What is crowdsourcing technology?
Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 9:12 am
Crowdsourcing has become one of the important trends in the development of companies and products, thanks to which businesses use public knowledge and experience to achieve better results. In this article, we explain what crowdsourcing is, give examples from the lives of famous companies, and explain who needs crowdsourcing and why.
Crowdsourcing in Business: What is it?
Crowdsourcing is an innovative approach to completing tasks and projects that leverages the capabilities of large numbers of people, often through online platforms.
The concept of "crowdsourcing" is derived from the buy phone number library English words "crowd" and "outsourcing". The term means engaging the general public to perform various tasks and work.
The purposes of using this method can be the development of new products, content creation, research, solving technical problems, or even funding projects through crowdfunding platforms.
The main advantages of this approach are:
It helps to speed up development processes and reduce costs.
Companies can gain fresh ideas and innovative solutions that might otherwise go unnoticed in traditional corporate structures.
Crowdsourcing is widely used in various fields. In business, companies use it to generate ideas for improving products or services, conduct advertising campaigns, and even hire specialists for temporary projects. In science, crowdsourcing helps collect and analyze large amounts of data, which is especially relevant in the era of big data . In the field of art and culture, it is used to create collective works, conduct crowdfunding campaigns, and organize mass events.
History of Crowdsourcing
The term "crowdsourcing" was coined in 2006 by writer and editor Jeff Howe in an article for the American publication Wired. Examples of the concept's application existed even before the term was coined. For example, the crowdsourcing platform InnoCentive was launched in 2001.
The concept quickly spread around the world. Companies of all sizes began actively using crowdsourcing platforms to generate ideas, develop products, conduct research for marketing, and even solve complex scientific problems. Such well-known platforms as Kickstarter for crowdfunding, Wikipedia for public encyclopedia creation, and GitHub for collaborative software development emerged.
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How Crowdsourcing is Used
Let's consider in what situations and for what purposes it is convenient and appropriate to use this technology.
Generating innovative ideas and creative solutions
When businesses need to innovate, engaging the public can provide diverse perspectives and fresh ideas. For example, companies can hold user competitions to develop new products or improve existing services, which can help them become more competitive in the marketplace.
It is already difficult to imagine working with a large number of external users without CRM. With the system integrated with business telephony, the sales department does not waste time on unnecessary routine.
Product development and testing
Crowdsourcing can be effective at different stages of the product life cycle. At the development stage, it helps collect feedback and suggestions from potential users, which allows you to create a product that best meets their needs. During testing, crowdsourcing platforms can be used to identify bugs and receive suggestions for improving functionality, which speeds up the refinement process and improves the quality of the final product.
Marketing research and market analysis
Surveys, focus groups and other tools can help you gather a wealth of data on consumer preferences, market trends and the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns. This allows you to make informed decisions and develop strategies that are tailored to your target audience.
The end-to-end analytics service helps you constantly monitor the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns . You will receive detailed statistics on all channels and learn how each source works in the context of “from click to sale”. At the same time, you will be able to track the entire customer journey, including their communications with the sales department - conversations are recorded and saved.
Content creation
Crowdsourcing technology is widely used to create content, whether it is text, graphics or multimedia materials. Sites such as Wikipedia demonstrate the success of public creation and editing of information. Companies also use this method to develop advertising materials, design websites and create video content.
Solving technical and scientific problems
In scientific and technical fields, this method helps solve complex problems that require mass participation. Examples include big data analysis, research, software development, and algorithm creation. The Kaggle data science competition platform demonstrates how community efforts can lead to significant advances in science and engineering.
Social and charitable initiatives
Involving a large number of participants allows you to raise funds, disseminate information, and mobilize resources to solve socially significant problems. Examples: fundraising for medical needs, support for educational programs, and environmental education campaigns.
Optimization of business processes
This includes collecting ideas to improve work efficiency, automate tasks, or implement new technologies. Involving employees and external stakeholders helps create more flexible and adaptive processes, which improves the overall performance of the organization.
