We the People of the Crowd
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Crowdsourcing involves outsourcing tasks traditionally performed by employees to a large group of people through an open call. It can take two forms: adding capacity by splitting large jobs into smaller microtasks, or accessing expertise to tap into the wisdom of crowds. The document provides guidance on developing effective problem statements for crowdsourcing, including outlining the problem, past attempts to solve it, desired solutions, exclusions, success criteria, and deliverables. It also compares internal, hybrid, and external crowds and provides decision trees to help determine which approach is best suited for the problem.
![What Is Crowdsourcing?
Eugene Ivanov (2021) 2
Simplifying Jeff Howe’s original
definition, I define crowdsourcing
as outsourcing a job to a crowd
of external contributors
[Crowdsourcing is] “the act of taking a job traditionally
performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and
outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of
people in the form of an open call.”
(Jeff Howe, 2006)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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We the People of the Crowd
- 1. Eugene Ivanov (2021) 1 We the People of the Crowd A short introduction to crowdsourcing
- 2. What Is Crowdsourcing? Eugene Ivanov (2021) 2 Simplifying Jeff Howe’s original definition, I define crowdsourcing as outsourcing a job to a crowd of external contributors [Crowdsourcing is] “the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call.” (Jeff Howe, 2006)
- 3. Two Forms of Crowdsourcing Eugene Ivanov (2021) 3 https://www.qmarkets.net/blog/what-is-crowdsourcing-and-how-can-it-add-value-to-your-enterprise/?utm_content=119105595&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&hss_channel=lcp-930816 While there is a lot of outsourceable jobs, crowdsourcing can be divided in two major forms: adding capacity and accessing expertise
- 4. Adding Capacity (Microtasking): From Small Parts to the Whole Eugene Ivanov (2021) 4 Adding capacity (microtasking) is the process of splitting a large job into small, usually identical, parts. A crowd is then asked to assemble these smaller tasks into a larger whole
- 5. Adding Capacity: The Benefits of a Multiplier Effect Eugene Ivanov (2021) 5 Adding capacity provides the benefits of a multiplier effect: using multiple contributors in parallel allows the whole job to be completed faster as a result
- 6. Accessing Expertise (Crowdsourced Innovation) Eugene Ivanov (2021) 6 https://www.qmarkets.net/blog/what-is-crowdsourcing-and-how-can-it-add-value-to-your-enterprise/?utm_content=119105595&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&hss_channel=lcp-930816 Accessing expertise is the process of exploring the proverbial “wisdom of crowds.” It is used to help firms achieve an important objective, like designing a new product or optimizing performance
- 7. Crowdsourced Innovation: The Value of Extreme Value Eugene Ivanov (2021) 7 Idea Value Crowd Experts Probability of getting an idea Accessing expertise is a realization of the “value of extreme value” concept. While experts usually provide solutions that are more valuable on average than those provided by the crowd, it is the crowd that often comes up with an extremely valuable, sometimes completely unorthodox, solution
- 8. 5 Characteristics of a Problem Suitable for Crowdsourcing Eugene Ivanov (2021) 8 The problem must be relevant to your business, so that solving it would result in creating an appreciable value (ideally measurable in $$ terms). Ideally, the problem should be such that even a partial solution to it would still result in creating an appreciable value for your business. The problem could be formulated as a small, specific, and actionable question/task that can be answered/accomplished within weeks or months, not years. You can articulate specific, ideally quantitative, requirements that every successful solution must meet. If solving the problem requires sharing internal information with external parties, the data must be appropriately prepared (i.e., decontextualized, deanonymized, etc.), ideally well in advance. Five major characteristics of a problem making it suitable for a successful crowdsourcing campaign
- 9. 6 Steps to Developing Effective Problem Statement: Overview Eugene Ivanov (2021) 9 Title F Title D Title E Title B This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sampletext. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. 06 What is the form/format the desired solution should be presented in? DELIVERABLES 5 Outline criteria that every successful solution should meet. SUCCESS CRITERIA 4 Can you describe solutions you know you will not accept? EXCLUSIONS 1 Describe your problem (pain point). What is the origin of the problem? PAIN 2 Have you already tried to solve this problem? Why were these efforts unsuccessful? PAST 3 Describe a desired solution to your problem. SOLUTION 1 PAIN 2 PAST 3 SOLUTION 4 EXCLUSIONS 5 SUCCESS CRITERIA 6 DELIVERABLES Correctly defining the problem-to-be-solved is the key prerequisite for a successful crowdsourcing campaign. Presented here are six most important components of effective problem statement
- 10. Step 1 - Pain Eugene Ivanov (2021) 10 Finding the cause of a problem is not always easy - and confusing symptoms and the cause of the pain is a common mistake. A simple root cause (“fishbone”) analysis is usually enough to correctly define the origin of the problem. Otherwise, you’ll be looking for the right answers to the wrong question. PAIN Title F Title D Title E Title B This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sampletext. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. 1 PAIN 2 PAST 3 SOLUTION 4 EXCLUSIONS 5 SUCCESS CRITERIA 6 DELIVERABLES
