Design thinking in online communities: Suggestions for overcoming crowdsourcing issues

Jason B. Macdonald, Mohammad Niamat Elahee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper is positioned at the intersection of two emerging trends in business: 'design thinking' (DT) and 'crowdsourcing'. DT is a new problem-solving protocol that is commonly used in offline environment but is increasingly being applied to online networks in an effort to tap into online crowds. This paper argues that the application of DT can solve various issues that managers grapple with in crowdsourcing. We further posit that network and consumer behaviour theories can be used to create contributor profiles that include information on the structure of relationships. This relationship information is suggested to help other participants and facilitators better evaluate and manage the contributions of crowd members.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)286-298
Number of pages13
JournalInternational Journal of Innovation and Learning
Volume19
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016

Keywords

  • Crowdsourcing
  • Design thinking
  • Innovation
  • Internet marketing
  • Market mavens
  • Online communities
  • Opinion leaders
  • Social networks

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