Playing with science. Exploring how game activity motivates users participation on an online citizen science platform
| Date | 16 May 2016 |
| Published date | 16 May 2016 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-11-2015-0182 |
| Pages | 306-325 |
| Author | Anita Greenhill,Kate Holmes,Jamie Woodcock,Chris Lintott,Brooke D Simmons,Gary Graham,Joe Cox,Eun Young Oh,Karen Masters |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval |
Playing with science
Exploring how game activity motivates
users participation on an online
citizen science platform
Anita Greenhill and Kate Holmes
University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Jamie Woodcock
Cass Business School, London, UK
Chris Lintott and Brooke D. Simmons
University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Gary Graham
University of Leeds, Leeds, UK, and
Joe Cox, Eun Young Oh and Karen Masters
University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine intrinsic forms of motivation and particular
incidents of play, socialisation, fun and amusement on an online crowdsourced citizen science platform.
The paper also investigates gamised activity (Greenhill et al., 2014) as a form of intrinsic motivation
adding a sense of play to work and tasks (Xu et al., 2012). These concepts are explored through close
scrutiny of the online citizen science platform Zooniverse.org.
Design/methodology/approach –Qualitative techniques with an interpretivist approach are used
to analyse online content found within citizen science platforms, related forums and social media by
examining incidents of play, socialisation, fun and amusement to investigate how these aspects are
applied as a form of user motivation.
Findings –The authors find that when users classify crowdsourced tasks voluntarily it does not
matter how users are classifying as long as it is accurately. However, what does matter is why they are
doing it particularly because of the complex processes that builds relationships between users and the
platform. The authors present a conceptual model to enable deeper understandings of how forms of
social interaction and play are motivating users contributing to citizen science project to participate in
the online processes.
Practical implications –The findings of this paper provide practical implications for how citizen
science, and also other crowdsourcing platforms, can engage with notions of play and gamification to
motivate participation.
Originality/value –Using detailed examples of online content, the authors reveal how participants
of the Zooniverse.org demonstrate aspects of “gamised”behaviour. The authors argue that the
exploration of gaming as well as play provides evidence that contributing to citizen science projects
can be both utilitarian and hedonic.
Keywords Volunteering, Crowdsourcing, Play, Gaming, Intrinsic motivation, Citizen science
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
This study explores examples of fun and play within online citizen science projects and
how they can be used as forms of intrinsic motivation. As a means of situating the
work, we define user generated play in a digital platform as a “Gamised”activity
(Greenhill et al., 2014). In particular we examine incidents of play, socialisation, fun and
Aslib Journal of Information
Management
Vol. 68 No. 3, 2016
pp. 306-325
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2050-3806
DOI 10.1108/AJIM-11-2015-0182
Received 24 November 2015
Revised 29 February 2016
Accepted 14 March 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2050-3806.htm
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amusement and consider these forms of social interaction in relation to tasks
undertaken on online crowdsourcing platform. Crowdsourcing platforms including
the Zooniverse.org can be understood as an information system as they are
a socio-technical system (Mumford, 2000). Citizen science is the name given to scientific
investigations or analysis undertaken by amateur or nonprofessional scientists. Like
crowdsourcing, it involves the activity of a large group of people, in this case an online
community, collectively contributi ng towards a project (Howe, 2006). Usu ally
conducted by volunteers, citizen science has been implemented to address the
demands of data-rich scientific research, for example, time, material costs and labour
incurred, particularly for tasks which are not suitable for analysis using computer
algorithms (Silvertown, 2009). Citizen science provides opportunities for people to
collectivelycontribute to investigating largedata sets, therefore easing the demandsthat
would otherwise slow the research process (Raddick et al., 2009). The crowdsourcing
platform is the means from which the science data are presented, categorised and
analysed at a technical level. It is also howthe system managers, designers and usersall
communicate and participate in science together.
Using an analysis of online content, we reveal how participants of citizen science
projects demonstrate aspects of gamised behaviour when interacting amongst online
platforms and forums. The focus of this study explores the relationship between “play”
as a means for building interest and on-going commitment from the users to contribute
towards crowdsourced tasks. The specific platform under exploration is Zooniverse.
org; the specific projects discussed include Galaxy Zoo and Snapshot Serengeti.
Galaxy Zoo asks participants to classify galaxies appearing in images taken by
professional astronomical facilities. The interface of the website can be considered to be
fairly self-explanatory, with an image of the galaxy to be classified on one side of
the screen and multiple choice questions about the features and characteristics of the
galaxy on the other (Lintott et al., 2008). The questions are purposefully kept simple
and do not require specialised scientific knowledge in order for the participant to
engage with the project. The Galaxy Zoo science team uses the crowdsourced
information to search for rare types of galaxies and analyse the galaxy population
statistically. Snapshot Serengeti displays images of animals gathered from camera
traps at the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The purpose is to study how a variety
of species interact with each other and how they are distributed across the landscape.
This relies on a different interface to that of Galaxy Zoo, but still asks the participant a
series of questions on the animals they can see in the photo.
Research agenda
We suggest such a research agenda shaped by the points raised above would have the
following objectives:
(1) To provide a range of empirical evidence concerning the relation play has as a
form of motivation to a serious networked outcome and a critical examination of
extant diverse secondary data.
(2) To develop an understanding of the processes of social interaction in the
context of online citizen science platform via:
•Narratives of play and motivation in relation to online science
communities and other organisational communities via content analysis
of online material.
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Playing
with science
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