Crowdsourcing Primer

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“We’ve only discovered a fraction of the platforms that one might create.” 

  – Daan Weddepohl, Peerby

This weeks assignment was based on crowdsourcing and what exactly it means and how I would engage with it. Luckily I have an understanding of how crowdsourcing works through LEGO making. However, before noting that LEGO making was a perfect example of crowdsourcing, I just thought of it as a way that a big company would split a big “project” so that individuals would work on different parts of that project. Now, relating LEGO to crowdsourcing would allow users to design their own products by building with different shapes and at the same time testing the demand.

Through the LEGO website, they give an opportunity to the users to submit their own design of LEGO’s. These designs created by the users would get voted on, then the design with the highest vote, LEGO will then start production for that new item. After learning about how LEGO accomplished this idea, I tried to submit my own design. Since this was a while back, my idea seemed to be a little bland. My whole idea was thinking about what people enjoyed doing and what was a popular demand during the time. The idea of having a board game with LEGO’s would have been a great idea to get a reply on. Another idea that I came up to my mind was having a LEGO remote control car where you can customize the body with many different LEGO pieces.

Although I did not get an answer back to my idea, it was still a good experience to learn that the company undergoes many experiences to help us consumers learn about their products. I think this was a way for the company to increase their number of product ideas, as well as connecting or improving with customer engagement. From that, the brand continues to keep their customers and continues to have many new entertaining ideas.

Even for an adult like me, LEGO’s help me relive my childhood with unique product kits that I keep for display. There are numerous of LEGO enthusiasts who display their products and even sell it at collectible shows, then end up making a huge profit out of it. To end this blog, LEGO will continue to be successful as long as they use crowdsourcing to engage with their consumers.