If I could go back to the beginning of Redshift Wrangler, I would tell myself to follow Jennifer Shirk’s advice from the CitSci2020: Dive Into Project Design series webinar: keep your goals front and center, and don’t assume what will or won’t be valuable to someone else. When we first launched the project, I was focused on making the light from distant galaxies easier to explore and interpret for a broad audience, and I thought our biggest challenge would be convincing anyone to look at our data. I quickly realized that interest in our science wasn’t an issue, what influenced participation more – and ultimately impacted our research results – was the type of support and interaction we built into our project. At first, I tried to structure our project based on general ideas about engaging “the public,” but I learned that I needed to think more specifically about who would be interested in our project, who was actually finding and staying with our project, and how I could support them better. Citizen science projects are rarely static, they evolve through an ongoing process of learning, refining your goals, listening to your audience, and iterating on what works best.
This blog post shares insights from my own process and highlights the project leaders and experts I’ve been learning from as I’ve been digging into the archives of the NASA Cit Sci Leaders series as part of an AAPS Fellowship.
Setting up volunteers for success
When we first launched Redshift Wrangler, I was focused on getting people into the project. I assumed if they made it through the first few classifications, they would stick with it. While some did stick with it, many others tried it once and never returned. I learned that drawing people in was only part of the challenge, and I also needed to consider what would keep them engaged past that first session. Instead of seeing this realization as a problem to fix, I came to understand that learning and refining your project as you go is a natural and necessary part of running a citizen science project. Most projects aren’t a one-and-done setup, they evolve over time to better support volunteers and sustain participation.
In the early stages of the project, our team had a lot of conversations about how much information to include. We didn’t want to overwhelm or intimidate new volunteers, but we also wanted to provide enough depth for those who wanted to dive deeper into the science. We found a balance by providing different levels of information for different audiences, an approach described by Becky Rother from Zooniverse in the CitSci2020: Dive Into Project Design series event. The Zooniverse platform helped us structure content for users to access when they want, targeted for different levels of learning: from those at an introductory level, to participants with some knowledge of the topic, to experts.
- The About page tells our story through diagrams and images and introduces the project’s research goals in a visual, accessible way,
- the Tutorial walks you through the task in as few details as possible,
- the Field Guide offers annotated examples for volunteers who want extra details,
- the FAQ section answers common questions in more depth,
- and the Talk boards allow for deeper discussions and posts from our research team about the science behind the findings.
We followed Cliff Johnson’s advice: do the simplest thing that works, don’t overcomplicate the project or include more sophisticated training if that’s not what your volunteers need. For more on how to effectively design and support Zooniverse projects, check out this recording from the NASA Cit Sci Leaders Series, where Zooniverse team members share insights on platform features and best practices for engaging volunteers.
Learn more about designing a project on Zooniverse in these NASA Cit Sci Leaders Series webinars:
Along the way, I learned from experts in citizen science engagement (through conferences, conversations with other project leaders, and resources like the NASA Cit Sci Leaders Series) and from our volunteers themselves. I established regular office hours as a discussion space where volunteers could ask questions and share findings, which gave me useful insight into their experiences. Their feedback helps me refine our training materials, adjust our task instructions, and work on increasing communication about the science behind our project. For example, after hearing from volunteers, I also created opportunities for interested participants to take on additional roles that supported our project and their own learning, and shared more information about my research and analysis to make it clear how we were using volunteer contributions.
Looking back, I’ve come to appreciate how important it is to balance the core science of a project with the motivations and experiences of volunteers. People participate in citizen science for different reasons, and while the science itself should always be central, projects are more successful when they acknowledge and support what the volunteers specifically find meaningful. Julia Parrish gave a great example of this balance with COASST, in the CitSci2020: Does knowing the people make the science better series plenary. The primary goal of COASST is science, but their project also emphasizes volunteers’ opportunities for education, community, and enjoyment. With Redshift Wrangler, I’ve seen firsthand how volunteers become more invested when they develop expertise, gain confidence, and feel part of a community. I’ve recognized new goals beyond just collecting data that are key to making our project stronger, like ensuring volunteers feel valued, improving training to support different levels of experience, and fostering community among our participants.
What has surprised me is just how many volunteers want to engage at a deeper level. They ask where our data comes from, how it’s processed, how the output from the project is analyzed, and how their classifications are shaping our research. I’m still figuring out the best ways to bring volunteers into more aspects of our work, but I’m inspired by what other project teams have shared about the contributions of advanced participants, especially in the NASA Cit Sci Leaders event Extraordinary contributions of citizen scientists & how to invite these in your project. The experiences of these speakers offer valuable insights into what has worked and what might be possible for projects like mine. Creating a structure for engagement in a citizen science project involves balancing multiple goals while continuously refining your approach based on what’s working and what’s not. As Jennifer Shirk noted in the CitSci2020: Dive into Project Design series event: “citizen science design is powerful, but it’s also hard.” That challenge is also what makes it so rewarding, and I’ve learned from citizen science experts and my own experiences how thoughtful design really can impact participation and affect long-term engagement. As I continue to learn and refine our project, I keep one key lesson in mind: citizen science design isn’t just about collecting data, it’s about creating a space where people feel supported, motivated, valued in their contributions, because when volunteers are more engaged, their contributions become more meaningful and strengthen the science itself.
