MOTIVATION TO RESPOND ON STACK OVERFLOW Q&A WEBSITE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32461/2226-3209.1.2018.178697Abstract
Abstract. The importance of using Q&A sites such as Stack Overflow and Code Project, etc. is obvious to
everyone in order to solve the potential problems of the developers. The objective of this research was to increase the participation rate and responsiveness of developers on Stack Overflow website by improving the gamification methods. To present the proposed solution, a tool called Stack Overflow Super Gamification (SSG) was proposed, which is an extension for Eclipse. The purpose of this extension is to create an ongoing competition and motivation among developers to participate in answering questions on Stack Overflow site. In this extension, the ranking practices for active users on the site
are improved so that the continuity of participation in the site will earn more privileges. Also, the ranking structure of the users with various nationalities who have gained privileges was used to create a motivation and competition among the developers of different countries. Rewards for users in this extension, for example, offering superior job opportunities based on higher privileges, as well as providing an opportunity to advertise products or businesses and demonstrate personal
abilities and talent for free, will make them more willing to participate, and will provide the incentive to stay active on the site. The proposed solutions will not only provide more activities and answers to more questions, but also bring valuable achievements to developers active on the site. According to the evaluations, the performance of the proposed solution for motivating developers to participate and answer the questions on the Stack Overflow site is acceptable. Since the purpose of this strategy is to encourage developers to participate effectively on the site, the evaluation results clearly reflect the
usefulness of this solution in motivating developers. The results indicate that while the developers are actively involved, the number of unanswered questions, as well as unacceptable responses is reduced, and in the meanwhile, the quality of the responses given is acceptable in terms of brevity, completeness, and accuracy.
Keywords: Gamification, Motivation on Stack Overflow website, Q&A sites.
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