Comparative Advantages of Crowdsourcing Methods for Design
Compared to traditional methods of collecting behavioral data, such as field studies in a clinical setting, interviews, and focus groups, crowdsourcing is more efficient, less expensive, and easier to implement. This efficiency is driven by 2 factors. First, crowdsourcing platforms provide access to a large participant pool around the clock at affordable prices. In this study, data gathering on each scenario took only hours to accomplish, versus typically days or weeks with traditional methods. Second, the platform eliminates the need to plan the logistics and training of protocol personnel, a must for methods such as field studies.Further, we use a scenario-based framework, common in marketing studies, to design survey experiments with simulated incentives. That is, we use descriptive language to create the scenarios in participants’ minds and solicit their responses when they put themselves in this “thought experiment.” This technique sidesteps the limitations of creating interventions in a physical environment (eg, training of clinical staff, creating testing materials, etc). There are no limits to the scenarios we can create with simulated incentives. This flexibility not only allows us to test promising designs, but also enables us to gather data on risky and impractical designs to further our understanding and explore the design space more effectively.