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World Community Grid Volunteer Study

World Community Grid Volunteer Study. Rationale for Study. World Community Grid has been around since 2004 Last significant changes to website were in 2009 Want to know if we understood our user base, who they were and what motivates them to participate.

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World Community Grid Volunteer Study

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  1. World Community Grid Volunteer Study

  2. Rationale for Study • World Community Grid has been around since 2004 • Last significant changes to website were in 2009 • Want to know if we understood our user base, who they were and what motivates them to participate. • Clarify direction for future enhancements and work items

  3. Study components • Used IBM’s user experience strategy group to conduct study of our current and past volunteers. • Study consisted of: • Online survey, which took about 15 minutes to complete • Phone based focus group sessions

  4. Who was invited and who participated? • Survey • E-mailed survey invites to all volunteers opting to receive email • Survey open for almost two weeks, reminder sent about halfway through • 15,627 completed survey (3.6% total response rate)

  5. Focus Groups • Used survey data and cluster analysis results to determine best groupings for focus groups • Proceeded with six groups: • Active, technical volunteers • Active, non-technical volunteers • Passive volunteers • Team members • Inactive/No longer members • Non-members • Sessions lasted 1 hour each • Questions were tailored for each group

  6. Demographics Occupation Almost 90% Male Age

  7. Third of respondents from the US

  8. 75% of respondentshave been contributing for more than a year

  9. Why join World Community Grid? To support scientific research Support scientific research Use my unused computer power Participate in distributed computing Good way to make a difference Support a particular research project Encouraged by employer/university Join a team effort Enjoy earning points for my contribution Competitive aspects Want to collect the badges Points system is better Badges more attainable Other

  10. Participating in other DCs Have you contributed to other distributed/volunteer computing communities? Over 100 participants stated that they preferred other volunteer computing communities to WCG because of the way they handle GPU.

  11. Recommendation How do respondents view us differently from other grids? • World Community Grid’s focus on humanitarian causes solving practical issues seen as key motivator and differentiator. • Contributing results back to public domain • GPU cited as significant reason respondents prefer other distributed computing communities Focus on World Community Grid’s humanitarian goals in marketing materials and strengthen by providing examples of projects that solve “real world”, “practical” issues. Add more GPU projects.

  12. Almost half of respondents installed the software from World Community Grid.

  13. Almost half of respondents disabled the WCG screensaver.

  14. What would increase your interest? Understanding impact of volunteer’s contribution Better understanding of the impact of my contribution More research projects that interest me Better understanding of World Community Grid ‘s achievements More opportunities to learn about the science Simpler, less technical explanations of the science More technical explanations of the science Easier to use software I don’t know Better recognition for my contribution Nothing can be done to increase my involvement Easier to use website More active community on social media More or easier to use tools or recruiting other volunteers A community space that is more accessible to casual volunteer Better recognition for recruiting other volunteers More active World Community Grid forum community Other (please specify)

  15. Insight Recommendation Want more frequent, less technical communications “Would be nice if there was a way to get a short summary on goals of the project. Needs to be presented in layman’s perspective. Some presentations have been really, really technically detailed. Even though I have a good educational background, I didn’t understand - friends wouldn’t understand” Want less technical but more frequent updates from projects. Volunteers understand that researchers are busy, but want to hear more about results and how their contributions are making a difference. “Couldn’t find information that I could understand. Looked at forums and some forum topics from the researchers. Tried to read through the material, pretty technical” Create a standardized process, which is easy and consistent for researchers to provide updates. Layering of information: present high-level information with ability to drill into more detailed version.

  16. Not Share Almost 2 in 3 promote World Community Grid to friends or family. Most promote World Community Grid 34% would like more materials about the program to sent them. Share When asked why they haven’t promoted World Community Grid: 48% did not think family/friends would be interested. 31% just hadn’t thought about it.

  17. When asked why they share on social media: 70% wanted to encourage others to join. 14% wanted to share your sense of accomplishment with others. 59% don’t share because they don’t use social media. Few share on social media Share Not Share Around 1 in 5 share World Community Grid information on social media.

  18. Why stop contributing? Mostly due to impact on computer

  19. Finding Recommendation Security and performance concerns are barriers to joining Security and performance questions are obstacles to gaining new members “Downloading programs is very easy nowadays, not a problem for anyone. It’s just the security issues, what will the program do when I'm not there?” Need to explain the software and underlying technology, especially focusing on security and computer performance. Beginning with non-technical explanations, then move to more technical details for those who want to learn more. Materials should also address World Community Grid commitment to safe, unobtrusive software.

  20. Website feedback • Project selection trickiest part of registration • Over 40% visit the website at least monthly • My Statistics, News & Updates and Research project information most accessed • Volunteers least familiar with Twitter Integration, Partner and Marketing Toolkit pages • 45% have heard of but never visited Forums

  21. Other themes from survey comments  Appetite for more GPU projects Appetite for more badges (5, 10, 15 year etc.) Printable certificates to acknowledge contribution Technical issues with adjusting CPU settings Frustration that the BOINC points don’t carry over to World Community Grid Similarly, lack of standardized points

  22. So what are we doing? • More approachable website:New information architecture and visual design for our website; more user-friendly explanations of what we are and how program works. • Improved communications:More ways to consume it; more volunteer control over how to receive it. • More accessible research information: Improved accessibility of information about projects, what has been accomplished and what the researchers are working towards. Layering of information – better non-technical summaries as well as more detailed scientific content.

  23. When will the changes appear? • Soon! • We have additional help to build these changes and will start releasing incremental releases shortly

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