How do you incentivize a fixed set of users with little to gain and a lot to loose? | Hacker News Reader

How do you incentivize a fixed set of users with little to gain and a lot to loose?

7 pointsniels_olson3 comments

Basically, we set up reviews of away rotations as part of a med student site. Away rotations are 2-4 week "auditions" at hospital you're interested in going to. The dean wanted this feedback as a way to provide useful information to underclassmen trying to set up their own away rotations. With hundreds of hospitals to choose from, and extremely limited information in advance (often only the website or personal exposure to that city), it's kind of a crap shoot. So, to get high quality feedback, we went with locked down access and real names, so the reviews would carry social value. Problem is, even minimal clicks and monthly reminders, my classmates admit, in their words "I'm just too lazy".

How do would you reward something like this? Anyone have experience with something similar?

So the problem is that the people on the rotations are too lazy to fill out the review forms? The problem is not that they are afraid the reviews will bite them later?

If so, sounds like you could try offering rewards of some type. What I've seen in the past is a raffle for an iPod or similar, you must enter a review to win.

Also, if the dean is really serious about wanting this feedback, then he or she could require filling out reviews as part of a successful away rotation. Suggest keeping this as a last resort, since it could lead people to resent your project. Plus then people will do the bare minimum review.

On the "attention supply side," can you do something like instead of having one big review at the end, many micro-reviews during the rotation? For example, you could ask them every day "what was the best thing about your away rotation?" or you could give them a Twitter account and show the tweets relevant to the away rotation.

hadn't thought of the tweets. That's an interesting idea.

Sounds kinda like thefunded.com to me. In both cases, people want to share information without incurring the wrath of their authority figures. Maybe look there for inspiration?

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