CROWDSOURCING

What is crowdsourcing?

Crowdsourcing is the act of obtaining information, knowledge, or input for a specific task by enlisting the services of a large group of (crowd) of individuals in the form of an open call. There are two major forms of crowdsourcing: microtasking and crowdsourced innovation. Microtasking is the process of splitting a large job into small, usually identical, parts and then asking members of the crowd to complete these broken-down tasks so that the whole job is finished quicker as a result. Crowdsourced innovation is the process of exploring the proverbial “wisdom of crowds,” i.e., the methodology of collecting knowledge, expertise, creativity, and skills from anywhere outside the organization.

How does crowdsourcing work?

Read More: Asking Crowds “What’s Next?” for Your Organization

Crowdsourcing is typically done by posing a question or task to a large group (crowd) of people. Then asking the group to contribute their ideas or input either through virtual means, like through social media, an app, or a dedicated website, or through physical means, like by mailing something to an specific address. the most efficient approach is to use dedicated crowdsourcing platforms.

What are examples of crowdsourcing?

Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and ClickWorker represent the most prominent microtasking marketplaces. InnoCentive, HeroX, Yet2.com, Topcoder, and MindSumo are just a sample of the most popular crowdsourcing platforms.

Related content:

• Asking Crowds “What’s Next?” for Your Organization
• Outside In Thinking is as Important as Inside Out
• Ideation is NOT Innovation
• Andy Binns, Co-author of Corporate Explorer, on Beating Startups at the Innovation Game