User Narrative

Christina Hough November 25, 2014

User narrative: supporting education and debate about conservation and animal husbandry Recently, there has been a flurry of negative press surrounding the relocation of the Toronto Zoo’s elephants, re-igniting a fierce debate over the ethics of animal captivity. Many visitors have questions about how the zoo balances competing priorities with respect to animal care and wildlife conservation. Critically engaged visitors - many of whom align closely with the zoo’s focus on education and conservation - will likely have the patience to read and absorb nuanced and thoughtful answers to these questions, and anything less will likely be perceived by them as “PR-speak.”

The following user narrative features Carolyn, a university student. She’s been reading coverage of the elephant controversy, and wants to know how seriously the zoo is taking concerns about animal captivity, such as those apparently being raised by elephant experts. She cares about issues like conservation and animal welfare. While she has happy childhood memories of going to the zoo, she’s now wondering whether she should be more critical of zoos and their practices, and goes to the zoo’s website to see if it has anything to say on the subject.

Phase 1

Carolyn wonders about the zoo’s commitment to animal welfare.

User Experience

Arriving at the zoo’s homepage, Carolyn hunts for information about the zoo’s commitment to conservation and animal welfare, and settles on the section, “Research and Conservation.” On that page, her eye is quickly caught by a link entitled, “Zoo Ethics and Animal Welfare.” She clicks on it immediately. Following a brief introduction that explains the zoo’s philosophy on animal welfare and conservation, Carolyn is pleased to find a selection of articles - many written by local researchers and zoo staff - that demonstrate thoughtful engagement with debates over zoo ethics. The articles lay out

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Christina Hough November 25, 2014

the ethical imperatives zoos consider with respect to wildlife, and acknowledge their complex and sometimes conflicting nature.

Carolyn spends about an hour reading articles, because they are well-written and because she finds the topics compelling. She also watches a video about how a zookeeper makes sure her charges are happy and stimulated. Overall, she is sympathetic to the zoo’s conviction that zoo visits and educational programs inspire people to care about wildlife, and it does sound as if the zoo is regularly asking itself the hard questions about captivity and animal welfare.

Content Needed

On the Research and Conservation page:

• link to a page devoted to Zoo Ethics and Animal Welfare

On the Zoo Ethics and Animal Welfare page:

• introduction, including a statement of the zoo’s approach to ethics

• articles about animal welfare in zoos, which honestly addresses concerns about wild animals in captivity and lay out the rationale for maintaining the zoo - should be nuanced and interesting

• video content on zoo best practices, which show examples of everyday animal care

Phase 2

Carolyn has more detailed questions about the experiences of wild animals in captivity.

User Experience

Carolyn still wonders how zoo staff know about animal experiences in captivity, so she follows a link from one of the articles to a page on research into animal behavioural research at the zoo.

Carolyn learns from the introduction what the goals of behavioural research are. She goes on to quickly scans a list of research abstracts - getting a sense of the breadth of the zoo’s work on this topic - but returns to the articles featured at the top of the page. She clicks through to read a couple

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of them. One, describing how researchers assess the effectiveness of enrichment techniques on the zoo’s orangutans, particularly captures her interest, especially after she watches the embedded videos of orangutans in the wild, and playing with toys in the zoo exhibit. Footage of an orangutan interacting with an ipad, though fascinating, raises questions in her mind.

Content Needed:

On the Behavioural Research page:

• introductory overview

• research abstracts of all behavioural studies conducted at the zoo

• articles written for laypeople, describing selected research studies

Within articles:

• embedded multimedia wherever possible

Phase 3

Carolyn asks a question directly.

User Experience

Since the orangutan article didn’t answer her question about orangutans and ipads, she clicks on the navigation category “Forum.” She goes to the subforum on animal care at the zoo, and starts a new thread asking about the orangutan’s interactions with the ipad: why does the orangutan only interact with it through the bars and under the supervision of zoo staff? Is it a gimmick or trick for the benefit of visitors, or is the orangutan really engaged? She leaves the site for a while, and when she returns the next day she finds several user replies, and also a reply by a zoo staff member that explains that they are still working to make the ipads “orangutan-proof” so they can be left with the animals, and that the orangutans are free to engage or walk away. The staff member reiterates the exciting possibilities that ipads might offer the orangutans, and also includes a link to a page describing the new organutan enclosure the zoo is planning on building. Carolyn clicks through the link and reads about the orangutan exhibit, including how it will benefit the zoo’s organutan population, and the importance of the zoo’s breeding program to the survival and genetic diversity of the species.

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Alternative path: Carolyn spends time reading the subforum carefully to see if anyone has already started a discussion about the orangutan/ipad question. She scans several discussions, and reads a few that interest her in more detail. There is a diversity of opinions, and Carolyn thinks some of the posts make interesting points. She eventually finds a thread on a similar topic to the one she was looking for, and posts her question there.

Content Needed

On the Forums page:

• subforums dedicated to specific topics of interest, including “Animal Care at the Zoo”

• user-generated content in forum threads

• clear rules on forum etiquette, with moderators to ensure that guidelines are followed

• posts by zoo staff addressing user questions as needed

On the Orangutan Exhibit page (which appears in the Fundraising section, but is also available in the Conservation section):

• sections describing the reasons why the zoo is expanding and improving its orangutan enclosure, and the importance of the organutan breeding program

Phase 4

An open ending: Carolyn becomes a critical and engaged zoo supporter and wildlife advocate

Carolyn finds the zoo’s discussion forum interesting and engaging, and will return often to read and participate. She sometimes disagrees with zoo staff or zoo policy on certain issues, but she can see the depth of their experience, expertise and commitment from their thoughtful participation in the forums. She now feels comfortable visiting the zoo and encouraging others to visit and support it, and is becoming an increasingly well-informed advocate of wildlife conservation.

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