Localization and translation of content
Crowdsourcing can be a successful solution for content localization, which is needed by businesses operating in global markets. Involving native speakers from different countries allows for the creation of high-quality translations adapted to the cultural characteristics of the target audience. This facilitates successful communication and increases market reach.
Integrations
Virtual PBX
Tariffs
Crowdsourcing of ideas, crowdfunding and other types of crowdsourcing: what is it in simple words
There are several variations of this technology that are used in the appropriate context.
Crowdsourcing ideas
Aimed at obtaining new concepts and suggestions from the general public. This approach is used in projects to find innovative solutions, improve products or develop new services.
Crowdworking
Involves delegating small tasks to a large number of performers. This type of crowdsourcing is effective for repetitive and relatively easy tasks, such as annotating data, transcribing audio, or moderating content. It allows project organizers to quickly and cost-effectively solve problems that require mass human participation.
Crowdfunding
Crowdsourcing, also known as crowdfunding, can complement a company’s business model – financing projects by raising funds from a large number of people, usually through specialized online platforms. This method is especially popular in startups, creative initiatives, and charity projects. Crowdfunding allows entrepreneurs to raise the necessary funds for their projects without turning to investors or bank loans, and also to simultaneously test the audience’s interest in their idea.
Crowdtesting
Used to test the quality of products and services by involving a large number of users. For example, testing software, websites, mobile applications and other digital products. Crowd testing participants identify errors, provide feedback and suggest improvements. In this way, they help developers improve the quality of the final product.
Crowdwatching
Involves collecting opinions, preferences, and decisions from the general public. Widely used for conducting surveys, voting, and market research. Crowdsourcing tools of this type — questionnaires, surveys, ratings — help project managers make informed decisions based on the opinions of their target audience.
Data Crowdsourcing
Aimed at collecting, processing, and analyzing large amounts of information with the help of many participants. This could be crawling web pages, annotating images for machine learning, or collecting data for scientific research.
Crowdsourcing solutions
Involves public decision-making or strategy development. This approach is often used in project management, municipal program development, or organizational sustainability.
Crowdsourcing of services
Means the provision of various services by multiple performers through online platforms. This could be freelancing, consulting, training or other services.
Crowdsourcing: Famous Examples
Crowdsourcing is used by famous brands, below we will give examples from the history of well-known companies.
LEGO Ideas
To continually create new and interesting sets, Lego decided to reach out to its fans through the LEGO Ideas platform. Traditional development methods might not always take into account current trends and user preferences. So the company decided to tap into the “mass intelligence” of its fans.
LEGO Ideas launched in 2008 and gave fans the opportunity to create and submit their own set designs. Participants could describe their ideas, add photos, and enlist the help of other users. For an idea to be considered by the company, it had to receive a certain number of votes (usually 10,000) to prove its popularity among the community.
The effect of crowdsourcing has been as follows: thanks to LEGO Ideas, the company was able to launch several successful sets designed by fans themselves. One of the most notable examples is the NASA Apollo Saturn V set, which received a huge number of votes and became one of the best-selling LEGO sets of all time. Other successful projects include sets based on popular films and TV series, which allowed LEGO to expand its audience and strengthen its connections with fans.
My Starbucks Idea
In 2008, the company launched the My Starbucks Idea platform to directly engage with customers and solicit their ideas for improving products and services.
The platform gave customers the opportunity to offer their ideas in various areas: from new flavors of drinks and dishes to improving the design of coffee shops and service technologies. Users could vote for the proposed ideas, comment on them and suggest their own improvements. The ideas that received the most votes were considered by the company for possible implementation.
One of the successful projects launched thanks to My Starbucks Idea was the drink "Milk with coconut flavor", which quickly took the leading position and was introduced into the menu of many coffee shops. Other examples: the introduction of free Wi-Fi in coffee shops, the launch of new cup sizes, the development of a mobile application for convenient ordering and payment for drinks.
