Ravelry Yarns: A Crowd-sourced Online Database Suzanne Rogers Gruber San Jose State University Ravelry Yarns 2
Abstract
This paper examines the yarn database created and maintained by Ravelry, the largest social media web site for fiber artists, and compares its efficiency, user-friendliness, and usefulness to the yarn database at Yarndex.com, the reference site operated by online retailer YarnMarket. The databases’ interfaces, search engine options, and comprehensiveness are analyzed and compared.
Three users are asked to test each database; the results of these tests are compiled and discussed and the databases evaluated based on the users’ experiences, finding that while Yarndex offers useful information in relatively easy to find ways, Ravelry’s aesthetic and user-friendly touches are more satisfying to users.
Suzanne Rogers Gruber, 202-12, Fall 2012 Ravelry Yarns 3
Introduction
Ravelry is a large social media website for knitters, crocheters, and other fiber artists. With over two million members, and contains several interconnected, user-populated databases, three stores, and user forums comprised of several thousand member-created and moderated groups,
Ravelry is a remarkable example of a database developed and maintained by crowdsourcing information. User interfaces are designed specifically to be intuitive and adaptable to user needs and desires; users may use all or part of the site as they see fit, and the collection of data represents the work of thousands of users and hundreds of volunteer editors who edit and approve content. The site serves as an excellent example of a well-designed, well-maintained, crowd-sourced information system created for a niche user group, and offers valuable lessons in operating a database with full and enthusiastic cooperation of the intended users.
This paper describes and analyzes the yarns section of the Ravelry database, and uses
Yarndex.com, the next largest online yarn database, for comparison. The user test, given to three
Ravelry and Yarndex users with varied backgrounds and experience levels, highlights some of the strengths and weaknesses of each database. The evaluation and conclusion examine again some of the user-oriented aspects of each website, and discusses the ways in which Ravelry sets a high standard for organization, user-centered design, and crowdsourcing.
Context
As of December 2, 2012, Ravelry had 2,620, 696 users from 107 countries. Ravelry users are predominantly English speaking women from the United States, the United Kingdom,
Canada and Australia, with large groups in Germany. (Due to the self-reporting, optional nature of Ravelry’s demographic information, precise numbers and ratios regarding gender and location are unavailable; tens of thousands of users don’t share that information with the site.) While
Suzanne Rogers Gruber, 202-12, Fall 2012 Ravelry Yarns 4 some sections of the site are recommended for users 18+, some users fall between the ages of 13-
18 years. Users join because of interest and expertise in the fiber arts: spinning, dyeing, weaving, felting, crochet, and knitting are all represented in some form on the site, with knitting being the largest area of interest.
Ravelry offers a variety of methods of interacting with its databases and with other users. The first section of the site is the member’s own page, which includes a profile/personal description, a “queue” for planned projects and patterns, a “projects” page to track data and keep notes and photos for in progress and completed projects, a “library” to store information and pattern files downloaded from the site or bibliographic records of printed material added by the user, a place to record and store information on needles, hooks, and assorted fiber crafting tools, a private message box, and so on. Much of the information in the notebook section can be added by hand, modified or pulled directly from and/or verified from one of the Ravelry databases. Ravelry’s connected databases include sections for patterns, people (members), yarns, groups, events, and designers, each of which connect to several other sections of the site. This paper examines the yarns database specifically, with notes on some of the ways that information interacts with the rest of the site in order to provide the user with more usable results.
Description
The Ravelry Yarns database collects and displays descriptive information for tens of thousands of commercially produced, small business-hand-crafted, and individual homespun yarns. As of December 1, 2012, the database counted 77,986 records for individual yarns. Each record is created by individual members; information is verified and edited by volunteer editors, who may be Ravelry members, fiber industry professionals, experts, or manufacturers
Suzanne Rogers Gruber, 202-12, Fall 2012 Ravelry Yarns 5 themselves. Users may search records through basic or advanced search functions, with several relevant filter and display options to modify the search as the user progresses through her results.
Analysis
Ravelry is a privately held, for-profit organization created and run Jessica and Casey Forbes, one a knitter and the other a programmer, from outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Ravelry has five total employees, hundreds of volunteer editors and moderators, and over two million users around the world. The site is paid for primarily by fiber-related advertising, with additional income generated by merchandise sales, pattern sales, affiliate commissions through sites like
Amazon, “extra” site features which allow mobile upload photo posts, and donations (Unraveled,
2012).