- 11. Step 2 - Past Eugene Ivanov (2021) 11 Title F Title D Title E Title B This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sampletext. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. 1 PAIN 2 PAST 3 SOLUTION 4 EXCLUSIONS 5 SUCCESS CRITERIA 6 DELIVERABLES Describing past efforts to solve a problem is useful in two ways. First, knowing about prior unsuccessful attempts can help better understand the nature of the problem. Second, this prevents re-inventing a wheel that doesn’t work. PAST
- 12. Step 3 - Solution Eugene Ivanov (2021) 12 Title F Title D Title E Title B This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sampletext. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. 1 PAIN 2 PAST 3 SOLUTION 4 EXCLUSIONS 5 SUCCESS CRITERIA 6 DELIVERABLES Describing a potential solution helps define the scope of the project. You can approach this by first outlining an ideal solution (the solution of your dreams) and then subtracting everything you can live without. Alternatively, you can define your minimally viable solution and then suggest improvements and/or add-ons. SOLUTION
- 13. Step 4 - Exclusions Eugene Ivanov (2021) 13 Title F Title D Title E Title B This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sampletext. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. 1 PAIN 2 PAST 3 SOLUTION 4 EXCLUSIONS 5 SUCCESS CRITERIA 6 DELIVERABLES This could be as simple as: “We are not interested in any solution requiring an investment of more than a $1,000.” However, it’s very important to warn potential Solvers about unacceptable solutions. There is nothing worse than rejecting a solution based on the requirement(s) you did not disclose at the outset. EXCLUSIONS
- 14. Step 5 – Success Criteria Eugene Ivanov (2021) 14 Title F Title D Title E Title B This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sampletext. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. 1 PAIN 2 PAST 3 SOLUTION 4 EXCLUSIONS 5 SUCCESS CRITERIA 6 DELIVERABLES Defining success criteria in the Problem Statement allows potential Solvers to know from the outset what they are expected to do to solve the problem. Besides, it makes the evaluation of the future solutions straightforward and transparent. SUCCESS CRITERIA
- 15. Step 6 – Deliverables Eugene Ivanov (2021) 15 Title F Title D Title E Title B This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. This is a sampletext. Insert your desired text here. This is a sample text. Insert your desired text here. 1 PAIN 2 PAST 3 SOLUTION 4 EXCLUSIONS 5 SUCCESS CRITERIA 6 DELIVERABLES This part of the Problem Statement is more important that it may seem. For example, Solvers may believe that all they need to do is to write a proposal, whereas you want a prototype. Or a Solver thinks that you need a prototype (and decides not to participate), while all you need is an idea. Excluding any misunderstanding regarding the solution format is crucial. DELIVERABLES
- 16. Eugene Ivanov (2021) 16 Crowd Ecosystem External Crowd Hybrid Crowd Internal Crowd Crowd Composition Platform Internal Employees • Internal communication channels (email, Slack, MS Teams, etc.) • Internal innovation portals Hybrid Customers, suppliers, academic and business partners, etc. in addition to employees • External communication channels (email, Google docs, etc.) • Internal innovation portals External Anyone with Internet access • Open innovation portals • Open innovation intermediaries Different types of crowds, their composition, and means of reaching
- 17. Strength: • Diversity of responses Eugene Ivanov (2021) 17 Internal vs. External Crowds Internal & Hybrid External Weakness: • Lack of breadth and diversity of responses due to groupthink Objective Internal & Hybrid External Generate new product or service ideas + +++ Solve complex technical/business problems ++ +++ Solve “company-specific” problems +++ ++ Optimize internal processes and operations +++ + Strength: • Easy to access • High-quality contributions Weakness: • High level of “noise” • Could be expensive Comparative benefits and drawbacks of external vs. internal/hybrid crowds
- 18. Eugene Ivanov (2021) 18 Crowdsourcing Decision Tree-1: Internal vs. External External Crowdsourcing Internal Crowdsourcing YES YES YES YES YES NO NO NO Do you have a well- defined problem/task? Is highly sensitive IP involved? Do you have a budget of ≥$15K? Do you want to optimize an internal process? Are you looking for the diversity of responses? The choice between internal and external crowdsourcing.
- 19. Eugene Ivanov (2021) 19 Crowdsourcing Decision Tree-2: Crowdsourcing vs. Co-Creation Adding Capacity (Microtasking) YES NO CO-CREATION APPROACHES: • Engaging customers, suppliers • Joint ventures • Engaging startups, CVC • Etc. YES Accessing Expertise (Crowdsourced Innovation) YES Can you formulate your ‘job-to-be-done’ as a problem or a task that is Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound? Does your task require assembling large number of small identical contributions? Does your problem require a unique solution? CROWDSOCURCING The choice between crowdsourcing and co-creation and between different types of crowdsourcing
- 20. Eugene Ivanov (2021) 20 Crowdsourcing Decision Tree-3: Selecting a Platform What kind of a problem do you want to solve? Solve a technical or business problem Get customer insight; user testing Solve a data science-related problem Buy, sell, or exchange IP; find a partner Find on-demand expert InnoCentive HeroX Hyvecrowd Topcoder Kaggle DrivenData Yet2.com Innoget Tynax YourEncore Maven Presans MindSumo Chaordix Dscout