Regional Mountain Conference

Climate change is already affecting Swiss mountain areas (droughts, mudslides, earlier snowmelt, etc.) while water is of strategic dimension for the country and Europe. In the Alpine canton of Valais, there is a need for more efficient, informed and transparent decision-making and stronger involvement of stakeholders in water management. We aim to identify key factors enabling better engagement with environmental data within a digital platform. Current digital tools include professional water network monitoring interfaces, rather technocratic Decision Support Systems, publicly available data visualization of Switzerland or personal consumption tracking apps. However, no existing tool has been designed for the general public to facilitate a dialogue on climate change adaptation by reconnecting people to the mountain and enabling a common view on water data.

We designed an interactive prototype alongside participatory research (semi-structured interviews, workshops, etc.). It presents three interconnected sections: real-time indicators, crowdsourced field observations and potential solutions. We conducted an online evaluative study with 32 potential end-users (farmer, municipal councilor, hydrogeologist, etc.). They accomplished tasks followed by open questions. We collected behavioral and attitudinal insights using a think aloud protocol and standardized questionnaires (UEQ-S, UES-SF, TAM3).

Results indicate a positive interactive experience generating deep emotional engagement. UEQ-S’s hedonic quality is rated high, more than the pragmatic one. Reward and Aesthetic Appeal of the UES-SF (M > 4/5) are higher than the Focused Attention and Perceived Usability. The app is perceived as intuitive (81% agreed) and the main functionalities useful and informative. However, the overall target audience and the users’ scope of action remain unclear. While the intention to use and recommend the app is very high, its perceived professional efficiency is low. Participants reported difficulties in projecting themselves using historic graph and expressed a need for forecast data (desired by 44% of people). They requested the moderation of observations (59%), solutions (47%) and the management of the later by specialists (38%).

The data collected will support improvements to the prototype and design recommendations for similar climate change adaptation solutions beyond water. This study, which is designed to be replicated, will enable comparison with the final tool.