TickSpotter is a mobile-application prototype that educates users on Lyme disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. It also tracks areas of high risk for Lyme disease based on tick sighting submissions. This tick risk-map was developed based on historical tick sightings from public health datasets and aggregated into ArcGIS. Other factors such as climate, vegetation, and elevation impact the habitat suitability for ticks and were also included in the ArcGIS algorithm. This prototype was developed for Carleton University, Department of Health Sciences.

I led a cross-functional team of student developers, designers, and researchers to complete market research, literature reviews, and stakeholder interviews, and create user personas and user journeys and MVPs of the final product. 

We first created and distributed a survey to the public to determine 1) the public's knowledge of Lyme disease and black-legged ticks, and 2) what information they require for prevention and treatment. Over 800 responses were collected and analyzed to distill key themes that would inform the content of the app. 

Using ArcGIS, a software used to develop interactive maps, we collected the following datasets: location-based tick sightings from Public Health, vegetation, climate, and elevation, which were aggregated into the software to develop a habitat suitability map identifying areas that were of high-risk for Lyme disease. 

Through consultations with stakeholders and designers, a first draft of the app was developed, which was reviewed by the developers and stakeholders. After a few rounds of iterations, a final wireframe of the app was created and subsequently developed into a functional app. 

Educational content was created based on the key themes elucidated from the survey results and the habitat suitability map was integrated into the app. The purpose of the map is to help educate users on what areas to avoid and allows users to submit tick sightings, which would be added to the map, providing real-time data on high-risk areas.