Geek Speak: Anna Lisa Bohn, designer of Etho

Anna Lisa Bohn wants to make it easier for people to buy ethical goods and avoid products that are harmful to the environment and society. The 22-year-old Kitsilano resident has designed an iPhone application called Etho, which is one of 17 entries in the B.C. government’s Apps for Climate Action contest.

Etho doesn’t actually exist yet. The app, which will rate products on their environmental, social, and health impacts, was Bohn’s grad project at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. She majored in communication design and graduated in May with a bachelor of design degree. Now, Bohn’s working for Seven25 Design & Typography and talking to programmers about developing Etho. She hopes the iPhone app will be ready for release in six months.

On September 16, Bohn will find out whether she’s won any of the prizes up for grabs in the contest. The public can vote on-line for the people’s choice winner until August 29.

The Georgia Straight reached Bohn by phone during her lunch break.

Why did you design Etho?

I started thinking about the cost of our manufacturing system that wasn’t measured in money—things like biodiversity and wages in other countries—basically external costs in places we don’t see and that’s not reflected in the price. Basically, thinking of the idea that a product’s true value isn’t measured by a monetary system. So, from there, I started experimenting with ways to show that or link that to the consumer at the point of purchase. The iPhone app just became the best way or the smartest way to make it happen.

How would someone use the app when it’s built?

Well, there’s a number of functions that you could potentially use. The first one is the scan and instant rating sort of function. You grab a product at the grocery store, scan the barcode, get an instant rating broken down into three components—ecological, social, and health—and be able to see where the product’s strengths and weaknesses lie and what other products are rated better. You kind of get an average score, compared to the other types of products—similar products.

If you so choose, you could go deeper and deeper to get, you know, why is it rated that way in health, even to the point of seeing an ingredient description or linking it to articles about controversial ingredients and stuff like that. So, you can learn as much as you want or as little as you need to make those quick decisions.

Etho will assign products a rating based on their environmental, social, and health impacts.

Why did you enter Etho in the Apps for Climate Action contest?

Well, it seemed like, “What a coincidence? I can’t believe this is happening. I already have a fully fleshed-out concept. That’d be kind of a shame not to enter.” I’m still not sure whether I’m actually eligible, because my app isn’t fully functioning. I tried to find that out beforehand, reading the guidelines, but I haven’t really gotten a straight answer.

Any perhaps publicity or even prize—although I have no idea whether that’ll happen or not, or if it even can happen—would greatly help to put this into action. I told you I’m a student; I don’t have any money. Really, anything would be a great help in making it real.

What do you think of the other apps in the contest?

I haven’t actually managed to take a look. I’m just working a ton, trying to fit in my time. So, basically, I’ll take a look shortly. I saw the article in the Georgia Straight about them. They mentioned, I think, 10 or so candidates. They had some interesting ideas, some of which focused on really specific parts of climate change. I’ll be interested to see whether there’s some apps in the running that focus on larger systems, like this app is trying to do.

How much do environmental concerns influence your own purchasing decisions?

Well, it’s constantly a balancing act for me, because, just sort of on a student living wage, oftentimes the products that are organic or generally more ethical in how they’re made tend to be more expensive. So, I’m always trying to balance that. But I try to be conscious of what products are linked to what manufacturers and what suppliers, where they come from, so I can consciously try to avoid a product that’s been flagged in the news.

It’s kind of hard to balance it, because oftentimes I don’t feel anyone sees that I’ve consciously avoided or it’s just a drop in the bucket. No one knows that I’ve made the decision to avoid that product based on that. If the app ever does get working and a second version, a third version, there will be ways to kind of advertise or show that people are consciously making purchasing decisions based on what they know of a product.

Every Friday, Geek Speak catches up with someone in Vancouver’s technology sector, video-game industry, or social-media scene. Who should we interview next? Tell Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui.