Motivating Multi-Generational Crowd Workers in Social-Purpose Work

Abstract

Crowdsourcing for social goals (e.g., supporting public libraries or people with disabilities) is a promising area. However, little is known about how to develop active worker communities for such goals. First, we need reliable metrics for the workers' motivation. Second, the characteristics of senior crowd workers have rarely been studied, even though they often play a primary role in social-purpose work. This work introduces a four-quadrant worker motivation model for social-purpose crowdsourcing and describes a system based on that model. Then we investigate the outcomes from the system's operations for six months, which involved both young and senior workers, seeking better ways to build an active community of crowd workers. We analyzed the workers' activities based on the system logs, conducted a survey, assessed the correlations between the subjective values and actual behaviors, and then discuss the implications.

Interdependence as a Frame for Assistive Technology Research and Design

“…The designers of Incloodle [51] observed that neurotypical children often excluded neurodiverse children from play activities, and designed a cooperative photography application to enforce equal participation among participants to counter this hierarchy. Other work explored the potential of people with disabilities as employees [65] or volunteers [24,27], recognizing their unique strengths rather than immediately classifying people with disabilities as "less than." These papers begin the hard work of challenging hierarchies that devalue disabilities in favor of more abilities.…”

“…We identify two threads of ongoing research related to crowd work and accessibility that may be usefully expanded through an interdependence framing. First, AT researchers [4,5,9,24,27,53,56,61,62,65] have explored crowd work as a means for people with disabilities to both receive assistance and find employment. Research regarding on-demand assistance focuses on systems, like VizWiz and RegionSpeak [4,6,62], that connect a disabled person in need of assistance with a remote crowd worker.…”

“…A second thread of research addresses the viability of crowd work as a source of income and volunteerism for older adults [9,24] and people with disabilities [27,53,56,65]. Findings show that members of this population are interested and capable of doing the work.…”

An interdisciplinary perspective on gamification: Mechanics, psychological mediators and outcomes

“…In literature, it is difficult to demonstrate exactly the linkages and the causative pathways between mechanics, mediators and outcomes [30,31]. To illustrate this, a mechanic, designed as a badge or a reward, has been shown to impact intrinsic motivation to perform certain tasks [60]. However, exactly which psychological concepts or mediators contribute most impact and how they relate to each other remain unanswered.…”

“…In business and marketing, research shows that intrinsic motivation is influenced by idea generation and purchase intention [40,52]. Crowdsourcing as a domain uses intrinsic motivation in several studies, influencing participation, contribution, and worker performance [56,60,63,66]. Other domains that emphasize the effects of motivation are learning [76], computer science [77], sustainability [88], tourism [94], and health [31].…”