University of Washington
Fall 2012
HCDE 548 A - ADV TOPICS HCDE
Crowds and Crowdsourcing:
Exploring the Dynamics of Connected Crowd Work
MW 1:30-3:20
HCDE Small Conference Room, Sieg 427
Instructor: Kate Starbird
kstarbi@uw.edu
Office: Sieg 413
206-221-8178
Office Hours: Tues 1-3pm or by appointment
Course Website: http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~starbird/HCDE_548/
Introduction:
From microwork marketplaces to crisis mapping communities, socio-technical
systems that leverage the power of the remote, connected crowd are becoming
increasingly prevalent. Across application domains from t-shirt design to citizen
science to humanitarian response, crowd workers are being tapped to solve
problems that can neither be solved in conventional organizational configurations
nor with purely computational solutions. In this seminar, we will explore this
phenomenon, often referred to as crowdsourcing.
We will begin by delving into the history of crowdsourcing, exploring examples of
distributed crowd work that precede the digital age. Using this as background for a
critical examination of modern systems that leverage the crowd (e.g. Mechanical
Turk, Wikipedia, Ushahidi, reCAPTCHA), we will work to unpack the popular
“crowdsourcing” term—revealing its roots in open source principles and
outsourcing business models, and exploring related concepts of collective
intelligence, wisdom of crowds, and human computation. We will analyze existing
frameworks for characterizing crowd work, and work to develop our own
understanding of what the significant features of crowd work are and how they
map to different kinds of socio-technical configurations.
Objectives:
To develop knowledge about crowdsourcing and related forms of connected crowd
work (e.g. collective intelligence, wisdom of crowds, human computation) through
explorations of the evolution and history of, current applications for, and emerging
legal and ethical issues within the emerging phenomenon.
To consider crowdsourcing within the broader academic fields of human-computer
interaction and computer-supported cooperative work.
To critically engage with, discuss, and develop argumentation around the concept of
crowdsourcing/crowd work.
Assignments & Grading:
Readings: We will be reading several papers (or chapters) each week,
approximately 2-4 readings per class. There is some flexibility during the latter
part of our schedule, so some readings are not yet determined. These will be
posted at least two weeks beforehand on the course website. Readings, when not
available through UW libraries, will be available through the e-reserves.
20% Class Participation
40% Reading Responses: For each set of readings, you will be assigned a reading
response. For some of these responses (including the first assignment), you will be
asked to write a longer response to a given question or with a specific theme.
Other assignments will follow a standard format:
 1 page response for EACH reading (multiple chapters of the same book
count as one reading). 11-point font.
 Your name.
 Bibliographic citation for the work.
 1 paragraph summary of themes, author viewpoint, etc.
 1-2 paragraphs of critical analysis and/or commentary on how the work fits
into your research.
 2-3 questions for the class discussion.
Reading updates and response instructions for themed responses will be
announced during class and posted on the course website.
Responses should be submitted in person, in class, in hard copy.
20% Presentation – Seminar Facilitation: Each student will choose one seminar
date and theme for which they will prepare material and either present it to the
class (15-20 minutes with Q&A) or facilitate class discussion on the selected theme.
Each topic will take ½ of the seminar time for that day. You can select from
suggested topics (which may mean you’ll need to present on a specific date) or can
choose a related topic of your own. You will also select and assign 1-2 readings for
that date (I can help!). See Google Doc to sign-up: bit.ly/PtbE0k (You’ll need to
send a request for access).
20% Final Paper: There will be a 6-10 page research paper due the final week of
class. This paper can be in one of three formats:
1) Critical analysis of a topic related to crowd work.
2) Research paper or proposal for future work.
3) Description of a design for a novel crowd work application with
motivating research.
Late Policy and 5 Passes: You will be permitted five passes for the standard
reading responses – so five readings (not five days) for which you can opt of out
writing responses. You should still read the material, but you do not need to turn
in a written response. You do need to submit a piece of paper telling me you opt
out of that response. You cannot opt out of any of the non-standard
responses/assignments. Responses are considered late if they are not turned in
during class.
Required Texts: (These will be assigned readings).
Howe, J. (2008). Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd is Driving the Future
of Business. New York: Crown Business.
Grier, D.A. (2005). When Computers Were Human. Princeton University Press,
Princeton, N.J.
*Surowiecki, J. (2005). The Wisdom of Crowds. First Anchor Books Edition. New
York: Anchor Books.
* Note this is the 2005 edition, with a new Afterword.
Optional Text: (We might not cover it directly, but I recommend it. You may borrow
my copy sometime if you’d like).
Shirky, C. (2008). Here Comes Everybody. New York: The Penguin Press.
Schedule: See separate handout for current reading schedule. Check website for
updates: http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~starbird/HCDE_548/
Week, Day
Seminar Topic(s)
Week 1, Mon Sept 24
Syllabus and Defining Crowdsourcing
Week 1, Wed Sept 26
Crowdsourcing According to Howe
Week 2, Mon Oct 1
Roots and Relatives of Crowdsourcing: Collective
Intelligence & Wisdom of Crowds
Week 2, Wed Oct 3
Roots and Relatives of Crowdsourcing: Back to the Future
Week 3, Mon Oct 8
Roots and Relatives of Crowdsourcing: Collective
Intelligence—Swarm Intelligence vs. Conscious Collective
Production
Week 3, Wed Oct 10
Roots and Relatives of Crowdsourcing: Human
Computation
Week 4, Mon Oct 15
Crowdsourcing without a Net
Week 4, Wed Oct 17
Crowdsourcing Salon: From Collaborative Creation to
Collaborative Filtering
Week 5, Mon Oct 22
Crowdsourcing Salon: From Citizen Journalism to Citizen
Science
Week 5, Wed Oct 24
Crowdsourcing at CHI & CSCW
Week 6, Mon Oct 29
Turksourcing
Week 6, Wed Oct 31
*Student Defined Topics
Week 7, Mon Nov 5
*Student Defined Topics
Week 7, Wed Nov 7
*Student Defined Topics
Week 8, Wed Nov 14
Crowd Work in Crisis Response
Week 9, Mon Nov 19
Crowd Work in Crisis Response
Week 9, Wed Nov 21
TBD
Week 10, Mon Nov 26
*Student Defined Topics
Week 10, Wed Nov 28
*Student Defined Topics
Week 11, Mon Dec 3
Frameworks for Characterizing Crowd Work
Week 11, Wed Dec 5
What’s next? Beyond Crowdsourcing?
Signing up to Present/Facilitate:
bit.ly/PtbE0k (You’ll need to send a request for access).
Possible Themes:
Ethics of Crowdsourcing
Legal Issues and Crowdsourcing
Grassroots Government: Policy and the Crowd
Crowdsourcing and Accessibility
Crowdsourcing Education
Or choose your own.