Increased autonomy within tasks will not necessarily lead to better task performance. However, one of the greatest concerns of participants is the amount of autonomy they have when carrying out the task. This means that citizen science practitioners should be aware that the preferred design of the tasks of their citizen community may not automatically produce the best results. 

Autonomy and task performance 

Simpler task workflow designs involving fewer task types resulted in greater data volume collected. However, this also increased the number and percentage of false positives in the task. Practitioners would need a larger number of volunteers to ensure correct discoveries since the rate of false positives is higher despite the increase in data volume. 

Task Workflow Design and Data Volume 

Breaking the task into microtasks increased data agreement between volunteers and experts. There are many advantages into breaking down a larger task into microtasks that directly target the desired goal. 

Task Workflow Design and Data Agreement 


 Sprinks, Wardlaw, J., Houghton, R., Bamford, S., & Morley, J. (2017). Task Workflow Design and its impact on performance and volunteers’ subjective preference in Virtual Citizen Science. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 104, 50–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.03.003


Georgetown University

A predefined series of microtasks designed such that the output of the set of microtasks can be used to successfully complete a larger task. While most existing microproductivity approaches currently expect task structure to be provided up front, workflows can also be developed dynamically.


Workflow

- Complex tasks require situated action: constant reflection, revision, and adaptation toward one’s goals. The more complex the task, the more necessary adaptation becomes.
- Workflows streamline the work process, reducing the margin of error. 
- However, workflows are static, limiting situated action. As such, complex tasks have traditionally been difficult to achieve using workflows.  

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