Abstract
Many citizen science projects ask people to create an account
before they participate – some require it. What effect does the
registration process have on the number and quality of contri-
butions? We present a controlled study comparing the effects
of mandatory registration with an interface that enables peo-
ple to participate without registering, but allows them to sign
up to ‘claim’ contributions. We demonstrate that removing
the requirement to register increases the number of visitors
to the site contributing to the project by 62%, without reduc-
ing data quality. We also discover that contribution rates are
the same for people who choose to register, and those who
remain anonymous, indicating that the interface should cater
for differences in participant motivation. The study provides
evidence that to maximize contribution rates, projects should
offer the option to create an account, but the process should
not be a barrier to immediate contribution, nor should it be
required.
before they participate – some require it. What effect does the
registration process have on the number and quality of contri-
butions? We present a controlled study comparing the effects
of mandatory registration with an interface that enables peo-
ple to participate without registering, but allows them to sign
up to ‘claim’ contributions. We demonstrate that removing
the requirement to register increases the number of visitors
to the site contributing to the project by 62%, without reduc-
ing data quality. We also discover that contribution rates are
the same for people who choose to register, and those who
remain anonymous, indicating that the interface should cater
for differences in participant motivation. The study provides
evidence that to maximize contribution rates, projects should
offer the option to create an account, but the process should
not be a barrier to immediate contribution, nor should it be
required.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 34th Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI ’16 |
| Publisher | Association for Computing Machinery |
| Pages | 1827-1832 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 7 May 2016 |
| Event | 34th Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Duration: 1 Jan 1824 → … |
Publication series
| Name | Proceedings of the 34th Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI ’16 |
|---|
Conference
| Conference | 34th Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems |
|---|---|
| Period | 1/01/24 → … |
Keywords
- citizen science, paleontology