Foxglove Covert Local Nature Reserve covers 100 acres of land at Catterick, North Yorkshire. I was approached by Foxglove in 2014 to develop a touch screen kiosk installation for their visitor centre. They wanted it to be fun and to compliment and add value to a visit around the reserve.

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After a number of creative discussions, it was agreed the software should focus on the habitats and key species that can be found at the reserve, and this would be best achieved through a searchable archive of species and also a quiz. The software delivers these two sections via a combined menu / screensaver as 'Search Our Species' and 'Play Our Quiz', set against a gently moving backdrop of images, specific to the current season.

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'Search Our Species' contains a wealth of information on 13 habitats and 150+ key species that can all be found at the nature reserve. Layered information provides quick and easy access at different levels. At the top level, visitors can swipe through images, one per species. Visitors can choose to view all species, or refine the selection by searching by keyword, habitat, seasons, colours, or group (plants, vertebrates, invertebrates). Tap an image and it displays the species name. Tap it again to open up a species fact file and reveal more. Waiting inside each fact file is information about each species, more photos, short 'Did You Know' facts, and details of the seasons and habitats when and where each species can typically be seen at the nature reserve. Selecting a habitat name opens up a habitat fact file, containing a text overview and a selection of photos.

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'Play Our Quiz' has 300+ questions, organised into 12 themes. Visitors choose a theme or can have a mixture of questions from all themes if they prefer. Each game requires 10 questions to be answered, with questions being a mixture of multiple choice, match the pairs, arrange items into the correct order or spell a word. Questions are played against the clock, with more points awarded for answering faster. There are 250 additional supporting facts, some with photos, and these appear (where available) after a question has been answered. If a high enough score has been achieved, visitors will get to add their name to the high score table at the end of the game.

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I developed the concepts, designed and programmed the software, and managed the project from concept to installation.

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Scripting of the text content for both the archive and quiz was done jointly between an external scriptwriter and members of the nature reserve team. Photography was sourced from nature reserve members, an external photographer and Shutterstock. I oversaw and managed the development of both the text and photo content, as well as editing all the photos myself.