BYU Internship team: Taryn Fox Scott Boyce Garrett Yentes December 2014

BYU Internship team:Taryn FoxScott BoyceGarrett YentesDecember 2014

LDSTech

Begin with a prayer. 1

Team IntroductionGarrett YentesDeliverables ManagerBusiness Management, April 2016Tulare, California

Taryn FoxContact LiaisonSociology, December 2015Tulsa, OklahomaScott BoyceTeam LeaderGerman/Business Management, December 2015Portland, OregonIntroductionOverviewApproachesResearchAnalysisRecommendConclusion

Garrett 2

The ProjectIn coming decades, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints faces explosive growth in membership. Technology is crucial to supporting the unity and progress of the Lord's kingdom, and crowdsourcing is a strategy to enable the Church to respond quickly and efficiently to technological challenges and needs.

We were responsible to research theories and applications of crowdsourcing, refine the information, and then recommend the best practices to LDSTech. ApproachesResearchAnalysisRecommendConclusionOverviewIntroduction

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CROWDSOURCINGDefinedAttracting participation from a large group, especially onlineBenefitsSaves time and moneyRicher, diverse perspectivesUnity & Enthusiasm in causeApproachesResearchAnalysisRecommendConclusionOverviewIntroduction

TarynThis is the slide that you already knowyou wouldnt have asked us to research this project if you didnt already have an idea of crowdsourcing. I just want to make sure our definition of crowdsourcing are all on the same page.Crowdsourcing has become synonymous with outsourcing.

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Four types of Crowd SourcingApproachesResearchAnalysisRecommendConclusionOverviewIntroductionCollective IntelligenceCrowd CreationCrowd VotingCrowd Funding

TarynThere are four types of crowds. The goals of LDSTech mainly focus on the top two.

Crowd Creation: is when someone is in need of something and a crowd is created that did not exist before. This is essentially what we are doing here. You were in need of research, and our team was created to provide it. A company called, Threadless, is a great example of this. What they do is ask people to submit T-shirt designs for a small reward. Then, right up front, they get hundreds of awesome T-shirt ideas and only need to give a reward to one person. They created a crowd basically out of thin air.

Collective Intelligence: is when we assume that the masses are smarter than individuals. Basically a think tank. The example of SpiceWorks, an IT help website, (you might be aware of this site) is wherepeople can log on, explaintheir problem and receive immediate help from tech professionals. This is also similar to the extensive reviews on each product for sale on Amazon's website. They, like many others, use the views of previous buyers to inform buyers about products.

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Approaches to Using Crowds

Strategic Considerations

Sustain participation over timeEffectively compete for contributorsEffective leadership to establish expectations and agenda Find pathways to profit from contributionsLeverage social mediaNetwork through professionals, esp. to find most skilledTeaching non-professionals. ApproachesOverviewIntroductionResearchAnalysisRecommendConclusion

ScottFor Long-term / Large-scale projects (DuoLingo, Amz reviewers, ) Incentives Attract (more later), Marketing (communicate value )Communicate direction, effective division of tasksProfit: Meet needs (connect 2 groups' needs), fit YOUR goalsSocial Media: crowdsourced Marketing. Technology is only way to competeSkilled are busy, not looking for you. Network, show them how they are needed.Teaching: long-term incentive for beginners, meeting needs

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Research TopicsBYU Sociology Faculty Interviews: how to find and retain participantsBest practices of standout crowdsourcing companiesContacted Amazon and KickstarterTopic: How to launch a crowsourced projectTopic: How to market to an unpaid crowdResearchOverviewApproachesIntroductionAnalysisRecommendConclusionSynergy: DuoLingo, ReCaptcha

Scott

-- best -- faculty (Taryn more later)--Synergy drives success (meeting needs) -- Amz, Kick declined--launch (more later) -- pd/volunteer - strategies (next)7

Volunteer vs RewardResearchOverviewApproachesIntroductionAnalysisRecommendConclusionIncentives matter!VolunteerPaidPrizesRewardsWages

People must feel they can contribute to a need using their skillNetworkHave a main purpose or cause that unites volunteerProvide FeedbackCreate tasks and opportunities that increase professional experiences for volunteers (motivation)

Scott - - Crowdsourcing isalways mutually beneficial.--1714 paid--2001 Wiki volunteerVolunteer: What drives?--Interest topic, passion cause (inherent or persuaded)--communicate their expertise is valued [attract/retain] -- "Crowdtesting" StackOverflow , software "beta" releases (appeal: elite, early)-- NETWORK to find the best. Specialized, in-demand professionals usually aren't looking.--> similar to missionary work. Share person-to-person 8

ValuesValues will help retain people. ResearchOverviewApproachesIntroductionAnalysisRecommendConclusionBYU Sociology Faculty:You have to appeal to [people's] valuesself-interest will not be enough.Appealing to values cannot be a means to an end, but rather an end unto itself.

