1. mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile
crowdsourcing
Arpit Jain
Thesis supervisor: Dr. T.V Prabhakar
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
IIT Kanpur
July 13, 2015

2. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Outline
1 Thesis in a slide
2 Introduction
3 Background & Related work
4 Problem statement
5 mCrowd in incentive based marketplace setting
6 mCrowd in Classroom setting
7 Conclusions
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

3. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Outline
1 Thesis in a slide
2 Introduction
3 Background & Related work
4 Problem statement
5 mCrowd in incentive based marketplace setting
6 mCrowd in Classroom setting
7 Conclusions
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

4. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Thesis in a slide
Reasoning
Current incentive based crowdsourcing platforms are not customized
for smartphone users
Most “tasks” on such platforms are lengthy, uninteresting, require
longer attention span and don’t employ smartphone sensors
These platforms are generally driven by financial incentives alone
Fail to utilize the power of online newcomers using smartphones
mCrowd
Crowdsourcing framework keeping smartphone users in mind
Focused on creating entertainment driven environments
Implementation
Creating gamified incentive based mobile crowdsourcing marketplace
Conducting MCQ based quizzes in flipped classroom setting
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

5. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Outline
1 Thesis in a slide
2 Introduction
3 Background & Related work
4 Problem statement
5 mCrowd in incentive based marketplace setting
6 mCrowd in Classroom setting
7 Conclusions
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

6. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Introduction
What is crowdsourcing
Approach to solve problems by posing them to an open crowd
Reward is offered for solutions meeting some quality threshold
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

7. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Crowdsourcing in industry
Company initiative Goal
Amazon Mechanical turk general-purpose
Burda Media BurdaStyle fashion design (sewing)
CNN iReport news reporting
Eli Lilly InnoCentive scientific R & D
Facebook Translations language translation
Google Image labeler image labeling
Netflix Netflix prize data mining
Clickworker Virtual workforce general-purpose
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

8. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Crowdsourcing across various disciplines
Company Area
Maven Consulting
99designs Design
KickStarter Funding
Trada SEO/SEM
TopCoder Engineering
iStockPhoto Photos
Voice123 Voice-overs
Zero Flaws Image manipulation
Gengo Translation
Casting Words Transcription
Innocentive Research & Development
Samasource Corporate social responsibility
ReTel Surveillance analytics
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

9. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Crowdsourcing and Ubiquitous computing
Framework Area
Ushahidi Non-profit software company that develops free and open-
source software for information collection, visualisation,
and interactive mapping: crowdsourcing for social activism
and public accountability
OpenDataKit Free and open-source set of tools which help organizations
author, field, and manage mobile data collection solutions
Eclipse Scout Context-aware development framework for mobile appli-
cations, runs on a mobile android device, and provides
applications with automatic sensing of context and envi-
ronment information
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

10. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Outline
1 Thesis in a slide
2 Introduction
3 Background & Related work
4 Problem statement
5 mCrowd in incentive based marketplace setting
6 mCrowd in Classroom setting
7 Conclusions
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

11. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Incentive based crowdsourcing
Giving incentives to users generates traction and attracts users
Has many issues (spam detection, fraudulent data, multiple profiles)
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

12. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Games with a purpose
Users tend to give honest responses when a gamified version of the
task is presented to them (Reference: https://goo.gl/L7BxBU)
User visits & retention are entertainment-driven (not incentive)
Method proven to be hugely successful in the past
Examples
ESP game
Phetch
Peekaboom
Verbosity
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

13. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Pervasive computing
More users are coming online, most of them using smartphones
These smartphones have inbuilt sensors capable of capturing rich
data in real-time
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

14. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Outline
1 Thesis in a slide
2 Introduction
3 Background & Related work
4 Problem statement
5 mCrowd in incentive based marketplace setting
6 mCrowd in Classroom setting
7 Conclusions
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

15. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Problem statement
Issues with existing solutions
No existing platform to cater tasks suitable for mobile phones
Most platforms require longer attention user spans, and are boring
Generally driven by financial incentives alone
Our solution - mCrowd
Framework to support shorter tasks, suited for mobile phones
Works for different type of response collection and input formats
Implementation
mCrowd to create incentive based mobile crowdsourcing marketplace
mCrowd to conduct MCQ based quizzes in flipped classroom setting
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

16. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Problem statement
Issues with existing solutions
No existing platform to cater tasks suitable for mobile phones
Most platforms require longer attention user spans, and are boring
Generally driven by financial incentives alone
Our solution - mCrowd
Framework to support shorter tasks, suited for mobile phones
Works for different type of response collection and input formats
Implementation
mCrowd to create incentive based mobile crowdsourcing marketplace
mCrowd to conduct MCQ based quizzes in flipped classroom setting
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

17. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Problem statement
Issues with existing solutions
No existing platform to cater tasks suitable for mobile phones
Most platforms require longer attention user spans, and are boring
Generally driven by financial incentives alone
Our solution - mCrowd
Framework to support shorter tasks, suited for mobile phones
Works for different type of response collection and input formats
Implementation
mCrowd to create incentive based mobile crowdsourcing marketplace
mCrowd to conduct MCQ based quizzes in flipped classroom setting
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

18. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
mCrowd - Concept map
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

19. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Outline
1 Thesis in a slide
2 Introduction
3 Background & Related work
4 Problem statement
5 mCrowd in incentive based marketplace setting
6 mCrowd in Classroom setting
7 Conclusions
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

20. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
mCrowd to create incentive based marketplace
Architecture
Server side - Javascript, PHP, Python to handle business logic
Client side - Used phonegap framework to create mobile app
Database - MongoDB (NoSQL based)
Features
Types of users - Requesters & Workers
Types of tasks - General purpose & location specific
Response categories - Data rating, validation & generation
Data type involved - Text, images & files
E-Mail and SMS alerts
User notifications, profile, facebook sign-in, levels, badges & wallet
Ability to add questions/manage responses singularly as well in bulk
with/without custom time limits
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

21. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
mCrowd to create incentive based marketplace
Architecture
Server side - Javascript, PHP, Python to handle business logic
Client side - Used phonegap framework to create mobile app
Database - MongoDB (NoSQL based)
Features
Types of users - Requesters & Workers
Types of tasks - General purpose & location specific
Response categories - Data rating, validation & generation
Data type involved - Text, images & files
E-Mail and SMS alerts
User notifications, profile, facebook sign-in, levels, badges & wallet
Ability to add questions/manage responses singularly as well in bulk
with/without custom time limits
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

22. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Example tasks (Inexhaustive list)
Question Task type
Do you like this image? Data validation
Is this image profane? Data validation
Rate this image out of 5 stars Data rating
Which of these 2 designs is better? Data validation
Which of these 2 designs is better and why? Data entry
Is the sentiment in this tweet, positive or negative? Data validation
Rate the sentiment in this tweet Data rating
Is this comment suitable for an e-commerce website? Data validation
Can you write a better definition for crowdsourcing Data entry
Help rate Campus Restaurant Data rating
Upload a photo of a red object around you Data generation
Are these two images that of Campus restaurant? Data validation
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

23. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
App-Server interaction
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

24. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Task-Data type interactions
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

25. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Logical view
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

26. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Process view
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

27. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Deployment view
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

28. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Scenarios
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

29. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Snapshots - Worker signup/login
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

30. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Snapshots - Worker sample tasks
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

31. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Snapshots - Worker profile
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

32. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Snapshots - Requester
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

33. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Snapshots - Requester individual task upload
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

34. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Outline
1 Thesis in a slide
2 Introduction
3 Background & Related work
4 Problem statement
5 mCrowd in incentive based marketplace setting
6 mCrowd in Classroom setting
7 Conclusions
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

35. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
mCrowd in flipped classroom setting
Working
Using mCrowd to conduct online MCQ based quizzes
These quizzes can act as precursors to lecture (revision medium,
homework) with optional weightage
Features
Quiz is available only for preset duration of time
Students can continue quiz where they left
The student needs to necessarily give the quiz in the classroom
(IP-checks)
Teacher gets graded response sheet at the end of the quiz
Future work
Can be extended to other types of questions as well
Gamification by “karma” points in forums for user participation
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

36. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
mCrowd in flipped classroom setting
Working
Using mCrowd to conduct online MCQ based quizzes
These quizzes can act as precursors to lecture (revision medium,
homework) with optional weightage
Features
Quiz is available only for preset duration of time
Students can continue quiz where they left
The student needs to necessarily give the quiz in the classroom
(IP-checks)
Teacher gets graded response sheet at the end of the quiz
Future work
Can be extended to other types of questions as well
Gamification by “karma” points in forums for user participation
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

37. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
mCrowd in flipped classroom setting
Working
Using mCrowd to conduct online MCQ based quizzes
These quizzes can act as precursors to lecture (revision medium,
homework) with optional weightage
Features
Quiz is available only for preset duration of time
Students can continue quiz where they left
The student needs to necessarily give the quiz in the classroom
(IP-checks)
Teacher gets graded response sheet at the end of the quiz
Future work
Can be extended to other types of questions as well
Gamification by “karma” points in forums for user participation
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

38. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Snapshots - Student
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

39. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Snapshots - Teacher
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

40. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Outline
1 Thesis in a slide
2 Introduction
3 Background & Related work
4 Problem statement
5 mCrowd in incentive based marketplace setting
6 mCrowd in Classroom setting
7 Conclusions
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

41. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Conclusions
Conceptualization of mCrowd
Created a framework (mCrowd) for incentive based mobile
crowdsourcing
Implemented two applications based on mCrowd
Working with phonegap - keep most of the data on client side itself,
efficient usage of LocalStorage variables to maintain sessions
Tips for avoiding spam
Be specific
Don’t be too cheap
Have a way of verifying the results
Weigh your options
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

42. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Future Work
Using social media connect, rewarding active players, using lives in a
game can lead to better user experience.
Enabling HTML5 canvas for mobile users can lead to a new form of
data collection - data collection by user drawings
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

43. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Questions
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing

44. Thesis in a slide Introduction Background Problem statement Marketplace setting Classroom setting Conclusions
Thank you!
Arpit Jain (10327145) mCrowd: A framework for incentive based mobile crowdsourcing