Our new project website is here!
Currently, it is only available in German. I will work on the translation asap.
This blog will not be updated anymore. Thank you for joining the ride!
Author: Sophie Walker
Finally, the time has come: Project CH+ is growing. This post is for the new faces of the +Team. A warm welcome to Donato, Mela, Emma and Florian. …
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I am proud to announce that Project CH+ is part of the Prototype community! The Prototype Fund is an initiative of Opendata.ch and the Mercator Foundation Switzerland. They support projects which revolve around democratic participation and open source. I am excited to work with the new team in September, we’re ready to step up our game!
Alright, off to Basel-Stadt! Last week I met with Nina Mathys, president of the canton’s Junge Rat, youth commissioner Rodrigo Krönkvist and David Fischer from the political association Discuss it. We thought about ways in which we could add a little more pizzazz to the coming elections. Let me tell you: there’s more to come!
Global pandemic aside, what happened during the last weeks? I submitted my master’s thesis! The last months revolved around finishing the concluding research for the Uri elections despite the Corona crisis, and writing the master’s thesis for Project CH+. At the same time, I was able to find a motivated team which will start working on the next iteration of our electoral support in June. …
Continue readingProject CH+ is now officially part of the research and business programme “First Ventures” by the Gebert Rüf Foundation. …
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On March 8, Uri is electing its new cantonal parliament as well as the governing council.
This week, the second research round for Project CH+ started with the trainees of Uri’s department of personnel and four school classes of the cantonal secondary school of Uri.
Until the elections, half of the participants will use the beta version of the app, while the other half is using an alternative offer for electoral support. Both groups are tasked to create their own list for the elections. After the elections, there will be an concluding survey, which allows to compare the two approaches.
Until the elections, the application will also be publicly available.
Cooperation. Transparency. User Empowerment.
These values are at the core of Project CH +
2019 was filled with challenges, closing doors, unknown territory and – opportunities. I am thankful to be able to work on a project which is truly close to my heart. It was especially nice that I could end 2019 with an article in the Luzerner Zeitung.
For the last couple of weeks, it has been quiet on this blog. However, I was able to make good progress in important areas of the project. More information to come.
Saletti 2020, are you ready?
Time for some big news! After earning prize money at the Swiss Student Sustainability Challenge, I am working with the Swiss development studio OpinionGames. They will help turn my design into reality by realizing the technical backend for the next iteration of our project. …
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What happened to our surveys?
On Thursday I was in Bern to share the first research insights with Carol Schafroth from the Campus for Democracy Michael Erne from smartvote. …
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For half a year, the FHNW gave me access to mentorings and coachings. Yesterday, the award ceremony took place in Basel. The prize money will be invested into further developing the app and into the realization of the requests which have been collected in the online surveys. …
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step into action is an event which was first organized by volunteers in 2011. In an interactive parcours, students playfully get into contact with various topics in the area of sustainability. This year, I joined the event to sit together with young people and discuss the future of politics, democracy and games. …
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In one week it will be over (almost)! After nearly 500 people participated in the first two surveys, this three-part online research is coming to an end.
Until November 3, you are most welcome to participate! This final survey is about your perception of the parliamentary elections 2019 and your wishes for digitally available information during future elections.
At this point already a big thank you to everyone who participated!
I will evaluate the collected answers and revise the design of the current app prototype accordingly.
The elections have passed but our project continues – with good news: Project CH+ is among the winners of the Swiss Student Sustainability Challenge by the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Northwestern Switzerland!
During the award ceremony on November 28, we will find out which spot our playful approach has earned us.
The elections are around the corner and I am in den living room of the former member of the Council of States, Markus Stadler.
This interview revolves around politics, being without a party, elections, the young generation and Marcus’ evaluation of Project CH+’s entertainment approach.
The 10 minute video interview is the result of a one hour conversation. Maybe I will find time in the future to elaborate on the interview and the thoughts behind it. Until then, enjoy!
Yay! More than 400 people were part of the first survey!
This second questionnaire on the parliamentary elections is online until October 20. It’s all about features that you would like to have and that would help you select suitable political candidates to reflect your interests.
Last Thursday I paid a visit to the Republik magazine. The reason: Someone has had the same idea as me. After the meeting we can say: Two “super-likes” & “it’s a Match”! Together with the Head of IT Thomas Preusse, Software Engineer Patrick Venetz and my Mentor René Bauer we talked about the process, the similarities and the differences of our concepts.
In any case, I am happy that the combination of games and political communication is well received by the public.
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It’s happening! Today we are starting with the online surveys. This first questionnaire will be online for one week, the second one will follow in the beginning of October.
EDIT 15. September: Wow, more than 300 replies! The duration of the first survey is extended. It will be online until September 22.
(image: Federal Office of Statistics, 2015)
Why the voter participation in Switzerland is relatively low when compared to our international neighbours, has been researched by various institutions. The fact: in 1971, 56.9% of eligible voters participated, during our last elections this number was at 48.5%.