All yarn data has been entered by individual users over the five years of Ravelry’s existence.
Data is most often sourced from ball bands (the tags and wrappers around individual balls or skeins of yarn), or retailers’ and manufacturers’ websites. For home or small-business yarns, records rely on several common community standards (wraps per inch, to describe yarn size, for example) to create meaningful data for handspun yarns. Volunteer editors verify and correct the data, update fields as new colors or varieties become available, and response to member notes regarding the accuracy of current information and requests for updates and verification. Yarns are sometimes marked as “discontinued” when no longer being manufactured or sold, and volunteer editors frequently merge duplicated records in an attempt to keep the database as accurate and useful as possible. New yarns are frequently created and released on the market, and older yarns removed from production, but crafters often build “stashes” of materials for future use, making records of even long-discontinued yarns into relevant records for particular segments of the user group.
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Screenshot 1: Data Entry Screen for New Yarns
Screenshot 1 displays the data entry page for new yarn records. Record creators may type any and all information they have; the only required information on this screen is the “Yarn” field.
Several fields have pull-down menus to allow faster and more accurate data entry. Selecting the
“Closest Color” pull-down will open a list of colors and color ranges to choose from. Users may also change their weights and measurement standards to reflect the system used in their country.
If the “Yarn” name entered already appears in the database (or is very close to an existing record name), several options will appear which allow the user to populate the rest of the record with the correct and already verified information. Options on the right side of the screen allow the user to save the record to particular sections of their “stash” pages and to share the record with
“groups,” connecting the record to other sections of Ravelry.
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Screenshot 2: The Yarns Entry Page
Users looking for the yarn search features likely enter through the page shown in Screenshot
2 by clicking the navigation tab “yarns.” This is the front page of the yarns section of the database. Several options for searching and browsing are offered here, beginning with a list of
“popular yarns,” a basic search box, options to browse through the advanced search page and through member stashes, exploring by common categories, tags, designers (“yarnies”) or searching for local yarn shops by zip code or location, and browsing newly added yarns. The opening page offers something for every yarn searcher, but the clean and direct design of the interface and the casual language keep the page accessible, usable, and aesthetically pleasing.
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Screenshot 3: Advanced Search Options and Display
Several of the options from the opening Yarns page lead users to the Advanced Search screen shown in Screenshot 3. The search results displayed depend on the link chosen on the opening page, while choosing the “advanced search” option will open this screen with no filters or restrictions selected.
From the advanced search, users have several options for crafting and displaying their search results. Screenshot three shows the results from a search performed by selecting specific options from several filters listed on the left sidebar; further refinement is possible by using the search box at the top of the page to search keywords or tags. Boolean searching is allowed in the search box, as well. In keeping with the interactive and interconnected nature of the site, options to save
Suzanne Rogers Gruber, 202-12, Fall 2012 Ravelry Yarns 9 and share the search are provided at the top left of the screen. Results can be sorted by best match, popularity, or name, and displayed with large or small thumbnail images.
Vocabulary for the database is partially controlled. While users can enter uncontrolled text in most of the data entry fields, several lists of standard terms and measurements exist within the database to assist users in entering information and editors in verifying it. Much of this vocabulary extends from long-established crafting terms rather than any particular definitive source. Differences in cultural usage are noted where applicable. For one example: crochet uses the same terms in the US and the UK, but not always to refer to the same stitch, so patterns must be differentiated. While this partially-controlled vocabulary creates opportunities for entry errors, it also serves a large number of users; while manufactured yarns are largely standardized in size, weight, and amount, every skein of handspun is different, and may contain several types of fibers and even different methods of spinning within a single yarn. Allowing the users more freedom in entering data actually supports more accurate data in the records, rather than forcing users to apply terms that are close to correct but not quite right.
The left sidebar of the advanced search offers many various options for filtering and refining searches. (See Screenshot 4.) Boolean filters are built in, as well, to assist in complicated searches such as “wool or alpaca and not mohair and not merino” in the form of pull-down list selections, which may be easier for users than creating the same search in the search bar. While the filters draw their options from the controlled vocabulary lists, there is again an option that allows for creative text searching: users may filter by tags.
