Bellingcat’s (aspiring) tool developer survey 2023
Welcome to Bellingcat’s survey for (aspiring) tool developers!

At Bellingcat, we are very grateful to be approached by members from the tech community who are interested in building tools for open source researchers.    
                    
If you are an (aspiring) tool developer who would like to make a contribution to impactful investigations, we invite you to fill out this survey! We are also interested in hearing from you if you are already developing tools for researchers, either as part of your job or in your free time.

You can find some examples of tools that are used by online researchers in our Online Investigation Toolkit: bit.ly/bcattools.

You can choose to fill out the form anonymously or you can provide your name and contact details if you so wish. You can do this towards the end of the survey.
 
There is no limitation for how long your answers can be. Please feel free to write as much as you like. We appreciate detailed answers and are looking forward to reading what you have to say! You can also skip questions that do not apply to your situation.
 
Thank you in advance! We appreciate your support.

Bellingcat's Investigative Tech Team

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Do you develop tools for your work or in your free time? *
If you develop tools for your work, how would you describe your area of work and your role?
What best describes your gender? *
Where are you based? *
Choose your age group: *
What is your level of experience in terms of tool development? *

If you have (some) tool development experience: How did you start in this field and how did you gain the skills you have today?

What motivates you to build tools for open source researchers? *
If you are interested in building tools in your free time: What motivates you to spend you spare time on building tools for open source researchers?
What type of tools do you prefer to build?
What programming languages do you prefer? And why?
What is the most challenging aspect when building tools for the field of open source research? *
What do you enjoy most when developing tools for researchers? *
How do you find the experience of coming up with ideas for tools that you want to build?
Very easy
Very difficult
Clear selection
How do you come up with ideas for tools that you want to build?
Clear selection
Do you collaborate with others in the Tech Community when building tools?
Clear selection
Do you collaborate with researchers when building tools?
Clear selection

What types of tools do you like to build?

How would you like researchers to find the tools you build? *
Required
What value you hope your tools (will) add to the work of open source researchers? *
What are your favourite online research tools and why? (feel free to be specific and to name concrete tools).  
Are there online research tools that you generally dislike? If yes, please details what the tools are and why you dislike them?
What distinguishes tools you like from tools you dislike?
Are you interested in volunteering for Bellingcat? *
If you are interested in volunteering for Bellingcat: Why would you like to do so?
How could Bellingcat support you develop tools?
What should Bellingcat offer to the tech community?
Clear selection
How would you prefer to get started on opens source code contributions to Bellingcat? (if this applies to you, otherwise you can skip the question)
Clear selection
Are there any other ways in which you like to contribute to Bellingcat?
We would love to talk to you: Would you be ready to be contacted by Bellingcat to tell us more about your experience or your wishes regarding tool development for open source researchers? If yes, please provide an e-mail address:
We don’t ask you for confidential tool development details, we are more interested in learning more about processes and needs, not in your code.
 Is there anything else that you would like to tell us?
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