This final design research project identifies the increased use of data monitoring devices deployed in forests for management purposes. The issue this project attempts to highlight is the excessive collection of forestry data by the UK Government and the UK Forestry Commission. This data is often not shared with the local community who engage with the Birchden Wood space, located in Southeastern England. This project identified the local British Mountaineering Council's (BMC) presence at the neighbouring Harrison's Rocks as the audience for this design project. Inspired by citizen science projects, this design workbook and the accompanying field guide offer sets of participatory devices to allow rock climbers to engage with the management practices existing within Birchden Wood. The design workbook and field guide identify already present technologies employed within Birchden Wood and reimagine data monitoring devices for participatory community input.

 

The design workbook and accompanying field guide contain hand-drawn images and a thoughtfully designed layout to focus the viewer's attention on Birchden Wood as a problem space. Both documents were printed on 300 gsm recycled paper with the Field Guide A5 and the Design Workbook custom cut from A3 paper.

 

During this project, I practised a range of user research techniques and tested ideation approaches commonly used in Service Design. The use of interviews and user testing with the UK Forestry Commission, the BMC, and the local rock climber population allowed me to construct a rounded set of design proposals that reflected the management needs of Birchden stakeholders.