Birds are everywhere; but have you listened to them closely?

Birding is a hobby getting more popular today. However, not everyone birds the same way.

In this project, I facilitated field observation and interviews with birders of all visual abilities and led mixed ability co-design workshops and creative strategy to reframe birding for people of all abilities.

My role

UX Researcher & Strategist

Team

UX Researcher

Design Strategist

Product Designer

Skills

Co-design workshops

Creative strategy

Mixed-method analysis

Timeline

Jan 2026 – Present

Part. 1 Context

Rethink birding

Building on a previous research by Katarina Blind, I was curious about the idea of birding as an auditory experience. Birding is typically framed around sight, but the auditory dimension, the songs, the calls, the layered soundscape of a place, felt like an entirely different way of engaging with birds that most tools and most birders don't fully explore.

The research showed that blind and low vision birders describe their practice in deeply relational terms: birds are friends, or birding as a way of life, as something to connect with nature.

That unique perspective felt worth building. Hence, we proactively pitched a project to Merlin Bird ID (opens in a new tab) by Cornell Lab of Ornithology (opens in a new tab) to make birding more accessible and enjoyable by more people.

Slide decks for communication with Merlin Bird ID app by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Part. 2 Research

Birding by ear

Previous study made me realize how underrepresented BLV people are in the current visually-focused digital world. Though birding is typically treated as a visual hobby, BLV birders are tuned into something sighted birders often miss entirely, the emotion carried in a bird's call, the relationship built through sound.

That gap is exactly why direct empathy isn't fully possible for a sighted researcher, so I insisted on conducting collaborative design workshops, listening closely to what BLV birders actually wanted and working with them to shape what could improve.

We're here, and we love to bird.
BLV birder, Cardinal

Field observations with BLV and novice sighted birders during outdoor birding outings

We went out with participants in their natural environment (noted above) to see firsthand how BLV and novice sighted birders navigate the experience.

I recruited the sighted participants, facilitated three interviews, and then ran the data analysis of all participants, surfacing meaning-making patterns observation alone couldn't capture. App store reviews helped validate those themes at scale.

All built toward co-design workshops; we recruited, ran, and analyzed all four methods within a single month.

Research methods overview for field observations, interviews, app store review analysis, and co-design

I led the design of the workshop flow and structure, where we created 3 audio-focused activities around post-birding. Then I ran the data analysis of both the co-design sessions.

Mixed visual ability co-design workshop activities and participant materials

Part. 3 Findings

Hearing from people with BLV

I assumed blind birders would gravitate toward sound and sighted birders toward sight, a split that felt obvious going in, something our co-design sessions confirmed when one BLV birder was surprised by how visually focused sighted birders were.

However, I didn't expect that novice sighted birders felt just as strongly about bird song.

I would probably say hearing [is the most enjoyable sense], because 99 [percent] of bird songs, I think, are great.
Sighted birder, Black-capped chickadee

Blind participants went further, describing what that sound made possible for them, not just enjoyment, but access itself.

Bird song just makes it so accessible to us [...] Being able to connect with nature, so much of nature is so visual.
BLV birder, Cardinal

Both groups also converged on what happened after listening. Regardless of visual ability, sharing bird media, whether sending it or receiving it, was how people re-engaged with a past encounter, not only listening back, but also improving their own birding knowledge as well.

I usually send videos to my brother... [Through him, I learned about] red-breasted merganser, and I didn't know what it was when I first saw it.
Sighted birder, Great blue heron

I'll almost always listen to it [bird songs others shared], because if they're sharing it, then they're sharing it for a reason, and it's probably quite good.
BLV birder, European swift

These findings are central to the design direction we're building now: an audio-first experience centered on sharing as well as re-engagement with past experience, which wasn't just an accommodation for BLV birders.

Part. 4 Next Steps

Where this is going

We are moving into the design phase, closely working with Merlin Bird ID (opens in a new tab) design and developing teams to translate these findings into a concept grounded in what we learned from participants.

Stay tuned! ✨

Next Step

Collaborating with Merlin closely to figure out what design directions we want to take, making sure it is grounded in research as well as meeting their business goal and missions, preserving ecosystem and environment conservation.

What I learned

Conducting audio-based interviews is a real challenge. You need to balance when to jump in and when to move on. Everything needs to be communicated clearly and verbally, including who is speaking and who is next, espcially during co-design when there were multiple participants and researchers, because participants cannot rely on visual cues. This was practice I did not expect to need and will not forget.

I enjoyed the most during the co-design workshops where we played around different audio composition to understand what people wanted in their retrospective audio highlights.

Bringing both groups into the same room also surfaced something the separate sessions could not: where sighted novice birders started to hear the experience the way BLV birders described it.