Blue Roots
Blue Roots is a journalistic project with the Circle of Blue, to educate people on the world water crisis through an engaging storytelling experience.
The United nations predicts that nearly half of the world’s population will be living in areas of high water stress by 2030 if current climate change predictions persist. and yet most people in developed nations don’t notice the issues revolving around water in the place they live.
In addition, water scarcity in some arid and semi-arid places can displace between 24 million and 700 million people. This is the future we all want to avoid.
Although, Circle of Blue’s journalistic content presents valuable public information about environmental and water news on a national and global level. However, it can be difficult for people unfamiliar with these issues to find or synthesize such information.
Circle of Blue’s current audience consists of researchers, activists, journalists, policy makers, and water experts ranging, on average, between 35 and 55-years old. Their audience, referred to as “water buffalos,” are individuals who are already aware of most of the water issues present at a national and global level.
Design Challenge: How to utilize digital storytelling to educate and engage people of the age group 10-30 regarding the global water crisis.
User Persona
Key Research Findings
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People in developed countries are unaware of the threats to their own water quality and access to water.
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“Most Americans don’t know whether their water comes from a lake, groundwater, a reservoir or a river.”
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People feel a sense of community and motivation while looking at stories from friends and family “I really want to see an active and engaged community that shares positive stories” - Pilot Test Participant
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Design needs to be simple to cater to people of all age groups
Through primary and secondary research, focus group sessions, and usability testing, we realized the importance of visual storytelling as a means of spreading awareness. The share your water story challenge website was showcased on World Water Day, along with a transmedia marketing strategy to educate the audience and engage them in a dialog about the global water challenge being faced.
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Users were asked to post a water story that resonated with them using the #mywaterstory hashtag through the website, or any of the social media platform such as facebook, twitter or instagram.
An essential part of this project was to giving the public an opportunity to share ideas and create solutions while maintaining the use of digital environments to solicit #MyWaterStory submissions. It allowed people to experience the impact of their contributions and build communities around their ideas – for instance, by sharing water stories of personal and communal activism.
To achieve this end, the team worked on designing and developing The World Water Story website; an interactive website which not only collates and highlights the stories submitted for the #MyWaterStory campaign from all around the world, but also provides the viewers with a highly interactive and engaging experience - presenting facts and data on the water situation being experienced globally.
After going through multiple design ideas and iterations, the final concept for the data visualization was an interactive, 3D globe that will display all current and future water stories by location. Users will be able to zoom in and out on the map in order to find and view stories. They can also use the website to submit their own #MyWaterStory content, search previously submitted user stories, contact the Blue Roots Project team, and explore facts about the world water crisis.
Over a hundred and thirty countries around the world contributed to the #MyWaterStory campaign
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The stories, largely submitted through social media, consisted of media (usually photos or videos), a short caption, and the #MyWaterStory hashtag.
