Commons-oriented information syntheses : a model for user-driven design and creation activities

The phenomenon of user-driven creation activities has recently emerged and is quickly expanding, especially on the Web. A growing number of people participate in online activities, where they generate content by themselves, freely share their creations, and combine one another's creations in order to synthesize new material. Similar activities also occur in the area of product development, as people design products for themselves and share their designs for others to reuse or build upon. The phenomenon shows that under some special circumstances, typically passive users can become active creators. Also, under such circumstances, creation activities are not just isolated do-it-yourself activities of an individual; instead, people build on one another's creations and further share their own. Recognizing the positive potential of user-driven design, this work endeavored to understand the underlying drivers of open source creation and essential environmental elements. The most important element is the commons, or shared resources, of the communities where the activities take place. A model of commons-oriented information syntheses was formulated. The model provides a unifying description of user-driven creation activities and, more importantly, serves as a general prescription for how to construct a circumstance to recreate the phenomenon for desired applications. Key aspects of the model include: that, in this particular form of information synthesis, the processes of information creating, participating in a community, and sharing of information take place integrally; that the three processes revolve around the commons; and that people consider the prospective benefits and costs of all three processes when they decide on whether or not to engage in a synthesis activity. This understanding can be employed to build circumstances under which the phenomenon can be recreated.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Sukkasi, Sittha

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• David Wallace.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44801

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/44801