Crowdsourcing in Business: What is it?
Crowdsourcing is an innovative approach to completing tasks and projects that leverages the capabilities of large numbers of people, often through online platforms.
The concept of "crowdsourcing" is derived from the buy phone number library English words "crowd" and "outsourcing". The term means engaging the general public to perform various tasks and work.
The purposes of using this method can be the development of new products, content creation, research, solving technical problems, or even funding projects through crowdfunding platforms.
The main advantages of this approach are:
It helps to speed up development processes and reduce costs.
Companies can gain fresh ideas and innovative solutions that might otherwise go unnoticed in traditional corporate structures.
Crowdsourcing is widely used in various fields. In business, companies use it to generate ideas for improving products or services, conduct advertising campaigns, and even hire specialists for temporary projects. In science, crowdsourcing helps collect and analyze large amounts of data, which is especially relevant in the era of big data . In the field of art and culture, it is used to create collective works, conduct crowdfunding campaigns, and organize mass events.
History of Crowdsourcing
The term "crowdsourcing" was coined in 2006 by writer and editor Jeff Howe in an article for the American publication Wired. Examples of the concept's application existed even before the term was coined. For example, the crowdsourcing platform InnoCentive was launched in 2001.
The concept quickly spread around the world. Companies of all sizes began actively using crowdsourcing platforms to generate ideas, develop products, conduct research for marketing, and even solve complex scientific problems. Such well-known platforms as Kickstarter for crowdfunding, Wikipedia for public encyclopedia creation, and GitHub for collaborative software development emerged.
Don't waste your advertising budget
The call tracking and end-to-end analytics service will show the effectiveness of each source in terms of “from click to sale”.
Get a consultation
How Crowdsourcing is Used
Let's consider in what situations and for what purposes it is convenient and appropriate to use this technology.
Generating innovative ideas and creative solutions
When businesses need to innovate, engaging the public can provide diverse perspectives and fresh ideas. For example, companies can hold user competitions to develop new products or improve existing services, which can help them become more competitive in the marketplace.
It is already difficult to imagine working with a large number of external users without CRM. With the system integrated with business telephony, the sales department does not waste time on unnecessary routine.
Product development and testing
Crowdsourcing can be effective at different stages of the product life cycle. At the development stage, it helps collect feedback and suggestions from potential users, which allows you to create a product that best meets their needs. During testing, crowdsourcing platforms can be used to identify bugs and receive suggestions for improving functionality, which speeds up the refinement process and improves the quality of the final product.
Marketing research and market analysis
Surveys, focus groups and other tools can help you gather a wealth of data on consumer preferences, market trends and the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns. This allows you to make informed decisions and develop strategies that are tailored to your target audience.
The end-to-end analytics service helps you constantly monitor the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns . You will receive detailed statistics on all channels and learn how each source works in the context of “from click to sale”. At the same time, you will be able to track the entire customer journey, including their communications with the sales department - conversations are recorded and saved.
Content creation
Crowdsourcing technology is widely used to create content, whether it is text, graphics or multimedia materials. Sites such as Wikipedia demonstrate the success of public creation and editing of information. Companies also use this method to develop advertising materials, design websites and create video content.
Solving technical and scientific problems
In scientific and technical fields, this method helps solve complex problems that require mass participation. Examples include big data analysis, research, software development, and algorithm creation. The Kaggle data science competition platform demonstrates how community efforts can lead to significant advances in science and engineering.
Social and charitable initiatives
Involving a large number of participants allows you to raise funds, disseminate information, and mobilize resources to solve socially significant problems. Examples: fundraising for medical needs, support for educational programs, and environmental education campaigns.
Optimization of business processes
This includes collecting ideas to improve work efficiency, automate tasks, or implement new technologies. Involving employees and external stakeholders helps create more flexible and adaptive processes, which improves the overall performance of the organization.
