#DataForChange

[indianschool-blog1]

Beyond Metrics: Rethinking How We Measure Social Change in India

India’s development sector is at a turning point—where measuring success goes beyond numbers to embrace context, community, and critical thinking. This article explores how Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) must evolve from a technical checklist to a dynamic, reflective practice. Drawing on real-world examples and sector insights, it calls for a shift in focus from new methods to meaningful engagement with data, qualitative insights, and adaptive learning.

[indian-school-of-public-policy]

From Classroom to Career: How Data analysis shapes policy Leaders

Data drives impactful policy decisions by identifying gaps, quantifying insights, and ensuring inclusivity, especially for marginalized communities.

[kristinaiid]

I also took on some feedback about the section that estimated the amount of pollution that an individual has reduced. In the end the numbers would be almost impossible to guess and super inaccurate so I scrapped it and replaced it with the above screen.

Now when a user clicks on the amount of plants they have planted it takes them to a page for their neighbourhood that shows what they have contributed as well as others around them.

It also shows how their neighbourhood ranks compared to others to give some context.

This should be a better way to show progress rather than numbers that don’t really mean anything.

The final prototype can be seen here:

https://xd.adobe.com/view/733fe26a-6db0-4494-5072-a8293da96920-050e/screen/616a3cc7-1b7f-45ff-a6ad-bb4e2d29d0de/Plants-Silverbush

[kristinaiid]

Changes to Onboarding.

After receiving some feedback that the style of the onboarding video didn’t fit with the app I made some changes - primarily to the first page where I changed the typography to match the titles in the app. I also changed the type throughout the video to be more in line with the app design.

It was suggested that I get rid of the leaf textures in the animation since they are not used within the app, so could be confusing but I decided to keep them as they make it a little different and it’s clear they are illustrations, plus the user is only going to see the onboarding slides once so I don’t think it would be a problem.

[kristinaiid]

Onboarding

I originally wanted to make my FAQ easier to read by simplifying the text and adding illustrations but it was suggested that most people just want to get their answer and instead I should answer the most important one “What is the benefit of plants in relation to air pollution” in the onboarding process.

I therefore created the screens above. Unfortunately Adobe XD does not support video or gifs at the moment so I had to create a separate video to show the design. 

I used After Effects to create the animations and I chose to use leaves as the background textures to make them a bit more playful and relate to the theme of the app. I aimed to keep the text minimal and get across only the crucial information here.

This is the screen designed to follow the onboarding slides.

I didn't want to make users sign up if they didn’t want to - as this can discourage some people. The app is perfectly usable without signing up - as long as the user doesn’t want to post anything.

[kristinaiid]

Feedback

Based on the feedback that I received in a crit I decided to tone down the green a little to creater a cleaner look. I changed it so that the dark more subtle green was the main colour with the bright and pale green used more sparingly as highlights.

[kristinaiid]

This is the first iteration of the design.

The design has to appeal to a wide range of ages, for this reason I chose to use design conventions that older users might already be familiar with - such as the bar at the bottom with the different sections. I included labels for each tab as sometimes icons can be unclear or misinterpreted.

I chose to use green because of it’s strong association with nature and plants, though it may be a bit obvious - it helps to communicate what the app is about.

Home

The home section contains information that is specific to the current location of the user including the current pollution levels, a map that shows local groups and level of engagement with the app and local pollution related news.

I chose these things so that every time someone opens the app they are reminded of the how bad the pollution is but also that people around there acting and that they should act too.

Plants

This next section simply provides the planting information. I chose to separate them by indoor/outdoor on the top level as this is something the user would typically already have in mind when looking for something to plant. There is also the option to filter by price or size.

Once a plant is selected it’s card pops up with all the relevant information starting with how it helps air pollution, to planting conditions and where it is available to buy.  The idea here is to make it as easy as possible for someone to actually follow through and go out and plant.

Users can also indicate that they have planted something which will add it to their plant care calendar and also be visualised on the area map (exact location will be randomized). 

Community

I chose to keep all the community related aspects under one tab so that those not interested could simply avoid it all together.

FAQ

The FAQ lists all the questions straight away to make it quick and easy for users to find what they are looking for. It is heavily text based and could perhaps use some images or illustrations to make it easier to read.

Profile

This section displays all the information that is specific to the user. Such as an approximation of how much pollution their plants could have absorbed and how to care for the plants they have marked as ‘planted’.

[kristinaiid]

I decided to prototype an app that would help people plant their own air quality gardens and get help from their local community.

The app would have 2 main target audiences

1) Those who just want to help by planting in their own garden/space. The app provides them with information on the types of plant that are best, where to plant them, where to buy them and how to take care of them.

2) Those who want to plant but also get involved with community projects and initiatives. They are directed to location based community groups, resources where they can find help or funding and events in the local area.

These are the initial wire frames for the app.

I wanted to keep the app quite clean and minimal. When designing the wireframes the hardest part was to organise the structure - where would everything go - how many bottom tabs would there be? Do resources go in the community section or the faq section?

[kristinaiid]

Plants and Air Pollution

I decided to focus on making the issue feel personal, local, positive and giving people a way to take visible, consistent action

This led me to think of an action that everyone could be encouraged to take up but would also have a immediate gratification for the person doing it. The act of gardening or planting can be done by almost anyone and even before it has any effect on air pollution,  the person planting (and others) benefit from it aesthetically. - There is also research that shows that indoor plants can reduce physiological and psychological stress. (Min-sun Lee, 2015) 

There is a lot of research to show that certain types of plants can reduce or protect us from air pollution.

