Crowdsourcing has been a victim of unfair and biased criticism for quite some time now. Yet it continues to flourish much to the dismay and frustration of those who despise its very name. It seems like this war of words has been raging over the public forums forever. Specific groups have been letting their feelings known by attacking crowdsourcing citing lackluster results, lack of communication between clients and designers and not worth the effort, period.

While all these argument can easily be debated on merit, there are some truths about crowdsourcing these very people do not want the general public to find out. Here, we will try to unmask such truths about crowdsourcing to bring everything out in the open. It’s time to put the cards on the table!

1. All Successful Companies Have Used Crowdsourcing

It is no secret how companies, both big and small have successfully used crowdsourcing to their benefit in order to gain leverage over the competition or simply to come up with better, efficient solutions in a the least amount of time. Critics may hate it but many companies today hail crowdsourcing as a revolutionary concept and greatly attribute their success to it.

2. Crowdsourcing has been Around for Centuries

The concept behind crowdsourcing is simplicity itself – A group effort to come up with the best solution. This technique of problem solving has been used for centuries. It’s just out in the open now and getting the full respect and attention it deserves.

3. Equal Opportunity Field for All

Critics find this truth about crowd sourcing particularly hard to swallow. Before crowdsourcing became a well-known concept, the design industry was a highly organized monopoly of a select few. Now the playing field is even and any designer or client can benefit from it. Crowdsourcing originates from the idea that anyone can come up with an idea to help any client.

4. It’s Reverse Engineering in Reverse

Crowdsourcing comes from a family of revolutionary ideas that have changed how industries work and think today. It’s reverse engineering in reverse. Instead of starting from the end solution and breaking it down to arrive at the start, Crowdsourcing uses multiple innovative ideas at the beginning to come up with one best solution. Both provide a unique and efficient solution for clients with varying needs.

5. Crowdsourcing Works

Lastly, this is one truth about crowdsourcing no critic wants out in the open. Critics have endlessly argued the cons of crowdsourcing, but at the end of the day they have had to come to terms with the fact that crowd sourcing does work. If their arguments had any substance, crowdsourcing would have withered away a long time ago. In truth, it exists today solely because it delivers on its promises and is a guaranteed way to create efficient business solutions.

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12 users responded in " 5 Things they Don’t want You to Know about Crowdsourcing "

• Andrew H. Says:
  May 19th, 2010 at 6:44 am

  Wow this is so lame! Equal opportunity field for all? All crowdsourcing has done is given every person in the world a scalpel so that they can play doctor. I, for one certainly don’t wanna be their patient.

  Crowdsourcing works? Ya. Not to rain on their victory parade, but I am yet to see concrete evidence of crowd sourcing actually delivering on its promises. On this, I choose to remain dubious at best. Just my two cents.

• rotologo Says:
  May 19th, 2010 at 7:43 am

  I agree. Crowdsourcing CAN work for certain things but I’m not blown away by the quality of work – it’s adequate. Plus, even on a site like Crowdspring the better designers are in another more expensive tier.

  From a designer’s perspective, it cuts both ways. On one level it’s basically outsourcing that undercuts design fees. On the positive, it’s better for less experienced designers to break in and do some comp work, and possibly make some cash.

  But this article kind of reads like it was written by someone who works for a crowdsourcing site.

• Fergus Says:
  May 19th, 2010 at 9:53 am

  Well people don’t like change and often feel threatened by new movements. “It doesn’t work? Try telling that to istockphoto, crowdspring, dell, wikipedia or for that matter Facebook which is in esence just crowdsourced content.

• Leviathan Says:
  May 19th, 2010 at 12:25 pm

  @Andrew: Well, Crowdsourcing, aka wisdom of the crowd, is about taking it to the next step where people contribute something to the system.

  The practice of open innovation or crowdsourcing reaches beyond a company to extended ecosystem of corporate partners and customers to generate new and innovative ideas.

  So, coming to your ambiguous intonations, what’s so wrong with everyone having a piece of the proverbial scalpel.

  Also, try Jeff Howe, that will give you an evidence or two,

  Perhaps it is all a little chaotic for your taste, but look harder, it is chaos all rite, but with a sound method to it!

  And to quote a good friend of mine; “You know a thing about chaos; its fair…”.

• Keith J. Hamilton Says:
  May 19th, 2010 at 11:13 pm

  Thank you for your feedback guys!

  @Andrew H: Open your eyes dude! Crowdsourcing is helping so many businesses, especially those on a modest budget to address their design issues. Whether you like it or not, Crowdsourcing is where it’s at

  @rotologo: Yes, crowdsourcing is helping not just many businesses but also designers who want to make a mark and earn some extra cash. It’s a win-win situation. Both the businesses and designers gain something from it. Perhaps that is why this model has become popular so fast. And yes, we are a crowdsourcing company, proudly helping our clients meet their design needs.

  @Fergus: Right on!

  @Leviathan: Not everyone is able to accept the truth as it is. There are big shot designers who are still unable to accept crowdsourcing as the next big thing. Afraid of competition? I suppose. Perhaps Mr. Andrew H is another one from that pool.

• Leviathan Says:
  May 20th, 2010 at 10:46 am

  @Keith: True. He sure sounds like one.

  Afraid of competition? Probably threatened more than anything.

  Speaking of big shot designers, perhaps these self appointed Goliaths of modern day web design simply can’t handle the fact that we mere mortals can also claim our share of godhead.

  It is probably because Goliath cannot face the truth; That David exists!

  Metaphorically, the David never goes away…

• Andrew H. Says:
  May 21st, 2010 at 6:27 am

  Haha! This is great! Aside from Fergus who actually tried to answer me by providing some names of companies who have used crowds sourcing, the rest of the comments are pretty much baseless tough talk that is more reminiscent of junior high than that of someone who is trying to counter a valid point.

  I find it humorous that people are pegging me for a top class designer based on my comments. I’ll take that as a compliment. In reality I am not a designer. Neither am I a manager or CEO of a company. I am just an observer who happens to know a lot about this concept and how it really works. And I certainly cannot see any real benefit from this supposedly revolutionary approach you guys are trying to promote here.

  While I have no doubts that the concept of crowd sourcing can work, (a 0.2% chance to win US$200 goes a long way in India), I highly doubt that the quality of work that companies will receive from it (if they receive it) will be half as good as compared to the work done be educated, talented craftsmen who actually do this for a living. These self appointed Goliaths as you so eloquently put it are the least bothered by competition from crowd sourcing. Nor do they feel threatened in any way because they are in a league of their own. Their attention to detail, their concern for depth and their values for creativity cannot be matched by someone who got picked off the street. Sorry.

  People here are talking about crowd sourcing as a means for the crowd to contribute to the system. How can they contribute when they are not even fully knowledgeable about the subject? They simply can’t contribute at least not satisfactorily or at the level companies would require them to. This is not open innovation – This is “open season” and companies can end up paying the price.

• Cindy Solomon Says:
  May 21st, 2010 at 7:24 pm

  Hi Keith,
  Thanks for this concise list. I would say that the act of “collective intelligence” has been around forever, and that crowdsourcing is a subset, please view http://bit.ly/d7w1jt

  Also, a year ago, Jeff Howe spoke to this very same concern http://bit.ly/aijnIk

  This discussion reminds me of back in the day when there was concern that home computer enabled “desktop publishing” would destroy professional printers – that did not happen, because quality requires skilled professionals, but it was a game changer enabling everyone to produce their own invitations, flyers and printed presentations, albeit not necessarily well.

  I am looking beyond the design industry as the future of work is trending towards devaluing the education and past experience of the individual, and commoditizing their produced result, religating the experienced professional into a contract migrant day worker. Repetitive tasks that cannot be computer automated can be distributed as microtasks, and produced by “labor as a service.”

  I would say that effective crowdsourcing requires a strategy and managed process to deliver on the promise in any single project. As cloud computing, ubiquitous internet access, and lean back devices become more prevalent, crowdsourcing in its many facets will continue to infiltrate all industries and professions.

• Keith J. Hamilton Says:
  May 24th, 2010 at 5:28 am

  @Andrew H: “…highly doubt the quality of work that companies will receive from it will be half as good as compared to the work done be educated, talented craftsmen…”
  Clearly you have not seen the twitter logo or browsed through our Portfolio Section at Mycroburst otherwise you would not have used such unfair words to describe the hard work these participants put in.

  To put things in perspective, there is no limit to the quality of work crowdsourcing can provide. Our designers have created exceptional logos for various companies. Crowdsourcing is not here to compete with anyone nor should anyone feel threatened by it. It exists today solely as a means to provide competent and cost effective solutions to companies seeking an identity in today’s market. Tell me, what’s so wrong with giving them that option?

• Keith J. Hamilton Says:
  May 24th, 2010 at 5:28 am

  @Cindy Solomon: It’s true. When something new and revolutionary comes up, people often have a hard time accepting it. Especially those who have stuck to their old habits for long find it extremely hard to let go and feel the change that’s in the air. There are always 2 sides to a story and it’s entirely up to us as to how we use it. Crowdsourcing does not necessarily have to be the highway to hell.

• Andrew H. Says:
  May 25th, 2010 at 5:45 am

  Ok. Maybe I jumped the gun with my comments earlier. However I am still dubious on the quality of work achieved from crowdsourcing. I did check out your company’s portfolio section – Pretty impressive I must admit. So, pethaps crowdsourcing can produce good results but I still think it has a long way to go.

• Andrew Hyde Says:
  May 25th, 2010 at 11:39 am

  Just want to clarify that I am not Andrew H.

  Also, what you are doing is exploitsourcing, not crowdsourcing, as crowdsourcing gives back to the community.

  Remember that pyramid scheme pitch you got that claimed this was the new business? Yeah, you are the webs version of that. Congrats.

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