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Crowdsourcing Large-Scale Ecological Monitoring: Identifying Design Principles to Motivate Contributors

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Building Sustainable Information Systems

Abstract

Addressing the impact of humans on the environment is arguably one of the biggest challenges society faces, and large-scale ecological monitoring is needed to reliably assess the impact and establish relevant policies. However, such large-scale monitoring is often infeasible, primarily owing to resource limitations. Recently, organizations have started to use information technologies to enable public participation in such efforts. One major problem is how to motivate people to contribute and, more importantly, to encourage sustained participation. In this conceptual paper, we integrate research from crowdsourcing, human–computer interaction, and motivational affordances to propose design principles enhancing the intrinsic motivation of contributors to large-scale ecological monitoring projects. Specifically, drawing on research on crowdsourcing and motivational affordances, we argue that instantiating design principles addressing people’s needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness can increase participants’ motivation and present recommendations for designers of systems supporting such projects.

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Acknowledgments

The work described in this paper was partially supported by a research grant from City University of Hong Kong (Project No. 7002626).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR

    Christoph Schneider

  2. Department of Information Systems, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, SAR, Hong Kong

    Frederik von Briel

Authors
  1. Christoph Schneider
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  2. Frederik von Briel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christoph Schneider .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Monash University, Caaulfield East, Victoria, Australia

    Henry Linger

  2. Monash University, Caulfield East, Victoria, Australia

    Julie Fisher

  3. Box Hill Institute, Box Hill, Victoria, Australia

    Andrew Barnden

  4. National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland

    Chris Barry

  5. National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland

    Michael Lang

  6. City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR

    Christoph Schneider

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Schneider, C., von Briel, F. (2013). Crowdsourcing Large-Scale Ecological Monitoring: Identifying Design Principles to Motivate Contributors. In: Linger, H., Fisher, J., Barnden, A., Barry, C., Lang, M., Schneider, C. (eds) Building Sustainable Information Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7540-8_39

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7540-8_39

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-7539-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7540-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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