Development of a simple information pump

Matthews, P.C.; Keegan, J.D.; Robson, J.R.

Abstract

The Information Pump (IP) is a methodology that aims to counter the problems arising from traditional subjective product data collection. The IP is a game theory based process that aims to maximise information extracted from a panel of subjects, while maintaining their interest in the process through a continuous panelist scoring method. The challenge with implementing this arises from the difficulty in executing the 'game'. In its original format, there is an assumption that the game is played with each player using their own PC to interact with the process. While this in theory allows information and scores to flow in a controlled manner between the players, it actually provides a major barrier to the wider adoption of the IP method. This barrier is two-fold: it is costly and complex, and it is not a natural manner for exchanging information. The core objective is to develop a low cost version of the IP method. This will use the game theory approach to maintain interest among participants and maximise information extraction, but remove the need for each participant to have their own PC interface to the game. This will require replacing both the inter-player communication method and the score keeping/reporting.

Citation

Matthews, P., Keegan, J., & Robson, J. (2005, August). Development of a simple information pump. Presented at 15th International Conference on Engineering Design, Melbourne, Australia

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: 15th International Conference on Engineering Design
• Start Date: Aug 15, 2005
• End Date: Aug 18, 2005
• Publication Date: 2005-08
• Deposit Date: Aug 14, 2008
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 14, 2008
• Series Title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Design.
• Book Title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Design.
• ISBN: 08582578825
• Keywords: Information elicitation, Focus groups, Non-technical product evaluation, Subjective evaluation, Game theory.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1167102
• Publisher URL: http://www.designsociety.org
• Additional Information: 15-18 Aug 2005. (CD-ROM)