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Screenshot 4: Filter Options
An example of an individual yarn record result is displayed in Screenshot 5. The first tab of this record shows the most relevant technical information, featured photos (generally chosen by either the yarn creator or an editor), a purchasing option if available, and community information such as the yarn’s rating and popularity. The other tabs for the record display user images for the yarn, pattern suggestions with links to the Ravelry patterns database, links to users’ stashes that include the yarn in question, project pages for user projects that use the yarn. There are also comments and editor tabs, which allow users to offer suggestions and responses on the yarn and to note inconsistencies or errors for yarn editors to resolve.
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The editors’ page (Screenshot 6) tracks revisions to the yarn record, lists active volunteer editors for that yarn, and offers users the opportunity to join the volunteer editors for that record.
Records are marked as “approved” when an editor has reviewed and verified the information.
Screenshot 5 Individual Record
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Screenshot 6: Editors Page
Ravelry’s yarns database is in a constant state of change; new records appear as soon as new yarns arrive in the marketplace. Yarn records are created and modified whenever a user sees need for them, and then, if the users wish, linked to projects and patterns in other sections of the site, creating an enormous amount of thoroughly hyperlinked and well- categorized information built entirely around the needs and desires of the user group.
Comparison
While Ravelry’s yarn database is by far the largest, there are other options for yarn searchers that may also meet users’ needs. Yarndex is smaller than Ravelry and serves a smaller user base specific to Canada and the United States. It is run by YarnMarket, LLC, which also operates
YarnMarket.com, one of the largest and oldest yarn retailers on the web. Manufacturers and distributors may contact Yarndex for information on having their yarns added to the database,
Suzanne Rogers Gruber, 202-12, Fall 2012 Ravelry Yarns 13 but information input is controlled by Yarndex. (Very little information is available on the
Yarndex website regarding data input, updates, and control, and as of this writing Yarndex had not responded to an emailed request for more information.)
Like Ravelry, Yarndex marks discontinued yarns and corrects misinformation rather than purging records; again, this is because the user group is likely to find outdated records useful for long periods of time after yarns are no longer available for retail sale. Individual yarn records offer space for users to comment on the yarns, and users may contact Yarndex to make requests or comments privately.
As shown in Screenshot 7, Yarndex’s user interface offers fewer options for filtering and restricting search results than Ravelry’s. The design itself has less contrast between elements and fewer graphics, making it less intuitive at first glance; ads, showcased yarns, and most popular lists are not always immediately distinguishable from the search results themselves. Yarndex contains a variety of both search and browse functions in the form of tab navigation at the top of the screen and several pull-down menus, but the layout of the page, with text-heavy ads amidst the search features, may make it difficult to find the correct link. Search results are divided into two sections. The first list is of site sections that contain the search terms, and the second list, often below the edge of the first screen, contains the yarn record results.
The individual yarn pages (Screenshot 9) offer much of the same technical information as the
Ravelry records, with three major differences: Yarndex lacks the project and pattern connections of the Ravelry pages, but includes two important pieces of information in “currently produced colors” and “suggested retail price”. Ravelry lacks the authority of manufacturer-provided data in those areas, though colorways and dye lots are often referenced in users’ personal entries for a particular yarn, and when enough users have done so, Ravelry results will show a “popular
Suzanne Rogers Gruber, 202-12, Fall 2012 Ravelry Yarns 14 colorways” section in the individual yarn record. Ravelry records do not show MSRP, but will sometimes list buying options with current prices when that information is available, as well.
Screenshot 7: Yarndex Search home page
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Screenshot 8: Yarndex Advanced search with results list.
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Screenshot 9: Yarndex: Individual Yarn record display
User Test and Evaluation
This user test was given to three fiber art hobbyists, all established users of Ravelry and familiar with Yarndex. User 1 is a Canadian graduate student and longtime knitter who uses the
Yarns database primarily to browse for new project ideas. User 2 has several years of experience teaching ESL in South Korea and is an editor on Ravelry for some of the Korean yarn brands listed in the Ravelry database. User 3 is an Australian knitter and handspinner, with extensive experience in the online fiber community and a deep knowledge of the subject, but infrequent user of either database.
Testers were given these three questions:
1.What is the fiber content of Highlander yarn, made by Alpaca With a Twist?
2. What is the suggested retail price for Dale of Norway’s Baby Ull yarn?
3. I’m looking for a bulky yarn with soy fiber content. How many options do I have?
Testers were also given the following instructions:
As you go, please record: your search terms, your method of searching, adjustments and
refinements to the original search, your impression of your results (how useful, relevant,
complete—or not!) and describe your overall experience. Please feel free to add your own
observations and reflections, and to include screen shots if that’s easier for you than
recording terms and information.