A study by US-based The Nature Conservancy (TNC, 2016) reported than the average reduction of particulate matter near a tree was between 7% and 24% and that the cooling effect is up to 2C.

Image source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37813709

Specifically in London a 2015 survey estimated that trees play a huge role in improving air quality and remove 299 tonnes of PM10 and 698 tonnes of NO2 pollution across London annually. 

The Mayor of London has several initiatives to promote planting, including the Low Emission Neighbourhood and the Mayors Greener City Fund. (Mayor of London, 2015)

One way these funds have been used is to create ‘Green Screens’ around schools. These are barriers to pollution made up of plants and hedges. 

Example of a green screen at Prior Weston Primary School.

Image source: https://www.meristemdesign.co.uk/news/2018/4/23/meristem-starts-rolling-out-green-screens-at-schools-as-part-of-the-mayors-air-quality-drive

According to the article “ The school also hopes to incorporate the green screen and planting into the children’s basic education about caring for the planet, including learning about the herbs and how to care for the all the plants" which shows once again that these initiatives have multiple positive benefits beyond reducing air pollution. The screen also looks a lot better than the previous grey fencing. (Meristem Design, 2018)

The effectiveness of green screens depends on the location of the school but there is always a significant drop. In 2015 KCL did a very detailed study at a school in Enfield and found that pollution on the inside of the screen dropped by 23%. ( Tremper, 2018)

One existing project that uses plants is the CityTree. It absorbs fine dust, Nitrogen Dioxide and Carbon Dioxide. According to the developers it has the same air cleansing effect as 275 urban trees.

It also doesn't just catch the dust - bacteria in the plant life can convert inorganic pollutant compounds into biomass, providing the moss with nutrients to grow.

Thanks to solar panels and rainwater retention systems, the unit requires only a few hours of maintenance per year. It also collects data on the pollution in the area. (Connor, 2017)

https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/design/smogeating-city-sculpture-can-combat-london-s-toxic-pollution-as-effectively-as-275-trees-a3546621.html

References

Connor, L (2017)  This ‘smog-eating’ city sculpture can combat London’s toxic pollution as effectively as 275 trees Available at:https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/design/smogeating-city-sculpture-can-combat-london-s-toxic-pollution-as-effectively-as-275-trees-a3546621.html

Mayor of London (2015)  London’s pollution-busting trees valued at £6.1 billion in new survey Available at: https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/mayoral/londons-pollution-busting-trees-valued-at-61bn

Meristem Design (2018)  Meristem Starts Rolling Out Green Screens at Schools as Part of the Mayor's Air Quality Drive Available at: https://www.meristemdesign.co.uk/news/2018/4/23/meristem-starts-rolling-out-green-screens-at-schools-as-part-of-the-mayors-air-quality-drive

Min-Sun, L. (2015)  ‘Interaction with indoor plants may reduce psychological and physiological stress by suppressing autonomic nervous system activity in young adults: a randomized crossover study’ Journal of Physiological Anthropology doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40101-015-0060-8

The Nature Conservancy (2016)  ‘Planting Healthy Air’ Available at: https://thought-leadership-production.s3.amazonaws.com/2016/10/28/17/17/50/0615788b-8eaf-4b4f-a02a-8819c68278ef/20160825_PHA_Report_FINAL.pdf

Tremper A. et al. (2018)  The impact of a green screen on concentrations of nitrogen dioxide at Bowes Primary School, Enfield  Available at: https://www.londonair.org.uk/london/reports/Green_Screen_Enfield_Report_final.pdf

[kristinaiid]

Further Research

 I started to look into a few area regarding air pollution including the school run (25% of london morning traffic comes from this) and the impact of next day delivery. But I found that a lot had already been done in these areas such as councils fining parents who drive their kids to school and amazon offering credit if you choose a slower delivery option.

I then read this article on FastCompany which talks about how we can make people care about climate change. It references the book  What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming,  by Norwegian psychologist Per Espen Stoknes.

“Unthinkingly, the same social experiment has been repeated over and over: Simply give people the information, and then wait and see if the facts trickling into people will persuade them to change their behavior,” ... “The outcome has been consistently underwhelming. But that hasn’t held rational people like climate scientists, public servants, and environmentalists back from trying the same experiment on the public again and again–each time with yet more facts and, each time, for some weird reason, expecting a different outcome.” - Stoknes writes.

I thought that this was useful in the context that we all know the air in London is polluted but we don’t really understand what to do about it.

The article summarises his ideas for how to achieve change into 5 sections. 

1. Make the issue feel personal, local and urgent

2. Be Positive

3. Give people a way to take visible, consistent action

4. Reduce Polarisation

5.Use the power of social networks and peer pressure.

[kristinaiid]

Air Pollution Research

As I began to do research around the brief I found a really cool project by the MIT Media Lab which captures emissions from cars and turns them into ink. It takes just 45 mins to capture enough ink from 1 car to fill a pen.

They also teamed up with artists to create the following campaign. 

Though they created it in 2013 and Kick-started it in 2017 there is currently no-where you can buy this in and their website is no longer up.

This is a shame as I could see the potential to use this medium for data visualisation rather than the more artistic approach they have taken with the murals.