VOLCROWE

Portsmouth University

Beakus produced three animated explainer films for the University of Portsmouth, commissioned to communicate the findings of the VOLCROWE research project - a study into the motivations and management of volunteer crowdsourcing through citizen science platforms like Zooniverse.

The three films cover the key findings of the research: what motivates people to contribute their time to citizen science (spoiler: it's the learning), how users naturally 'gamise' their activities to make serious tasks more playful and social, and how platforms like Zooniverse build organisational cultures that keep both their teams and their crowds engaged.

Directed by Rory Waudby-Tolley in a characterful, humorous 2D style - with sound design by Marian Mentrup - the films make genuinely complex research findings feel accessible and entertaining.