  In this exploratory study we evaluated the engagement, performance and
preferences of older adults who interacted with different citizen science
tasks. Out of 40 projects recently active on the Zooniverse platform we
selected top ones to be represented by 8 diverse, yet standardized, microtasks,
2 in each category of image, audio, text and pattern recognition. Next, 33
older adults performed these microtasks at home and evaluated each task right
after its completion to, finally, share what could encourage them to engage
with such tasks in their free time. Based on the results we draw preliminary
conclusions regarding older adults' motivations for engaging with such
crowdsourcing tasks and suggest some guidelines for task design while
discussing interesting avenues for further inquiry in the area of crowdsourcing
for older adults.
