Design Opportunities for Freelancing Platforms: Online Freelancers’ Views on a Worker-Centred Design Fiction

Abstract

Freelancing platforms, such as Upwork and Fiverr, have become a viable source of work for millions of freelancers worldwide. However, these gig economy systems are not typically designed in ways that centre workers' preferences and wellbeing. In this paper, we describe the development and evaluation of 'Freelance Grow,' a design fiction portraying a freelancing platform that prioritises freelancers' professional development and peer support. The design fiction was informed by a systematic literature assessment, using recommendations from twenty-six sources for improving online freelancers' experiences. We then used the design fiction in focus groups with 23 online freelancers to investigate their views on the ideas suggested in our design fiction. Based upon a thematic analysis of the focus group transcripts, we present three opportunities and considerations for designing systems that further enable freelancers' work autonomy, entrepreneurial development, and peer support. Ultimately, we contribute an expanded understanding of design approaches to support online freelancers in the gig economy.CCS Concepts: • Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in HCI; Empirical studies in collaborative and social computing.

From flexibility to unending availability: Platform workers' experiences of work–family conflict

“…This information would serve to clarify whether some workers chose this work with a deliberate preference for independence, in spite of the known difficulties it poses for balancing work and family life. Studies of online freelancers reveal that many implicitly understand that a condition of their independence is the expectation of constant availability for client demands (Alvarez de la Vega et al, 2023). In a similar vein, it is possible that workers on location‐based platforms are effectively entering into a sort of Faustian pact, where the allure of autonomy comes at the cost of subordinating personal and family commitments to work demands (Dorschel, 2022).…”

Stakeholder-Centered AI Design: Co-Designing Worker Tools with Gig Workers through Data Probes

“…These instances and others centering stakeholders [4,7,33,40,45,89] illustrate the potential in working with stakeholders to inform, through personal contexts and experiences, how to design AI.…”

“…Researchers have also worked specifically with gig workers. Zhang et al [87] held co-design sessions with rideshare drivers to surface drivers' ideas for how to address or redesign algorithmic management; Bates et al [9] used co-design with courier drivers to examine their complex relationship with data, finding that reliance on PI tracking tools like Strava repurposed for gig work, can help fill the pieces left missing by the platform; and Alvarez de la Vega et al [4] utilized design fiction as a means of co-designing systems to support freelancers. Co-design has also been used as a method for creating PI systems [38,63,84], however, most such studies focus on users as consumers.…”

“…City-Level Data. The data for city-level data probes came directly from the City of Chicago 4 . Available back to 2018, we limited our dataset to the most recently available month (June 2022) because of size and processing power limitations.…”