Proposal #13: Species+ Usage Data: From numbers to goals

[simaob]

At UNEP-WCMC we are developing the new open-source platform for monitoring the trade of CITES protected species. This platform can already be accessed through two interfaces: the Species+ website http://speciesplus.net; and the CITES Checklist http://checklist.cites.org. Together both sites have over 20 thousand visits per month. This number shows that this data is important, but it could show many more things, like for instance:

• how do users search for species using different interfaces?
• which filters do they set, do they search by scientific or common names?
• do they browse online or download data?
• which bits of species information are most often accessed?
• can any of that data be more usefully analyzed when aggregated by type of device or organisation?

To learn these and other things we are looking to develop a tool that will collect and process this data, turning it into more meaningful information to guide further development of the platform.

You will need to experiment with the data to come up with a useful set of statistics. That involves both collecting the data and processing it. Some ideas that we currently have are:

• integrate visit tracking in the Rails backend of Species+, e.g. via http://ankane.github.io/ahoy/
• process the rails log to extract information
• define metrics that could be tracked against website objectives using our internal tool
• use D3 to create informative outputs readable for stakeholders

This project will require that you understand a bit about the underlying Species Database. But don’t worry! RGSoC 2013 participants @dalach and @Dellilah managed that beautifully, and we are here to help.

About us: We (@simaob & @agnessa) are part of a team of experts (@unepwcmc) dedicated to bringing technology into nature conservation. The software we make is helping to save the planet. We also contribute to the local community as the organisers of the Cambridge Ruby User Group.

If you would like to work on site with us, please note that you need to be eligible to work in the UK.