The Guardian launches citizen journalism app ahead of its digital edition launch in Australia via Sydney-based digital agency Mentally Friendly
Launching a digital edition in Australia later this year, The Guardian has already been tapping Australia’s digital resources, using Sydney based agency Mentally Friendly to launch their first ever citizen journalism App – GuardianWitness.
The Guardian now has the ability to crowd source information on a global scale, thanks to Australian based digital communications agency.
The mobile application makes it even easier for readers to get involved by submitting their videos, pictures and text directly for inclusion on the platform, the Guardian is able to crowd source content from around the globe.
Working closely with The Guardian team, Mentally Friendly used an agile and highly collaborative method of conception, design and development to evolve the concept.
Says Rob Boyett, mobile director of Mentally Friendly: “The project worked in fast iterations with over 6 releases and 12 months of live data taking us to the product we see today.”
Mentally Friendly’s Sydney office provided strategic support to the MF London office who lead the project and delivered on user experience, design and development.
The first week after the launch of GuardianWitness has been a fantastic success – by 3pm on the launch day the app had 924 submissions. Submissions are now fast approaching 10,000 and growing in frequency. The app has also featured in the ‘new & noteworthy’ and ‘editors’ Choice’ sections of the app store.