Gems Modules: Open-Source Reusable Interfaces

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Some of the greatest inefficiencies in existing micro task marketplaces stem from poor usability. While designing micro task interfaces is difficult — especially because they need to be accessible to users with only basic computer literacy — current interfaces are particularly ineffective. It is widely known that Amazon Mechanical Turk’s UI/UX is quite dated, and Crowdflower’s Crowdflower Markup language (CML) does little to save requesters time in setting up simple tasks.

On both platforms, it has become common practice for requesters to build their own tools or websites iframed on the task page. Requesters are therefore forced to waste incredible amounts of time and resources building their own UI/UX, as the platforms provide insufficient alternatives for somewhat complicated tasks.

Furthermore, because each researcher may build his or her own unique UI/UX, workers lose time and accuracy adapting to inconsistent or different interfaces when they start a new task. Workers therefore perform fewer tasks per hour and earn less, while requesters pay for time that isn’t used constructively.

Gems’ open-source, reusable interfaces — called Gems Modules — are the solution to this inefficiency.

Gems Modules

Gems modules are interfaces built on top of the Gems Platform that miners (that’s our term for workers) will use to perform tasks. The Gems team will release reusable UI/UX open-source modules as well as reusable open-source components of modules that will allow anyone to build other modules effortlessly.

We will work hands-on with early requesters, UI/UX researchers, and designers to determine how to provide interfaces and components that are simultaneously intuitive, customizable, and encompassing for current and future micro task requirements. Because these interfaces and components will be open-source, outside contributors will also be able to help iterate and create more UI/UX resources to suit more diverse needs, potentially being incentivized throughout the process.

Gems components allow requesters to efficiently create micro tasks as simple or as complicated as they wish.

Workers will reap immense benefits with this new open-source, reusable design: the workflow will be streamlined because there will be more consistent UI/UXs and because the tasks will have well-designed, intuitive interfaces developed through rigorous research and iteration. This has a twofold effect: firstly, workers will be able to complete tasks more quickly, allowing them to complete more tasks in a given timeframe and earn more money; and secondly, the tasks will be easier to comprehend and therefore have a higher task accuracy and make Gems accessible to a larger potential worker population.

Gems, unlike current centralized platforms, only sees benefit in having a fully open source project.

We, as a decentralized platform where we take no ongoing network cut, believe that having open-source, reusable components in the Gems environment will help promote better network effects within the Gems Platform. Our goal is to replace the inefficient current marketplaces with one which allows for miners to earn more per hour, requesters to use resources more constructively, and wasted time to be eliminated on both fronts.

Gems Modules you say? Come learn more about Gems:

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Thank you to San Kim and Rory O’Reilly who helped edit this piece.