Localization and translation of content
Crowdsourcing can be a successful solution for content localization, which is needed by businesses operating in global markets. Involving native speakers from different countries allows for the creation of high-quality translations adapted to the cultural characteristics of the target audience. This facilitates successful communication and increases market reach.
Integrations
Virtual PBX
Tariffs
Crowdsourcing of ideas, crowdfunding and other types of crowdsourcing: what is it in simple words
There are several variations of this technology that are used in the appropriate context.
Crowdsourcing ideas
Aimed at obtaining new concepts and suggestions from the general public. This approach is used in projects to find innovative solutions, improve products or develop new services.
Crowdworking
Involves delegating small tasks to a large number of performers. This type of crowdsourcing is effective for repetitive and relatively easy tasks, such as annotating data, transcribing audio, or moderating content. It allows project organizers to quickly and cost-effectively solve problems that require mass human participation.
Crowdfunding
Crowdsourcing, also known as crowdfunding, can complement a company’s business model – financing projects by raising funds from a large number of people, usually through specialized online platforms. This method is especially popular in startups, creative initiatives, and charity projects. Crowdfunding allows entrepreneurs to raise the necessary funds for their projects without turning to investors or bank loans, and also to simultaneously test the audience’s interest in their idea.
Crowdtesting
Used to test the quality of products and services by involving a large number of users. For example, testing software, websites, mobile applications and other digital products. Crowd testing participants identify errors, provide feedback and suggest improvements. In this way, they help developers improve the quality of the final product.
Crowdwatching
Involves collecting opinions, preferences, and decisions from the general public. Widely used for conducting surveys, voting, and market research. Crowdsourcing tools of this type — questionnaires, surveys, ratings — help project managers make informed decisions based on the opinions of their target audience.
Data Crowdsourcing
Aimed at collecting, processing, and analyzing large amounts of information with the help of many participants. This could be crawling web pages, annotating images for machine learning, or collecting data for scientific research.
Crowdsourcing solutions
Involves public decision-making or strategy development. This approach is often used in project management, municipal program development, or organizational sustainability.
Crowdsourcing of services
Means the provision of various services by multiple performers through online platforms. This could be freelancing, consulting, training or other services.
Crowdsourcing: Famous Examples
Crowdsourcing is used by famous brands, below we will give examples from the history of well-known companies.
LEGO Ideas
To continually create new and interesting sets, Lego decided to reach out to its fans through the LEGO Ideas platform. Traditional development methods might not always take into account current trends and user preferences. So the company decided to tap into the “mass intelligence” of its fans.
LEGO Ideas launched in 2008 and gave fans the opportunity to create and submit their own set designs. Participants could describe their ideas, add photos, and enlist the help of other users. For an idea to be considered by the company, it had to receive a certain number of votes (usually 10,000) to prove its popularity among the community.
The effect of crowdsourcing has been as follows: thanks to LEGO Ideas, the company was able to launch several successful sets designed by fans themselves. One of the most notable examples is the NASA Apollo Saturn V set, which received a huge number of votes and became one of the best-selling LEGO sets of all time. Other successful projects include sets based on popular films and TV series, which allowed LEGO to expand its audience and strengthen its connections with fans.
My Starbucks Idea
In 2008, the company launched the My Starbucks Idea platform to directly engage with customers and solicit their ideas for improving products and services.
The platform gave customers the opportunity to offer their ideas in various areas: from new flavors of drinks and dishes to improving the design of coffee shops and service technologies. Users could vote for the proposed ideas, comment on them and suggest their own improvements. The ideas that received the most votes were considered by the company for possible implementation.
One of the successful projects launched thanks to My Starbucks Idea was the drink "Milk with coconut flavor", which quickly took the leading position and was introduced into the menu of many coffee shops. Other examples: the introduction of free Wi-Fi in coffee shops, the launch of new cup sizes, the development of a mobile application for convenient ordering and payment for drinks.