[HOT] a more extreme HOT task manager

[Russell Deffner]

Hello Laurent,

The Tasking Manager is (and will probably always be) a work in progress.
Unless a more competent TM spokesperson can respond better, I would suggest
you visit: http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Tasking_Manager - toward
the bottom there is a section regarding development, and possibly one of
those links can get you somewhere to post your suggestions.

Thank you,
=Russ
russdeffner at gmail.com
russdeffner on OSM

-----Original Message-----
From: Laurent Savaëte [mailto:laurent.savaete at gmail.com] 
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2013 3:31 AM
To: hot at openstreetmap.org
Subject: [HOT] a more extreme HOT task manager

Hello HOTties,

I'm pretty new here, having joined the group during my first MSF/Doctors
without borders field assignment a few months ago.

I started mapping the area where I was working, in the south of
Madagascar, and started wondering how to get external help in a
coordinated way (this was right after the Haruna cyclone, when we were
looking for water sources and that sort of stuff). This is when I found
out about the HOT task manager.

I really liked the idea, but I kept wondering if it couldn't be
improved, here's my thinking:
First time I gave it a try, it took me about an hour to figure out how
to get everything in place to help mapping some part of DRC (downloading
the osm file, setting up imagery in JOSM, etc...). Then I took up a
random task, which I figured would take at least 2-3h for me to complete
in JOSM. Despite loving the idea, I quickly gave up.

Wouldn't it be possible to make that whole process more seamless, and
therefore get a much wider group of online mappers to help?
If the task manager auto-assigned me a very limited task, say trace
roads in a square 50x50m, using iD or a simplified version of it, we'd
be bordering on microtasking.
I would imagine the person requesting the mapping could define their
needs (e.g. roads and buildings, or water streams, or collapsed
buildings), set the log message for all edits done through the UI. All
edits are then done through the web/iD so that micromappers only have to
login and trace. If given a job like "trace all buildings in this
square", they don't even need to tag anything, because the requester
already defined the tags they need.
Basically, the essence of the idea is to take everything the computer
can take care of off the user's plate.
Since the job would take about a minute, it would become a lot easier
and less technical for a wider crowd to join and help.
And let's dream a bit, with a bit of social media magic, maybe maps
could be drawn in a few hours!

I'm sure somebody must have thought of similar stuff before, and maybe
the idea's been killed, but I couldn't find any trace of it. If there's
anything blatently stupid, please let me know :)

Cheers!
Laurent

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