Is crowdsourcing really worth it?

I’m asking this both on the side of the designers etc. that submit their work, as well as for the people that commission these projects. The question of whether or not people are adequately compensated for their work has plagued the area of crowdsourcing pretty much since it began. I wrote about crowdsourcing projects as a way to use social media to find a job, but admitted myself that is was probably more valuable to build your experience than as a real way of earning money. And crowd-sourcing is now bigger than ever – even the Conservative Party are using it. Whether this is a genuine project or a cheap PR stunt is a whole other blog post

For the large part, I’m a big believer in crowd-sourcing projects. I think it opens up a lot of doors to designers, photographers etc.. who previously would have found it very difficult to get a real outlet for their work. I think we’ve seen some innovative examples of crowd-sourcing through social media, for example the Plain Lazy tshirt competition. The concept itself is great and helps to create a more equal platform for those who wouldn’t typically have access to commissions. The issue is obviously when you consider the hourly rate for those taking part.

On 99 designs the prize value offered for projects can range from $100 to $600 . If you’re working on a project where you have to turn to something like 99 designs in the first place, it’s doubtful that you’re going to offer top dollar. Let’s face it, you’re probably on 99 designs because budget is a concern.

istockphoto, which allows photographers to upload their photos and earn royalties based on downloads is a similiar example. While not exactly crowd-sourcing it offers everyone a chance to upload their photos and earn money for their work. You just have to take a short quiz and upload 3 examples of your work, which can include photo, flash and video. On the face of it – a win/win situation. People get a chance to purchase royalty free images very cheaply and photographers get a chance to showcase their work and earn some money in the meantime. But how much money? The royalties offered range from €0.24 for an extra small image, to a maximum of €6.72 for an XXXLarge image. The earnings are certainly small, but many might just think – why not? It’s better than having no money for my images. But there are other things to consider here.

Whose work is it, really?

I was talking to Phil O’Kane, a photographer, about whether or not he would put his photos on a site like this. Having been fairly unimpressed with the royalties he would earn, a bigger concern for him was the attribution for his work. It’s important that where Phil is putting his work up external to his own site, for example Flickr, he is able to lead it back there. His brand is important to him, as it should be to anyone who takes pride in that work. With sites like istockphoto, that’s lost. Yours is just another image among the hundreds of others for that keyword and your name isn’t usually behind it. The creative work that you’ve put into that image is being attributed to the site, not to you. Suddenly, the €0.24 seems a lot less attractive.

Is it win-win?

Though much has been said about whether sites such as 99 designs are really fair to those taking part, the actual quality of the work gets a lot less attention. This is a point that Eoghan raised on the Contrast blog, in a really interesting post. In Eoghan’s own words, what you get a lot of the time is ‘complete crap’. So is it even worth considering spending the $100 ? I’ve used crowdsourcing for a few projects myself and I have to say that the majority of the time I was less than impressed. My fault I guess – you get what you pay for. But that’s something that I’ve learned the hard way, having wasted money in the first place. You also have to consider who is commissioning these projects. It is a designers job to design, but it is not the designer (if they are worth their salt!) that is going to turn to these sites. It’s most likely the brand owner, who probably doesn’t really know much about design and is too emotionally close to their brand to issue a decent brief that has much meaning. So then you get a mess, because you don’t really know what it is you’re looking for in the first place. A waste of everyone’s time and your money.

So now we’re faced with the prospect that what, on the surface, seems like a great initiative that serves both parties well, is actually not treating either fairly. The concept is too simple – “pay a small amount to get access to great designers for my project” / “I spend a few hours when I’m not working anyway and could earn myself a bit of money.” Obviously, unfortunately, it’s not that simple. I hope that crowd-sourcing can work, but it needs to be developed further to really benefit both sides and produce fantastic work.