TarynAsk not what the crowds can do for you, but what you can do for the crowds. If the crowd does not receive something, it will not participate. The best crowdsourcing companies find a common interest of a crowd and use that to their advantage. This common interest is something that people are going to pursue whether or not you exist. In your case, this would be the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you are targeting LDS IT professionals specifically, then, even better, you have IT AND the Church to work with as an angle.

If you appeal to someones self-interested by providing rewards, then they will typically only do the task to receive the reward. If you ask them to do a similar task later on with no reward, they will not enjoy it or want to do it. You have to target people who value information technology and/or the Church . Who already make these things a part of their life. People who like to do it. (as Scott discussed earlier)

This is something that Family Search and Indexing does very well. The value that they offer is that you are moving forward the work of genealogy and your personal family history. We believe that LDSTech should be very up front about the impact that people would be having on hastening the work of the Church. The work of the Church is what Church members value. 9

Creating valuesAnalysisOverviewApproachesResearchIntroductionRecommendConclusion

Taryn So then this brought us to think, but what about the people who dont already love techy stuff? That group is significantly larger than the group of tech professionals available. Can we use them? As you know, many stakes have stake unemployment specialists. Similar to this, there could potentially be stake tech specialists. Almost every stake has at least a few tech professionals. Use them! We could ask them to hold a how-to session one a week or so. Then, those who are unemployed, interested, have free time, etc. could come and learn IT skills. Assuming that there would be participation in a program like this, then attendees would learn new skills. They would be able to put this on their resume. Now, they will not be professionals. But there could then be a HUGE number of techs with moderate knowledge.

Then, you could ask them to repay in time spent to LDSTech by completing a task here and there.

This will take more time than targeting directly towards the tech professionals, but it would be an idea to consider .

Pros: more volunteers in the end (assumption). Helps unskilled/unemployed members of the church add to resume/get jobs.

Maybe even utilize codecademy for the basics. Most people dont even know this technology exists. (Not trying to undermine those who go to school for YEARS to obtain tech knowledge.)

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RecommendationsRecommendOverviewApproachesResearchAnalysisConclusionIntroductionCreate a mutually beneficial system, joining two needs or 'pain points'Whatever your approach, use the steps of how to beginChoose projects that motivate volunteersGet strategic input from your crowdDefine which group you will target: Professional or Non-Professional Volunteers

Garrett

1. Refer back to DuoLingo - they created a system that works towards a goal, but it also teaches users a skill set.5. Define your project and who you will be targeting to. Do you want non-professional volunteers who know little about Technology/basic skills? Do you want Professionals who have less time, but know what they are doing?11

How to begin

Define the project clearly. Create a plan of action. Assign a manager. Train, supervise, and motivate your volunteers.

RecommendOverviewApproachesResearchAnalysisConclusionIntroduction

Garrett

This is what I spent researching, and I feel that these key points are necessary to creating a crowdsourcing project12

ConclusionConclusionOverviewApproachesResearchAnalysisRecommendIntroductionIn order to serve a growing Church, LDSTech must implement crowdsourcing. It should leverage technology to communicate needs & solutions, andtrust crowds for creative, technical, and strategic content.

Following a "sales funnel" model, effective leadership and thoughtful incentives will increase "Service Lite" (many small contributions), and improve "conversion rate" to larger time commitments (full-time missionary service).

ScottMatch needs, communicate over social media(sell: communicate value to them ). Microwork, macrowork (specialized skills, longer )Consider broad range of Contributions: tech(info) , creative(esp. mktg) , strategic (WikiMedia, LearningSuite, BYU Honors / HSAC )Effective leaders (start right), the right message to attractthe target group13

ConclusionApproachesResearchAnalysisRecommendQuestionsIntroductionOverview

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