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How might we transform NASA’s big data on air pollution into actionable health benefits for marginalized citizens?
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We created a service ecosystem with public and for-profit stakeholders to enable citizens to speak about and act upon air pollution indicators.
Context
Residents of impoverished neighborhoods in NYC are at high risk of respiratory diseases because of concentrated air pollution from industry and traffic. Additionally, they often don’t have the financial resources to protect themselves from environmental impacts.
In general, most citizens lack the vocabulary and actionable advice to identify and act upon their pollution exposure. Insurance companies, on the other hand, do not sell products protecting young families and small children from airborne carcinogens.
NASA earth science has the technology to collect high-resolution data, but does not know how to operationalize it and create a positive impact on people’s lives.
Solution
NASA Earth Science provides novel air pollution data to insurance providers to create the Better Breather Program (BBP), an insurance product for families and digital natives.
The BBP allows registered customers to track and reduce their personal air pollution exposure. A media campaign promotes BBP products, discounts, and vocabulary. Customers receive real-time discounts, e.g. on public transport and air filters via a digital application. Such incentives help to adopt new behaviors to actively reduce the likelihood of respiratory diseases.
New, anonymized data-sets will feed back into the system, allowing local authorities to issue ‘better breather’ policies for cleaner air, ultimately improving public health
1
System Insight
Despite the development of higher-resolution tools to detect air pollution and describe it scientifically, we have little day-to-day vocabulary to make sense of its patterns and lessen our exposure.
3
Prototype Insight
Public-private relationships have the potential to create credible products impacting citizen’s behaviors, a promising approach to achieve scalable success.
2
Human Insight
Humans are more likely to adopt new behaviors based on incentives and a day-to-day incorporation, rather than traditional didactic, top-down communication campaigns.
Better Breather Program
A B2B2C service system for public health
2016
with Corey Chao, Sonja Rogova
Client/Partner
NASA Earth Science, WeAct for Environmental Justice
Topics
Big Data, Consumer Behavior, Public Health
Approaches
Service Design, Storytelling, Branding & CI, Design Fiction, UX Design
Output
Service Strategy, Marketing Campaign, Product Prototype, Digital Mock-Up
