AirCasting is an open-source environmental data visualization platform that consists of a smartphone app and online mapping system.
When Michael Heimbinder founded HabitatMap in 2007, he had a clear purpose: help communities understand and improve their environmental health. After struggling with developers who couldn't bring his vision to life, Michael met our team at a New York Tech Meetup.
"I had gone through a couple programmers who failed to deliver," Michael recalls. "When I met the Lunar Logic team, they agreed to do some development work for free to see how it would go. After about a two-week trial, we were excited about the progress and the professional level of service I'd received."
The partnership began with a straightforward goal - build planning and advocacy maps for communities. Working closely with Michael, our team created the initial HabitatMap web application. As community groups and schools started using it to highlight local environmental concerns, their feedback shaped both the product and our working relationship.
As environmental awareness grew during the 2010s, so did the community's appetite for data. People wanted to measure air quality in their neighborhoods and share their findings. This led to the emergence of the AirCasting platform and its companion hardware - the AirBeam sensor.
The mobile challenge was substantial. Users needed both iOS and Android apps that could reliably collect sensitive environmental data and connect to the AirBeam hardware. We expanded our team to include mobile developers working alongside the web team, ensuring users could effectively operate their AirBeam sensors through fully functional apps.
By 2017, AirCasting had found its place among environmental researchers, EPA scientists, and middle school classrooms. However, users still struggled with certain features, and newcomers often needed Michael's direct guidance to get started.
When one of our developers noticed users struggling with the data filtering system, it sparked a larger conversation about how people actually used the platform. We brought in design expertise for the first time, leading to some humbling discoveries about feature usability.
The subsequent redesign focused on making existing tools more intuitive rather than adding new features. We simplified the AirBeam setup with clear visual guides, reworked data filtering to match users' mental models, and added visual feedback. The impact was significant - website traffic doubled, and mobile app installations rose by 50%, driven by word of mouth from satisfied users.
Our technical approach prioritized reliability over trending technologies. We evolved the platform from a simple web application into a system that processes millions of location-based measurements from thousands of sensors worldwide. The platform handles this big data challenge through a contextual, dynamic interface - whether you're a student exploring your neighborhood's air quality or a researcher analyzing real-time geospatial patterns across cities. Even in areas with poor connectivity, users can rely on fast, stable performance with adaptive data visualization, making the platform truly accessible for both field research and community monitoring.
For mobile development, we tackled the complex challenge of hardware integration head-on. Our team created seamless connections between the mobile apps and AirBeam sensors, ensuring precise data collection in real-time. This robust approach to mobile sensing, combined with intelligent data validation, established AirCasting as a trusted platform for environmental research.
Finding the right development partner is crucial for long-term success. HabitatMap's experience shows how a trial period can establish trust and validate working relationships before making major commitments. The two-week trial period proved invaluable in confirming both technical capability and cultural alignment.
Michael's constant engagement with the community provided essential insights that shaped the product. Rather than guessing what users needed, direct feedback guided development priorities. This approach helped avoid building unnecessary features and ensured focus was invested in solving real user problems.
The transformation from a basic mapping tool to a comprehensive environmental platform happened gradually, driven by user needs rather than technology trends. This organic growth allowed for:
Even after a decade of success, the team remained open to challenging their assumptions. The redesign initiative showed how bringing in new expertise (design) could uncover blind spots and significantly improve user experience. The results – doubled website traffic and 50% more app installations – validated this humble approach.
The 17-year collaboration between HabitatMap and Lunar Logic demonstrates the value of long-term partnerships. Key elements include:
"Our relationship with Lunar Logic isn't typical client-vendor stuff," Michael reflects. "They've become partners in our mission. When they push back on an idea or suggest a different approach, I know it's because they care about getting it right for our users."
Today, AirCasting serves environmental advocates, researchers, and educators in ways neither team imagined in 2007. The platform continues to evolve, driven not by tech trends but by changing user needs and environmental challenges. As air quality monitoring becomes increasingly crucial for communities worldwide, having tools that people can actually use matters more than ever.
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