Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION
Volume 39, Issue 20, Pages 4090-4111Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2022.2109246
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This study aims to investigate the socio-technical complexities of voluntary participation in a digital science-based research platform and propose recommendations to enhance volunteer motivation. Through a survey study of volunteers on the Step-Up for Dementia Research platform, the researchers identify the factors that facilitate or impede sustainable volunteer participation and the identities from which volunteers derive meaning from their work.
Volunteer motivation has been researched in HCI in several application domains. However, motivational complexities of digital volunteerism in science-based domains, such as medical research are under-explored, especially when involving volunteers with marginalized identities. We aim to study the socio-technical complexities of voluntary participation in a digital science-based research platform and propose recommendations to enhance volunteer motivation. We describe a survey study of volunteers on Step-Up for Dementia Research platform (n = 266) to capture nuances in their demographics, experiences, motivations, well-being, and psychological needs. Our findings reveal the features that facilitate or impede sustainable volunteer participation and the 5 identities based on which volunteers derive meaning from their work. We propose 8 recommendations to navigate the digital divide and foster inclusion, build wider participation by engaging with the social construction of volunteering and focusing on prosocial values, and enhance volunteer well-being by fulfilling their cognitive, emotional, and psychological needs.
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