The research which is part of Project CH+ does not aim to explain these circumstances, but to find new approaches to address the issue. …
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In various settings – from a park bench next to the Limmat, to a student kitchen in Lausanne – I collected first responses to our application. The five test sessions took 15-30 minutes each. …
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Now, your opinion takes center stage. In this blog entry you’ll find information on the coming research. Let’s create something amazing! …
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At the beginning of last week I met with the Zurich division of Operation Libero. I held my presentation in front of Carla Allenbach (Administrative office, management assistant), Philipp Brandenstein (board member) und Valentina Spillmann (team Zürich, event organizer). …
Continue readingOver the course of this project, I have spoken to friends, roommates and fellow students about how they feel represented by our system and our politicians. Now it is high time to have voters represented on this blog. The Züri Fäscht takes place every three years. Equipped with a microphone and a camera, I joined the crowd to celebrate, and to ask a couple of questions about politics. …
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Oliver Lutz is Senior Digital and Content Marketing Manager at the UPC Switzerland. Here, he is responsible for esports.ch, an online portal all around Swiss e-sports. We met in Zurich on July 10. …
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On June 21, I visited Liip AG in their Zurich office at the Limmat. I met one of Liip’s co-founders and SP candidate for the national council, Hannes Gassert. He is dedicated to creating digital applications, which are designed in the best interest of the end-user. …
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This Weekend I was in Lausanne for a hackathon by ‘Le Temps’. During two days we worked on game concepts for political participation. The event was organized by Paul Ronga, Florian Fischbacher and Laure Dousset. I was in a team with Stéphane Decrey from Operation Libero. …
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Yesterday, I was in the Federal Palace to meet Christoph Stutz from the Parliamentary Services. The Parliament Services assure that the parliament can operate trouble free, and they are in charge of the parliament’s public relations. Here too, they use games to make politics more tangible. Christoph gave feedback on our concept and a short interview on voter participation. …
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Project CH+ made the final round for the FHNW Swiss Student Sustainability Challenge! After presenting the project in front of an expert jury, CH+ is officially one of this year’s 10 finalists. …
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Since 2011, Politcast Uri is a platform for the discussion of political topics in the canton Uri. The team of volunteers produces regular podcast episodes and short videos. Christian Arnold is one of the founding members. I met him on June 9 in Schattdorf. …
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The Centre for Democratic Studies Aarau is researching democratic systems, both nationally and internationally, while also doing a lot of work on political education. Stefan Walter and Manuel Hubacher concern themselves with political education in schools, and both use games to create innovative learning experiences. On Friday, June 6 I met them at the ZDA’s Villa Blumenhalde in Aarau. …
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Hans-Peter Hutter ist the Head of Human-Information Interaction and professor in Computer Science at the ZHAW (Zurich University of Applied Sciences) in Winterthur. On June 5, I met him in their Institute of Applied Information Technology at the Steinberggasse 13. …
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From Bern, I went on to Fribourg. Here I met with the President of the Swiss Game Center and co-founder of sugarcube Information Technology, Maurizio Rigamonti. …
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May 29 began with an appointment at the University of Bern. This time, I met Marc Bühlmann, the director of Année Politique Suisse (APS) and employee at the university’s institute of political science. Since 1967, the APS is documenting Swiss politics.,,,
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In the afternoon of May 23, I was a guest at inside labs. The tech company works in the intersection between technology, meaning and mind. While doing so, the end-users are always their first priority. …
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On May 23, I had the opportunity to present my work in front of Petra Huth and her team. The gfs.bern (Association of Social Research) is specialized on research concerning Swiss politics and communication. …
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Things are moving along! Today, on May 22, I met Zoë Maire. She is the deputy manager at FSPJ (Fédération Suisse des Parlements des Jeunes) and division manager at easyvote, the top address for simple and neutral information on Swiss referendums and the political system. …
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Time to pay a visit to the western part of Switzerland! On May 18, I was in Lausanne to meet Elias Farhan, Head of Game Programming at the SAE Institute Genève. …
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Yesterday, on May 15, I travelled to our administrative capital. Here I met Smartvote’s Senior Project Manager, Michael Erne. Smartvote uses questionnaires to create political profiles for parliamentarians and parties….
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What exactly are we trying to research in this project? Which questions need to be asked, so that we can find the right questions? …
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On April 29 I met Gregory Turkawka, mayor of Regensberg, Zurich and research associate at the Zurich University of Teacher Education. He is heavily involved with digital learning platforms. …
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Thanks to a refined game concept and a skill for community building, Philomena Schwab made Forbes’ “30 under 30” in the category ‘technology in Europe’. As co-founder of the successful game studio Stray Fawn, she continues to influence the industry with sophisticated concepts. Furthermore, she is dedicated to growing and supporting the Swiss game’s industry. …
Continue readingDuring a five day Workshop, we prototyped our masters project from research question to final prototype. From the 11th until the 15th of March, we analysed our projects from various angles in order to specify our vision.
Among other things, one of our tasks was to illustrate our idea with the aid of a physical model.
You are waiting at a tram station and are greeted by broad smiles and beaming faces:
“I am competent, vote for me!” Very convincing. But that hairdo looks weird. …
Continue readingWelcome to the project blog of CH+.
For five years I have been involved with “Serious Games”; games that are entertaining and educational at the same time. The fields of application are nearly unlimited!
More about me and my portfolio can be found here, but let’s stay on topic for now:
Why this project?
While conducting graduation research for my bachelor’s thesis, I was intrigued by the fact that there are thousands of articles on how to use behavioural models or psychological cues to motivate users – to consume. Look at this, buy that, you need this, treat yourself with that. Every day, we encounter these well-designed “manipulations”. And we love it, because successful design often guarantees good user experience.
In this context, entertainment media is getting more sophisticated too. As a designer, it concerns me to see how willingly people accept new technologies without questioning them. I fear that the divide between designers and consumers will continue to grow, not least thanks to algorithms and artificial intelligence. It keeps on getting easier for us designers to create custom experiences, to prepare and to filter content. The more money we have, the easier it becomes.
This is why it is necessary that we use these techniques of influence to encourage people to act on their own behalf. Because the methods are being used.