Crowdsourcing 101

Crowdsourcing 101

What’s Your Verb?

2017

S FIRMATION N O C S IE C • SPE IGHTINGS S E IF L D IL •W ore!

TS ... and m O P S T O H •

Background photo submittd by Angler’s Atlas member Rick Hiebert, winner of the 2016 photo contest.

1st Edition

INSIDE

Develop your own “Citizen Science” program.

Lessons from over a decade of crowdsourcing in the sportfishing sector.

CONTENTS

ON THE COVER!

Crowd sourcing fish species across the country. Read more on pp 12-13.

FEATURES

4

What’s Your Verb?

18

Closing The Loop

20

One of the best ways to design an effective crowd sourcing program is to understand the verb that will be motivating your audience. Learn how to identify the best verb.

Rewarding your contributors is critical to successful and sustainable crowd sourcing.

It doesn’t have to cost money either. Learn more on how close the loop.

Being Wrong

You’ll rarely get it perfect at first. But that’s okay, learn how to iterate on your strategy to continously improve.

A LETTER TO MANAGERS

C

itizen Science is emerging as a new and effective strategy to collect biological data for a wide range of fish and wildlife issues. We define it as “crowdsourcing with a scientific objective” and have been working in this field for over a decade. This magazine is our way of sharing some of the things we have learned along the way.

BACKGROUND

The primary reason anglers come to our site is that we offer free fishing maps — an easy sell to most anglers. We have catalogued over a quarter million lakes, rivers and ocean destinations across the country with over 50,000 detailed maps. Through this platform we have been able to develop new models for crowd sourcing a wide range of data.

KNOW WHAT MOTIVATES

One of the first things to ask yourself when setting up a crowdsourcing program is “What’s my verb?” It may seem an odd quesstion at first, but this question helps you identify

BC 42,000+ members

AB 34,000+ members

SK 2,000+ members

MB 1,000+ members

page

22

AUTOMATED SYSTEMS Explore automated systems to generate new data.

B Y THE NUMB ERS + 50,000 free maps (downloadable) + 100,000 members (registered) + 200,000 magazines (printed) + 250,000 waterbodies (online database) + Half a million anglers (website each year)

the reason why someone will contribute to your program.

Understanding what motivates your target audience improves the liklihood your program will be successful.

SUSTAINING THE CROWD

If understanding what motivates your audience is the first priority, then developing a suitable reward is the second priority. The better you match the reward with why people are contributing in the first place, the more users you will attract and the more they will continue contributing.

LEARN TO ITERATE

Once you’ve identified your motivating verb and understood how to close the loop, the final step is to build it, measure it and learn from it.

You rarely get it

...OR AUTOMATE

Another strategy we have used to capture data about fish and wildlife is through automation. The first technique we have developed uses satellite data to infer iceon and ice-off conditions. For the second automated system, we developed an algorithm that can determine waterbody location from text descriptions. We have applied this to YouTube video descriptions and tagged over 5,000 fishing videos to their appropriate waterbody.

Meet Our Team

Sean Simmons

PRESIDENT

Kathy Buhler

Joel Knudsen

EDITORIAL

DEVELOPER

Alison Warner

Clayton Green

SALES

DEVELOPER

Jane Gauthier

Raja Gunasekaran

SALES

DEVELOPER

Kevin Dergez

Jamie Svendsen

PARTNERSHIPS

MAPPING

Eric Pinfold

Adan Uribe

DESIGN

UI / UX

LET’S GET STARTED!

We want to learn more about your challenges in data collection, and how we may be able to work together and find innovative solutions to help you gather more data. You can reach me on my cell at 250-613-7727. Or send an email to sean@anglersatlas. com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Truly,

Sean Simmons President — Angler’s Atlas

OUR MEMBERS by province MARITIMES

MB 00+

mbers

right at first, but with an iterative philosophy, it shouldn’t take long to master your crowd.

ON 36,000+

QB 800+

700+

members

members

members

Angler’s Atlas is owned by Goldstream Publishing Inc. Suite 210-500 Victoria Street Prince George, BC V2L 2J9 (250) 596-6277 mail@anglersatlas.com AnglersAtlas.com

WHAT’S

YOUR

VERB? FIND YOUR MOTIVATOR

VERBS WE COVER:

UNDERSTAND WHAT MOTIVATES YOUR CROWD.

