Engagement-oriented design: a study of New Zealand public cultural heritage institutions crowdsourcing platforms
ISSN: 1468-4527
Article publication date: 21 May 2020
Issue publication date: 23 June 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to propose a set of design recommendations for crowdsourcing platforms with a focus on user engagement. A sample of New Zealand (NZ) cultural heritage institutions (CHIs) crowdsourcing platforms were assessed, with the aim of offering insights into how they have been designed to encourage dialogue and engagement and to sustain participation.
Design/methodology/approach
The design recommendations were derived from a review of related works. Following this, 12 crowdsourcing projects overseen by libraries, museums and an archive in NZ were assessed against the recommendations through content analysis.
Findings
The recommendations were classified into four main categories. These were promote ease of use, attract and sustain user interest, foster a community of users and show users that their work is contributing to the institution and society. The findings indicated that the sample of crowdsourcing projects assessed were generally successful at displaying the credibility and significance of their projects, and promoting their crowdsourced collections. Many of the projects could nevertheless benefit from providing further support to promoting dialogues and engagement with their users and contributors and sustaining offline community interaction.
Research limitations/implications
The content analysis conducted was focused on the functionality of design elements of the crowdsourcing platforms. The design recommendations derived from the analysis were intended as a starting point for discussion and they would need to be validated in further studies. Other relevant project information such as funding and staffing, promotion and outreach efforts were not solicited in this study. Such information could provide important contextualisation. Future research could take the form of in-depth case studies, including surveying those involved in the projects and stakeholders to investigate such contextual aspects of crowdsourcing projects.
Originality/value
Previous research on crowdsourcing in NZ CHIs consisted of single case studies. This study provides a wider snapshot and insights into digital crowdsourcing platforms from public NZ CHIs. The study findings have practical implications for project managers and Web designers involved in crowdsourcing projects, particularly those in the cultural heritage sector.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Editor and the two anonymous reviewers who provided a number of suggestions for revising our original submission. The comments were thoughtful and constructive. We believe they have led to an improvement of this paper and we are very appreciative of them.
Citation
Johnson, E. and Liew, C.L. (2020), "Engagement-oriented design: a study of New Zealand public cultural heritage institutions crowdsourcing platforms", Online Information Review, Vol. 44 No. 4, pp. 887-912. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-10-2019-0329
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited