Term Paper: Crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing in the field of interface design takes tasks traditionally performed by specific individuals and spreads them out among a group of people or a community. These assignments are usually done through an open call. Crowdsourcing has become increasingly popular with the growth of Web 2.0 and online communities.

Write a fifteen to eighteen (15-18) page paper in which you:

1. Examine the invention and growth of crowdsourcing in the field of interface design.
2. Describe the impact that crowdsourcing has had on the field of interface design.
3. Analyze and discuss at least three (3) benefits of incorporating crowdsourcing in a design project.
4. Analyze and discuss at least three (3) challenges of incorporating crowdsourcing in a design project.
5. Propose a solution for generating interest in your design project from an online community.
6. Suggest a solution for evaluating the skill set and quality of the code submitted by potentially unknown users.
7. Describe how crowdsourcing may affect the budget and timeline of a design project.
8. Assess crowdsourcing in regard to the legal, societal, and ethical issues it raises, and suggest methods to alleviate these concerns.
9. Use at least five (5) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Compare and contrast the design and development processes in HCI.
• Describe legal, societal, and ethical issues in HCI design. 
• Describe the inherent design issues across HCI environments.
• Analyze and evaluate interface design models.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in human-computer interaction.
• Write clearly and concisely about HCI topics using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.