• TO WANT

WHAT REWARD WILL DRIVE THE PRIMARY ACTION?

WHAT’S YOUR VERB? FINDING THE RIGHT VERB CAN HELP YOU TAP INTO THE CORE MOTIVATION.

Background photo submittd by Angler’s Atlas member Heather Press, winner of the 2014 photo contest.

• TO WIN • TO BRAG • TO KNOW • TO EARN • TO HELP NOTE: THIS IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST. THERE ARE MANY OTHER VERBS THAT CAN HELP YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT MOTIVATES YOUR CROWD.

The Compulsion Loop A quick primer on how gamers use the concept to motivate their users to play and then continue to play.

The ‘Compulsion Loop’ serves as a useful guide for understanding motivations. It should be the first step in developing a crowdsourcing initiative as it will help define how you will motivate and reward your contributors.

However, we will focus on different verbs than to kill ;) Graphic Source: http://oplaunch.com/blog/tag/core-compulsion-loop/

TO WANT MOTIVATION GET SOMETHING YOU WANT

OVER 18,000

TIPS FOR THIS VERB

FISHING MAPS

(OFTEN FOR FREE)

MAKE SURE YOUR CROWD WANTS IT. MAKE SURE TO DELIVER ON WHAT THEY ARE EXPECTING. USE AS AN ENTRY POINT FOR OTHER CROWD SOURCING FUNNELS THAT ALIGN WITH SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 6

FREE

MAP SHOWS THE DISTRIBUTION OF BATHYMETRIC MAPS FOR LAKES AND OCEANS ACROSS CANADA?

Example of a bathymetric map we offer. This map includes a feature writeup we provide for select waterbodies.

WHERE DO

YOU

WANT TO GO FISHING?

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 7

TO WIN MOTIVATION PEOPLE LIKE TO WIN THINGS.

OVER 2,000

BOAT

TIPS FOR THIS VERB MATCH THE PRIZE WITH THE ACTION DESIRED. DOES NOT HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE.

Crowdsourcing 101

LAUNCHES

MAP SHOWS THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOAT LAUNCHES ADDED BY OUR MEMBERS ACROSS CANADA?

Page 8

We launched the “Great Canadian Boat Launch Challenge” with a boat and motor package as the prize. Contest crowdsourced nearly 1,000 launches in eight weeks.

WHERE DO

YOU

WANT TO GO FISHING?

Background photo submittd by Angler’s Atlas member Rick Hiebert, winner of the 2016 photo contest.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 9

TO BRAG MOTIVATION WHEN YOU CATCH THAT BIG FISH, YOU WANT TO SHOW IT TO THE WORLD.

OVER 22,500

TIPS FOR THIS VERB

FROM USERS

SHOWCASE WINNERS EXTENSIVELY. NOTIFY WINNERS DIRECTLY AND ENGAGE THEM. THEY OFTEN BECOME YOUR NEXT CHAMPIONS.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 10

PHOTO

MAGAZINE COVERS FRO

Our users submit photos for our annu for a chance to brag about their photo our regional fishing magazines.

500

TOS

RS

S FROM 2016.

ur annual photo contest ir photo on the cover of

Background photo submittd by Angler’s Atlas member Torin Somerfeld, winner of the 2015 photo contest.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 11

CONFIRMATION PAGE FO

TO KNOW

N

114 different Fish Spec in over 2,000 Waterbo

MOTIVATION A DESIRE TO SHOW YOU KNOW THE ANSWER.

Top 5 Species: Northern Pike

TIPS FOR THIS VERB

Rainbow Trout

MAKE IT SIMPLE — THIS TYPE OF MOTIVATION MAY NOT SUSTAIN INTEREST LONG.

Walleye

ENSURE USER GETS IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK OR SOME TYPE OF VALIDATION.

Yellow Perch

Smallmouth Bass

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 12

GE FOR FISH SPECIES

Note the user feedback when a wrong species is confirmed.

pecies confirmed erbodies

Background photo submittd by Angler’s Atlas member Mike Robertson, winner of the 2017 photo contest.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 13

TO EARN MOTIVATION EARNING A REWARD FOR AN ACTION — THINK OF IT AS A GAME.

