OpenRank Leaderboard: Motivating Open Source Collaborations Through Social Network Evaluation in Alibaba

Shengyu Zhao, Xiaoya Xia, Brian Fitzgerald, Xiaozhou Li, Valentina Lenarduzzi, Davide Taibi, Rong Wang, Wei Wang, Chunqi Tian

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Open source has revolutionized how software development is carried out, with a growing number of individuals and organizations contributing to open source projects. As the importance of open source continues to grow, companies also expect to grow thriving and sustainable open source communities with continued contributions and better collaborations. In this study, we applied the contribution leaderboard to seven open source projects initiated by Alibaba. We conducted a case study to investigate the perceptions and facts regarding how to motivate collaboration through gamification. Specifically, we employed a social network algorithm, OpenRank, to evaluate and steer developers' contributions. We validated the effectiveness of OpenRank by comparing it with other evaluation metrics and surveying developers. Through semi-structured interviews and project metric analysis, we found that the OpenRank Leaderboard can promote transparent communication environments, a better community atmosphere, and improved collaboration behavior.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 2024 ACM/IEEE 44th International Conference on Software Engineering
Subtitle of host publicationNew Ideas and Emerging Results, ICSE-SEIP 2024
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages346-357
Number of pages12
ISBN (Electronic)9798400705007
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Apr 2024
Externally publishedYes
Event2024 ACM/IEEE 44th International Conference on Software Engineering: New Ideas and Emerging Results, ICSE-SEIP 2024 - Lisbon, Portugal
Duration: 14 Apr 202420 Apr 2024

Publication series

NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Conference

Conference2024 ACM/IEEE 44th International Conference on Software Engineering: New Ideas and Emerging Results, ICSE-SEIP 2024
Country/TerritoryPortugal
CityLisbon
Period14/04/2420/04/24

Keywords

  • gamification
  • leaderboard
  • open source contribution
  • social network

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