Managing Crowdsourcing Ventures
Daren C. Brabham, Ph.D.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
October 27, 2011
MBA 812: Strategic Communication & Social Media
Prof. Michael Meredith
Agenda
• How and why I study crowdsourcing
• What crowdsourcing is
– Four types for four kinds of problems
• Effective management principles for
crowdsourcing ventures
• Q&A
How & Why I Study Crowdsourcing
How & Why I Study Crowdsourcing
• Crowdsourcing as a model for problem solving
• A critical, humanist approach
• More concerned with relationships & human
experience
– I’m optimistic, multi-method, holistic in research
• Less concerned with performance & efficiency
– Those are the computer scientists and business
innovation scholars
A Struggle Over the Term
• Challenges “in the form of an open call”
• “An online, distributed problem solving and
production model”
• Like anything in Wired, “crowdsourcing” was
an instant buzzword
• Old wine in new bottles?
• A bloated concept makes for unclear research
Generally, Crowdsourcing is…
• A process whereby:
– an organization poses a specific challenge to an
online community (a crowd)
– the crowd answers that challenge
– the organization benefits from the crowd’s labor
• Driven by collective intelligence & wisdom of
crowds
• Openness + top-down management
A Crowdsourcing Typology
•
•
•
•
Knowledge Discovery and Management
Broadcast Search
Peer-Vetted Creative Production
Distributed Human Intelligence Tasking
Knowledge Discovery & Mgmt
• Online communities challenged to uncover
existing knowledge in the network
• Amplify discovery capabilities of an
organization with limited resources
• Ideal for info. gathering, organizing, and
reporting problems (e.g., creating collective
resources)
Knowledge Discovery & Mgmt
Broadcast Search
• Online communities challenged to find
empirical solutions to difficult problems
• Casting a wide net finds the “needle in the
haystack” – the genius able to solve the
problem
• Ideal for ideation problems with empirical
solutions (e.g., scientific problems)
Broadcast Search
Peer-Vetted Creative Production
• Online communities challenged to develop
and choose solutions to ideation problems
• Inviting lot of diverse input brings in many
(different) ideas. People “find the best stuff”
• Ideal for ideation problems where solutions
are matters of taste or market support (e.g.,
design/aesthetic and policy problems)
Peer-Vetted Creative Production
Peer-Vetted Creative Production
Distributed Human Intelligence Tasking
• Online communities tasked to perform simple
tasks that computers cannot do well
• Decomposing a problem/task requiring human
intelligence into smaller pieces and
distributing it is faster, better
• Ideal for large-scale data analysis requiring
human intelligence
Distributed Human Intelligence Tasking
Typology Summary
• KD&M – Knowledge exists “out there.” Let’s find
it and organize it. (collective resources)
• BS – There’s an empirically right answer. We just
don’t know it. Let’s find it. (scientific problems)
• PVCP – The “right” answer is a matter of taste.
Let’s have the market submit and select what it
wants. (design & aesthetic problems)
• DHIT – We have lots of data to analyze.
Computers won’t do. Let’s break the problem
down and get people to do the work. (data
analysis problems)
10 Crowdsourcing Mgmt Principles
• 1. Clearly define your problem, solution
parameters, and selection mechanism.
10 Crowdsourcing Mgmt Principles
• 2. Determine your level of commitment to the
outcomes.
The impact of the crowd’s ideas on your
organizational decisions
Policy
Advisory
10 Crowdsourcing Mgmt Principles
• 3. Know the crowd and their motivations.
or
or
or
10 Crowdsourcing Mgmt Principles
• 4. Invest in usable, interesting, well designed
tools.
10 Crowdsourcing Mgmt Principles
• 5. Invest in legal help. Consider legal needs of
you and the crowd.
10 Crowdsourcing Mgmt Principles
• 6. Have a promotional plan & a plan to grow
and sustain the community.
10 Crowdsourcing Mgmt Principles
• 7. Be honest, transparent, and responsive.
10 Crowdsourcing Mgmt Principles
• 8. Be involved, but let go of control.
10 Crowdsourcing Mgmt Principles
• 9. Acknowledge users and follow through on
obligations.
10 Crowdsourcing Mgmt Principles
• 10. Assess the project from many angles.
– Site traffic analytics, user registration data
– Interviews with participants
– Analysis of submissions
– Public relations impact (even in failure)
Thank You!
• Questions?
www.linkedin.com/in/darenbrabham
@dbrabham
darenbrabham