There’s a very thin, blurred and confusing line that distinguishes crowdsourcing from outsourcing. Crowdsourcing means distributing tasks to a large group of online experts to complete a task, while outsourcing is the process of contracting out a third party to complete a task.
Top coder reveals that from a business perspective, enterprise crowdsourcing can seem quite similar to a labor-on-demand outsourcing service. But the automation, scalability and flexibility of crowdsourcing platforms make it cheaper and accurate as compared to outsourcing. Quite naturally, many businesses rely on crowdsourcing platforms when it comes to procuring graphic design services.
Traditional method of outsourcing design projects to expensive design agencies often proves to be too costly and daunting for most low-budget businesses and startups. Quite naturally, they turn to fast-growing crowdsourcing platforms such as Designhill to source creative, durable and novel design concepts in a nickel and dime.
In this article, we will discuss how crowdsourcing designs prove to be a better proposition than outsourcing it to a design agency.
Overhead Expenses
One of the major areas where crowdsourcing widely differs from outsourcing is that of overhead expenditure. When you crowdsource a design project at reliable platforms such as Designhill, you don’t have to worry about the overhead expenses at all since there are no fixed costs or facility associated with this particular model. So, if you’ve a laptop and Internet connection, that’s more than enough to procure excellent graphics quickly and cheaply.
On the other hand, when working with design agencies, you need to bear fixed expenses such as resources, facility costs and transportation charges.
Flexibility of the Workforce
According to Lion Bridge, outsourcing relies heavily on a rigid workforce structure which calls for visual hierarchies and staffing models. Quite naturally, when you outsource your design projects to an agency, there’s often a delay in communication because there’s a long list of people involved in a project. The seemingly long email exchange as so many people need to say yes to a project doesn’t sound too efficient.
This is in direct contrast to how flexible it is work with custom design crowdsourcing sites. Simply launching a logo design contest at Designhill, for one, offers you instant access to flexible workforce on-demand that’s ever ready and willing to work for you under the tightest of deadlines.
The Limited Range of Abilities and Skills
Another major point that distinguishes crowdsourcing and outsourcing is the range of abilities and skills. Crowdsourcing sites offer the opportunity of a worldwide collaboration. Therefore, a brilliant salmagundi of talent, skills and abilities is available to join forces on the same project.
On the contrary, according to Top Coder, outsourcing is limited to a pre-defined, limited pool of skills and abilities. Quite understandably, many design agencies don’t accept all kind of graphic design projects and concentrate on some particular tasks. This is due to the limited range of abilities and skills within their workforce.
Traditional Handling of Workload
Outsourcing is nothing but a little augmentation of the traditional workforce. Quite expectedly, when you choose the traditional set-up of hiring a design agency to work on a project—you don’t get more than three or four design concepts, at best. This is because design agencies work with the traditional set-up of a relatively small pool of designers.
Conversely, with crowdsourcing sites, getting infinite design concepts to choose from is not entirely out of the realm of possibility. Design contests by Designhill, for one, offer an average of 100+ design options to check, look over and examine. Entrepreneur.com clearly indicates how the increase in choices can lead to the best design. With so many design concepts and ideas, you’re sure to find more than a few inspirational pieces surpassing your expectations.
Schedule of Availability
Top coder reveals that in an outsourcing model, the work force works with a time clock management, limiting the hours of productivity small block of time each day. So, when you outsource your design projects to an agency, the deadlines can take as long as weeks.
On the other hand, crowdsourcing sites are not limited to traditional time-clock management system. Expectedly, designers working with crowdsourcing sites are not tied to a particular time period for availability and can be access any time during the day. For example, Designhill graphic artists work around the clock, creating their own work schedules from across the globe.
