tubing for a technology design project. If you’re interested, please reach out to us at [email address]. “

Interview Scripts

Water Quality Experts

• Can you talk about the different types of data you gather from observing bodies of water, such as the Boulder Reservoir or Boulder Creek (lakes and creeks)?
• Where is this data stored?
• What do you do with this data?
• Is this data publicly available? = Is there any information about public bodies of water that you want members of the public to know from a scientific education or public health perspective?
• Are there any ways in which members of the public could be involved in data collection activities relevant for water quality science or public health?

Parks and Recreation Employees

• How often do you update data about public water bodies on your website?
• Do you receive calls or information requests about water related data? If so, how often?
• How is data about public water bodies in Boulder collected?
• Where is this data stored?
• Is it all publicly available?
• (Boulder Reservoir) How many races are performed each season at the reservoir?
• (Boulder Reservoir) How many active members are part of the reservoir community?
• (Boulder Creek) What are the primary recreation uses of the Boulder Creek?
• (Boulder Creek) Do you know approximately how many people use the creek for those activities?
• Are there any ways in which members of the public could be involved in data collection activities relevant for parks and recreation?

Active Users

• What do you bring with you when you use [body of water] for [recreation activity]? Do you go by yourself or with others, if so, who? What devices do you bring?
• How often do you use [body of water] for [recreation activity]? During what time(s) of year?
• Where is your favorite place in [body of water] to perform [recreation activity]?
• How do you find places to do [recreation activity] in general? Where else do you do [recreation activity]?
• Have you ever looked up information (such as water quality information or water temperature information) about [body of water] before going to do [recreation activity]? If so what information and how?
• Is there any information about [body of water] that you want to know but currently do not know?
• Would you be interested in collecting data (for example, taking pictures about something related to the body of water or using a specialized device to take measurements) and sharing those with the public, scientists, or public health or parks and recreation officials? (ask about whether they would be willing to share with each stakeholder group)

Contextual Inquiries

We will conduct our contextual inquiries by spending time observing and talking to users of the Boulder Creek and/or Boulder Reservoir in-situ.

These contextual inquiries will be targeted at Active Users of the bodies of water. We will perform public observations of how people use the bodies of water, noting things such as:

• How big are the groups of people?
• What are they doing?
• What devices do they have?

We will approach people near the Creek or Reservoir, identify ourselves as computer science students at CU, and ask them if they’d be willing to talk for a few minutes.

We will conduct semi-structured contextual interviews, using a similar script to the one provided in the Interview section, except it will be grounded in the current experience of the person we are interviewing, and intentionally short to make sure we are not too disruptive.

Because use of bodies of water is seasonal and we will be conducting observations in the Fall (when it is getting colder), we also included a few questions to understand seasonal use and past experiences.

Contextual Inquiry Script (~2-5 people)

• What brings you to [body of water] today?
• How often do you use [body of water] for this activity? - Do you use it for other activities? What time(s) of year?
• What electronic devices do you have with you now?
• Did you look up any information (such as water quality information or water temperature information) about [body of water] before coming here today? Have you ever before? What and how?
• Is there any information about [body of water] that you want to know today but currently do not know?
• Would you be interested in collecting data (for example, taking pictures about something related to the body of water or using a specialized device to take measurements) and sharing those with the public, scientists, or public health or parks and recreation officials? (ask about whether they would be willing to share with each stakeholder group)
• If you were enrolled in a data collection program, do you think you would have been able to do a data collection activity today?

Maps

For both the Interviews and Contextual Inquiries we will have maps of the Boulder Creek and Boulder Reservoir on hand either printed out or on a tablet which we can use to ground discussion about specific areas or events.