Crowdsourcing: Arguments Against
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- Glitterati_Duane0
The problem with arguing against it is that most designers use aesthetics as the main reason why it doesn't work. Aesthetics are subjective and clients rarely have the refined eye that I designer has. Therefore what we think looks like shit they may think looks amazing.
- monkeyshine0
In my mind crowdsourcing is leveraging the masses to solve a problem or accomplish a task. A classic example is Amazon Mechanical Turk (https://www.mturk.com/mturk/wel... Another example is when Netflix challenged teams of researchers to come up with a better recommendation algorithm. It's leveraging a group to collectively solve a problem vs. leveraging a group to individually compete against one another to design your shit for shittier wages. :)
- abettertomorrow0
I was looking at the origin of the term, turns out it was invented just a few years ago in this article:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archiā¦
To be fair, he does paint a pretty broad picture of what crowdsourcing is. There are four different examples he sketches out, only one of which is the spec work scenario.
The problem is he fails to differentiate between the advantages/ disadvantages of these approaches. The first example he gives is iStockPhoto. I see this more as a system of selling goods just like on eBay. There's always the possibility I can sell what I've created, multiple times in fact, and if I leave the site I still own it, so I don't end up working for nothing.
The spec work scenario (third example) is actually quite different because in that case I do the work, and there's a high chance I get nothing out of it at all. It's a great paradigm for business owners and terrible for workers.
- Josev0
I've always bundled the two together, so it would be good to be clear about the terms. I think what Harlequino was referring to was different than the type of spec-work crowdsourcing that I'm thinking of (99 designs and those types of sites)
- abettertomorrow0
I suppose in the broad sense it just means "getting content from your users," but seems to me no one used the word until the spec work angle cropped up. After all, in the broader definition everything is crowdsourcing, isn't it? YouTube, Wikipedia, Last FM, Pandora, etc. It becomes a meaningless term.
- akrok0
^
so, what's the difference? enlighten us.
- monkeyshine0
I wish people would stop calling it crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is different than spec work, which is what this is all about.
- abettertomorrow0
I think the post actually made some decent arguments. Granted, they may not all be true, but they are the kind of arguments clients will listen to and understand.
It is true that there is less accountability in the crowdsourcing process, and designers will be more likely to rip someone else's work when they are cranking out 20 logos/ day. I would leave out any reference to trademark since that isn't directly relevant, but originality is a worthwhile concern.
You could add to that concerns about the crowdsourcing designers not having any real context about the company. They will not have time to do competitive research except on the most superficial level, understand your business or be able to formulate any kind of real brand strategy, just a superficial logo. Likely no branding guidelines. There will be limited opportunity for communication between the client and designer grunts during the crowdsourcing process.
And of course crowdsourcing by its nature is very limited. Despite the predictions that it would revolutionize the industry, I've never seen a convincing way to crowdsource anything more complex than a logo or landing page. Are you going to commission hundreds of versions of a website or iPhone app, SEO, social media, etc? At some point you need to hire a dedicated design and development team.
- vaxorcist0
question for client:
Would you drive a car whose brakes were designed by crowdsourced engineers?
- vaxorcist0
I think it's possible, but absurd, but still possible that crowdsourced work may be sometimes better than commissioned work...
why? because some commssioned work has been through so many mediocritizing meetings and "make it pop" moments that it's lost all soul....
and the random stuff from crowdsourcing may be fresher in comparison, randomly riffing off of whatever the fresh designers who did it saw in Archive or Communication Arts or whatever...
So... the clients desire to get more power in the process by using crowdsourcing may be oddly contradictory but strong, as they're actually bypassing their own dilution of aesthetic due to all those crap meetings where things get watered down and eventually the client just decided to crowdsource the logo because the designers have followed the clients own random whims....
moral to story, be a strong designer, find strong clients, or be replaced by crowdsourcing?
- abettertomorrow0
Yeah, there is a guy who invented the term crowd sourcing. I think he did it to sell books or something:)
- dbloc0
does anyone know where the concept derived from, and who actually was the first to do this with logos?
- monNom0
I think your argument hit's on one of the most relevant points. You've no guarantee of quality or uniqueness in a design contest, and they seem to attract the scammers as they're so anonymous.
FUD is an age old marketing tactic, and I think you do a good job with it here.I think your 2nd point about trademark is a bit weak. Trademark must be applied for, so it's basically a first past the post situation. You might have got the design 3rd, but if you trademark first, you get that trademark. It relates to the first item, but isn't as strong. maybe leave that out for additional discussions.
A couple other arguments: by hiring a designer directly you create a business relationship. Kind of like the difference between going to H&R block and hiring an accountant. You can't contact suzy at H&R in june if you want to know how to set up a trust fund for your kids. Having a 'web guy' or whatever that you can call on is a real asset. and having one locally that can sit down and discuss what you need is even better.
Finally, not everyone is good at filtering the good from the mediocre. In fact it's the aesthetic sensibility more than the technical skill that people are paying for in a designer. Ask the average business man/woman to pick out the hot new trends and they'll probably show you something from 5-6years ago. Ask them to pick the best typography and they'll probably pick some poorly kerned century gothic cause it looks remotely modernist. Most people don't have a clue what's good or not. Don't be afraid to tell them that they're coming to you for your sense of style.
- abettertomorrow0
This is where the argument breaks down, because people arguing in favor of crowdsourcing insist it has nothing to do with spec work.
Unless you can provide some other example though (which I haven't seen many of), I think we are talking spec work here.
- Josev0
Does all crowd-sourcing equal spec work?
- No.Dodecahedron
- So there are instances where all contributors are paid for their time?Josev
- Crowdsourcing isn't a different form of outsourcing, its including the crowd in various aspects of the process.Dodecahedron
- Problem is a lot of people in design forums think crowdsoucing = spec work websites, it doesn't its a lot of stuffDodecahedron
- ... different things that can be used in different ways.Dodecahedron
- Specwork design websites is one stupid way of using crowdsourcing for design.Dodecahedron