Project Abstract

As people can experience unforeseen problems within their community, local authorities might not be able to resolve them quickly enough every time they arise. Mobile applications can help people to communicate and get organised to solve these issues before they affect more people. My main motivation was the fact that there were many unresolved issues in Port Tennant that persisted even after being reported.I have developed a user-friendly mobile app that allows users to report small incidents by submitting a picture on a local map via a ?��pin?�� function and get ranked on a local leaderboard depending on how many user-submitted problems they have solved. This app will offer people another avenue to request help and report and resolve issues, from broken glass on a bike lane to littering issues, while increasing interactions across communities, with the potential to improve livelihoods on a national scale.The primary aim of this research is to evaluate whether a user-friendly mobile app, which enables residents to report community issues via a “pin” on a localised map and encourages community interaction through a gamified leaderboard, can effectively increase engagement within the community. The study uses quantitative and qualitative user feedback to assess the app’s impact and usability. Key findings indicate that users are significantly more likely to engage in community problem-solving when incentivised by slow response times of the local authorities and gamification elements within the app.Overall, this work contributes to our understanding of technological interventions in civic engagement, revealing to the world that gamified mobile applications can substantially enhance community responsiveness and participation, and therefore introducing new solutions for local nuisances and problems, on top of improving community interaction.

Keywords: Mobile App Development, Geolocation APIs, HCI & UX

 Conference Details

Session: Poster Session A at Poster Stand 47

Location: Sir Stanley Clarke Auditorium at Tuesday 7th 13:30 – 17:00

Markers: Hassan Eshkiki, Anton Setzer

Course: BSc Software Engineering, 3rd Year

Future Plans: I have a job lined-up