TIPS FOR THIS VERB GREAT FOR BADGES AND LEVELING UP. MAKE SURE THE BADGES HAVE SOME RELEVANCE TO THE PERSON. CAN ADD SOPHISTICATED REWARDS BASED ON LEVELS TO ENCOURAGE USERS TO PARTICIPATE MORE.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 14

BADGES ARE

EARNE

WHEN USERS REPORT A MOO LEVELING UP

Another way for users to earn a reward to “Level Up” once they have complet of tasks.

EXAMPLE FROM MYMOOSE

This is a moose sighting app we developed to track moose sightings from hunters in the field. When they report a moose observation, they earn a badge for the region they were hunting.

ARE

NED

RS MOOSE

reward is allowing them ompleted a set number

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 15

TO HELP MOTIVATION CONNECT TO SOMETHING CLOSE TO THEIR HEART.

TIPS FOR THIS VERB ENSURE THEY KNOW THEIR CONTRIBUTION HELPED. NEED TO KEEP THEM INFORMED AS TO THE PROGRESS.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 16

DEVELOPING STATS PAGES FOR USERS TO SEE

MyMoose developed a stats page that shared the results of the moose observations with the contributors, so they could see how their contribution was helping collect information on something close to their heart.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 17

CLOSING THE LOOP WHY IT’S CALLED A LOOP MUST PROVIDE REWARDS FOR USER CONTRIBUTIONS. YOUR VERB HELPS DETERMINE THE BEST FORM OF REWARD FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTORS.

WAYS TO CLOSE THE LOOP • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

• BADGES / LEVELING-UP • REAL TIME RESULTS • THANK YOU LETTER • PRIZES

Background photo submittd by Angler’s Atlas member Scott Gerry, winner of the 2014 photo contest.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 18

MATCHING REWARDS WITH MOTIVATIONS

Once you understand the primary motivation for your crowd, the next priority is ensuring a suitable reward is provided. This will help sustain the contributions over the long term.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 19

ACCEPT BEING WRONG NO ONE GETS IT RIGHT AT FIRST...

SO BUILD AN MVP (MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT) AND THEN

ITERATE! Recruiting new users should be straightforward. Here are some channels to try:

1. Your own network

2. Partner networks

3. SEO

4. SEM

5. Social media

6. Traditional media

TIP: You should have a good idea of your target audience, so use that in tailoring the recruitment strategy.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 20

BUILD — MEASURE — LEARN

HOW DO SILICON VALLEY STARTUPS GET IT RIGHT? FOLLOWING THE BUILDMEASURE-LEARN CYCLE, AND ITERATE OFTEN. READ THE LEAN STARTUP

BY ERIC RIES

Background photo submittd by Angler’s Atlas member Pat Allardyce, from our 2014 photo contest.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 21

AUTO MATE SOMETIMES WE PREFER OTHER WAYS TO COLLECT DATA. HERE ARE TWO EXAMPLES OF AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES WE HAVE DEVELOPED FOR ANGLER’S ATLAS.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 22

ICE-DETECTION USING SATELLITES USING MODIS SATELLITE DATA, WE ANALYSE LAKES ACROSS CANADA FOR ICE-ON AND ICE-OFF CONDITIONS.

YOU-TUBE VIDEO CLASSIFICATION USING NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING ALGORITHMS OVER 5,300 FISHING VIDEOS HAVE BEEN TAGGED TO THEIR WATERBODIES ON ANGLER’S ATLAS. THIS ALLOWS US TO GENERATE NEW CONTENT STREAMS AROUND THESE PLACES.

Crowdsourcing 101

Page 23

CROWDSOURCING THREE STEPS TO SUCCESS

1 2 3 Photo submittd by Angler’s Atlas member David Gorestsky, from our 2014 photo contest.

WANT HELP WITH CROWDSOURCING? GIVE US A CALL We love developing new ways of generating data from users. You’ve seen a few examples of how we’ve done it in Canada. Let us develop a program tailored specifically for you.

SEAN SIMMONS, PRESIDENT

250-613-7727 sean@anglersatlas.com

WHAT’S THE VERB? WHAT’S THE REWARD? BUILD MVP* AND ITERATE. *MVP is Minimum Viable Product.