Software codesign between end users and developers to enhance utility for biodiversity conservation

Area of Science:

• Conservation Science
• Software Engineering
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Software tools for biodiversity conservation often lack diverse perspectives, limiting their utility.
• Meeting broad decision-maker needs can exceed the capacity of single research groups or institutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate how participatory, collaborative codesign enhances software utility for biodiversity conservation planning.
• To showcase the development of integrated software tools informed by end-user needs.

Main Methods:

• An interdisciplinary, multi-institutional collaboration involving ecological modelers, software engineers, and end-users (decision-makers, practitioners, experts).
• Leveraging and adapting codesign and agile development paradigms.
• Facilitating collaboration across all development stages: conceptualization, development, testing, and feedback.

Main Results:

• The codesign process ensured the developed tools were accessible and applicable for informing biodiversity conservation decision-making.
• Integrated software tools were successfully created to address a wide range of user needs.

Conclusions:

• Participatory, collaborative codesign is crucial for developing effective biodiversity conservation software.
• This approach enhances the utility of tools for better decision-making in conservation planning.