Articles | Volume 25, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-25-201-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/we-25-201-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Standard article
| 
28 Oct 2025
Standard article |
| 28 Oct 2025
| 28 Oct 2025
User interface design principles for peer-to-peer distributed databases for ecological citizen science projects
Julien Jean Malard-Adam
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
G-Eau, Institut de recherche pour le développement – IRD, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
Institut français de Pondichéry – IFP, Puducherry, India
Directorate of Extension Education, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore, India
The original author and affiliation names can be found at the end of the paper.
Wietske Medema
University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Nallusamy Anandaraja
Directorate of Extension Education, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore, India
The original author and affiliation names can be found at the end of the paper.
Joel Harms
Department of Bioresource Engineering, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Johanna Dipple
Department of Bioresource Engineering, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Sheeja
Department of Bioresource Engineering, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
The original author and affiliation names can be found at the end of the paper.
Palanivelan Jaisridhar
ICAR – Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, Doddabetta, India
The original author and affiliation names can be found at the end of the paper.
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Short summary
Citizen science involves people from outside of academia in data collection and research, for example, taking photographs of insects or birds that are then shared with other users and used for biodiversity and conservation purposes. However, these apps require large servers to function, which can be very costly. In this paper, we present serverless peer-to-peer alternatives and suggest best practices for user interface design so that these apps remain easy to adopt.
Citizen science involves people from outside of academia in data collection and research, for...