Test Users responded with the following results:
Suzanne Rogers Gruber, 202-12, Fall 2012 Ravelry Yarns 17
Table 1: User User One User Two User Three Test Results Ravelry Search 1 Search terms: “alpaca with Search terms: “highlander Search terms: main Rav a twist highlander” in twist” yarn page; searched on Advanced search Modifications: none “highlander alpaca with a Results: 45% merino, 45% twist”. Modifications: N/A alpaca, 10% microfiber Modifications: none Results: 45% merino, 45% Results: 45% merino, 45% alpaca, 10% microfiber alpaca, 10% microfiber Search 2 Search terms: “dale of Search terms: “baby ull” Search terms: “dale of norway baby ull” Modifications: none norway baby ull” Results: No MSRP but 2 of Modifications: Modifications: looked at the 4 listed “buying options” Results: “buy online” links, “Buying Options” had “check price” features. chose “see all buying Results: $8.20 and $8.25 in $8.20 and $8.25 Liked that options” Gave this page, USD Rav searched for buying clicked second check price options near user’s home. link to check with WEBS, because I know them: gives $8.20 but no context as to whether that’s suggested retail, so clicked on the $8.20 - Search 3 Search terms: Used filters Search terms: soy Search terms: advanced for “soy” fiber and “bulky” Modifications: “bulky” filter search page Selected “soy” weight Results: 30 yarn options. and “bulky” in the relevant Modifications: None check box lists, Results: 30 options Modifications: Results: 30 options Notes and All 3 searches done in under Points out that the only way All searches were quick - Observations 2 minutes. Easy interface. No to find #3 is to check number completed in minutes if not MSRP but buying options next to filter or count seconds. Question two took info sufficient for user needs manually. No summary line the longest, as I wanted to for # of results. click through to WEBS to double check that the price being displayed was not just their current price, but also the suggested retail (as they sometimes discount). It was still a quick search, although as noted, I can’t confirm the MSRP.
Yarndex
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Search 1 Search terms: “alpaca with Search terms: Highlander Search terms: Front page, a twist highlander” twist used basic search first, with Modifications: selected the Modifications: “highlander” “alpaca with a twist brand from the drop down “Alpaca with a Twist” highlander” the 2nd time, still no fiber content: alpaca Modifications: Went back highlander Results: Yarn not found. to front page, used advanced search, selected “Alpaca searched “highlander” as with a Twist” in Brand yarn name and returned a menu, and added garnstudio yarn “highlander” in Yarn Name. did a general search for Modified advanced search to “highlander” and “alpaca be just looking for Brand with a twist” and returned no “Alpaca with a Twist,” results Displayed seven yarns, but not Highlander. Results: 0. Yarn not in Modified advanced search to database. be just looking for Yarn Name “Highlander,” No results. Went back to Brand Name search results, clicked through the “browse all yarns with brand name Alpaca with a Twist” link, which gave a page with the same seven yarns as displayed before, still no Highlander. Results: None. Search 2 Search terms: “dale baby Search terms: Baby Ull - 3 Search terms: Front page, ull” in general search box yarns with that name, chose used drop down Brand Modifications: none Dale of Norway option Name menu under advanced Results: $5.90 MSRP on Modifications: none search, selected Dale of main page of yarn data Results: $5.90 Norway. Modifications: Results: MSRP $5.90 Search 3 Search terms: used “bulky” Search terms: chose "bulky" Search terms: Bulky yarn and “soy” in drop down from weight dropdown and with soy fibre, how many menus on advanced yarn "soy" from fiber dropdown choices? Wasn’t sure of best search Modifications: after initial approach to the search, nor search, I chose option to look what would be included in Modifications: none at all bulky weight yarns and each of the options under the Results: 1 yarn result looked for a filter to look for Fiber Content menu. Started soy. There was no option, with advanced search, Yarn only the option to look for Weight Bulky, Fiber Content different weight yarns. I also Soy Blend - one result.
