Introduction
Greenmapper is building communities around ‘hotspots’ in nature. It’s an initiative by associate professor F.J. Sijtsma (University of Groningen), who I also like to refer to as ‘my father’. Greenmapper keeps its users updated about their favourite places, and it offers them the ability to discover new nature that they might like. On the other side, it provides valuable insights for social and geographical researchers and policymakers.
UX design
As a designer, I was involved in several stages of this project. To begin with: the UX design of the platform has been my responsibility. I have designed, wireframed and tested the interaction between Greenmapper and the user since the beginning. I have been closely cooperating with ‘Ontwikkelfabriek’ based in Groningen: the people who actually coded the platform.
Logo
The first part of improving the user experience was a name and a logo. Soon as a platform has a name, people can easily refer to it. I offered to design a logo for the community website.
The logo quickly communicates the idea of ‘putting love for nature on a map.’
Greenmapper.org
Greenmapper is a new platform, a very different platform than preexisting ´social media´. People need to be really convinced that an account at Greenmapper is going to be valuable to them. Greenmapper.org is the website that I’ve designed and built to convince potential users to create an account at Greenmapper. It’s responsive, mobile friendly and communicative.
Flyer
Greenmapper operates in cooperation with Dutch nature parks such as ‘Goois Natuurreservaat’ and ‘7 bossen van Beetsterzwaag’. I created a series of flyers about Greenmapper, which have been distributed among over a thousand visitors of the nature parks administrated by these partners.
Web ads
Greenmapper is boosting their online presence through web ads in local newspapers. I was asked to develop a series of GIF banners that could activate people to join the Greenmapper community. They are displayed below.