Suzanne Rogers Gruber, 202-12, Fall 2012 Ravelry Yarns 19
tried looking only for soy Modified to Yarn Weight yarns and see if there was a Bulky, Fiber Content Soy - filter for weight but there same one result. Double wasn't. checked with the basic Results: 1 yarn search and string “bulky soy,” same one result. Then clicked through “browse all yarns with fiber content soy” link, this yielded 21 results, but of all different weights. Results: So, according to Yarndex, there is only one bulky weight yarn containing soy Notes and Searches here took longer (5- Re: #2 I like that this is listed Overall: the Yarndex Observations 6 minutes total) and with less as the MSRP as it more searches took me a bit longer satisfactory results. Still specifically answers your than the Ravelry searches, happy overall, but less so question than although there are two than with Ravelry searches. the Ravelry search but potential issues here - the the Ravelry search tells me fact that I am much more more realistically what I will familiar with Rav, and the be paying. fact that having done the Re: #3: because I did Rav searches first, I searched the Ravelry search first I for longer on Yarndex when know there is more than 1 it failed to give as much info type of bulky yarn with soy as Rav did. fiber. It was frustrating to only be able to find one result I find both interfaces pretty easy to use, with the basic and advanced searches being fairly similar in usage. Again, preference for Rav, but that’s mostly an aesthetic issue. That said, I much prefer the way Rav displays results, they look much clearer to me.
For pricing info (i.e. q.2), I would have to say Yarndex is the better search tool, as it actually yields MSRP, rather than simply the prices at a few different stockists. This is assuming it has the yarn in
Suzanne Rogers Gruber, 202-12, Fall 2012 Ravelry Yarns 20
question of course!
For questions one & three, I’m concluding that Rav is the better tool, as it has a more complete database.
Users reported similar levels of speed and satisfaction, and all noticed a difference in the availability of information between the two databases. Users 2 and 3 commented on prior
Ravelry experience informing their Yarndex searches and causing some frustration when
Yarndex failed to be as comprehensive as Ravelry’s database, even for a widely available yarn like Alpaca with a Twist’s Highlander.
The users tried various combinations of basic and advanced searches, filters and pull- down menus to achieve their results, and User 3 clicked through links on results pages to verify her information. All three users report both user interfaces to be straightforward and easy to use and they were satisfied that they had found what information was there, even if they didn’t find the specific answers they were seeking. None had complaints or concerns about the process of searching, even after repeated tries to obtain a particular piece of information.
While both databases’ search engines were easy to find and use, and the data itself mostly served users’ needs, Ravelry proved more user-friendly and efficient. Users required fewer
Suzanne Rogers Gruber, 202-12, Fall 2012 Ravelry Yarns 21 modifications to initial searches in order to find their answers and expressed appreciation for
Ravelry’s aesthetics and personal details (nearby store searches, actual retail prices where available rather than MSRP, etc). Users’ opinion of Yarndex was influenced by discovering that database was not as complete as they had believed, and by discovering that some of the search pull-down menus limited their options instead of expanding them.
Conclusion
Ravelry’s reliance on crowdsourced data entry, record maintenance, and record verification could have made it difficult to maintain the data’s accuracy, but allowing users to comment and editors to modify information provides two options for users to help create and maintain highly accurate records. This crowdsourcing also means a far greater breadth of information than can be gathered, verified, and corrected by a retail site with limited staff and resources. Yarndex is a large, authoritative database with enough information to satisfy most fiber crafters’ needs; Ravelry also meets those needs, but raises the standards for usability, exhaustivity, and interaction with related data and a beautiful, interactive interface with extensive search options which users can tailor to their own needs.
Ravelry was created because of its founder’s frustration with being able to find information on yarns and patterns she had seen on the web but was unable to find through the usual search engines, and each step of Ravelry’s development since 2007 has been guided by the users’ needs to gather, store, retrieve, and share information about their crafts for themselves and with one another. This focus on user needs has guided the developers to create an interface with a variety of ways for users to take advantage of its abilities. It is these adaptive and interactive abilities—users with interfaces, one data set with other data sets, all of which allow users to
Suzanne Rogers Gruber, 202-12, Fall 2012 Ravelry Yarns 22 interact with another through information gathering and sharing and commenting— that set
Ravelry apart from other online yarn databases.
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References
Forbes, C. How does Ravelry make its money? [web log post]. Unraveled. Retrieved from
http://blog.ravelry.com/2012/01/25/how-does-ravelry-make-money/ December 4, 2012.
Forbes, C. and J. Ravelry. http://www.ravelry.com.
YarnMarket, LLC. Yarndex. http://www.yarndex.com.
Suzanne Rogers Gruber, 202-12, Fall 2012