This document discusses using online communities for qualitative research options. It outlines synchronous vs asynchronous options and how communities can be used beyond just discussions. The future of qualitative research with online communities may include more automation through AI, as well as emerging technologies like virtual and augmented reality. Communities can provide rapid qualitative insights and engage participants in new ways.

1. Qualitative Options
with Online Communities

2. Ray Poynter Dan Fleetwood
President, QuestionPro CommunitiesFounder, The Future Place and NewMR

3. Agenda
❏ Leveraging Communities
❏ Synchronous Vs Asynchronous
❏ Beyond Discussions
❏ The Future
❏ Q & A

4. Leveraging Communities
❏ Mostly on-going rather than ad hoc
– but many advantages apply to both
❏ Ready, profiled, and waiting
❏ Clarifying and expanding on earlier feedback
❏ Multiple channels – mobile, online, video, messaging etc
❏ Opportunity to ‘train’ participants, eg emojis, post-it notes, word games etc

5. Triggers for Qual with a Community
❏ As a ‘normal’ qualitative project – eg explore purchase pathways
❏ As a targeted activity – eg find satisfied customers with low spend
levels, find out why
❏ As a responsive project – eg re-contact people who preferred Option A
& explore
❏ Member generated projects

6. Synchronous Vs Asynchronous
Synchronous Asynchronous
Focus groups
Depth Interviews
Diaries
Online/video focus groups
Online/video/telephone depth Interviews
Bulletin board groups
Online discussions
Online diaries
Blogs/Vlogs
Smartphone ethnography
Messaging groups
Social tasks – e.g. pinboards

7. Beyond Discussions
❏ Smartphone Ethnography
❏ Engagement and closing the feedback loop
❏ More than just respondents
❏ Collaborative qual
❏ Crowdsourcing the analysis

8. Smartphone Ethnography
❏ Define what you mean:
diaries, collections of images, videos of activities, focus on self or
others, or true auto-ethnography or collaborative ethnography
❏ Make the tasks clear, engaging, and not too onerous (consider
number of days, tasks per day, and task complexity)
❏ Think about how you are going to process the information, eg limit
video length, number of photos, complexity of passive data

9. Engagement and closing the feedback loop
❏ Qual can be boring, and it can be engaging – think about the design,
think about issues like gamification
❏ Ask your community to suggest topics they would like to discuss
❏ Always give a chance for community members to give you a summary of
what they have shared
❏ Feedback comments, photos, videos etc to the community

10. More than just a respondent
❏ MR is moving on from the word respondent, to participant – but in
many cases we can go much further
❏ Create judging panels, reviewers, new product trialists – people whose
views will be valued by your colleagues
❏ Give participants a chance to become skilled in your research
approaches – so they can add more value – from emojis to VR to video
❏ Give them a chance to set the agenda, to suggest projects & methods

11. Collaborative qual
❏ Ask members to suggest topics and methods
❏ Smartphone ethnography is one type of collaborative qual
❏ Extend the smartphone approach to use members for trendspotting,
cool hunting, reporting, sleuthing
❏ Ask members to solve problems and come up with suggestions without
adopting a specific method

12. Crowdsourcing the analysis
❏ Ask members to interpret their own contributions – from emojis to
additional comments and journaling
❏ Ask members to add comments and interpretations to other member’s
comments – especially in online discussion, blogs, vlogs etc
❏ Ask members to code and analyse qualitative material (not just text,
think signs, images, video)
❏ Consider training some members in analytic techniques

13. Qual does Not need to be Online Qual
Not just focus groups, activities,
factory visits, ‘meet the team’ etc
Store phone numbers & preferences
(eg time of day & topics)
Think phone, eg WhatsApp, Line,
WeChat, SnapChat even SMS

14. The Future?
❏ Automation and AI – e.g. chatbots
❏ Automation and AI – e.g. text & video
analytics
❏ More passive, biometric and neuro
❏ VR and AR
❏ More DIY

15. Automation and AI – e.g. chatbots
❏ Larger communities – chatbot
community managers
❏ Larger projects – instead of 1 discussion
with 50 people, 100 discussions
each with 50 people
❏ More systematic and consistent probing
❏ More multilingual and multicultural projects viable

16. Automation & AI – eg text & video analytics
❏ More text, encourage open-ended
responses – reduce closed responses
❏ More images and videos, longer videos
❏ Processing voice, promoting use of voice
in online qual
❏ More analysis choices – eg grounded theory and content analysis and
semiotics and discourse analysis and …

17. More passive, biometric and neuro
❏ More event-triggered qual
❏ Facial coding & voice analysis
❏ Linking analysis to biometrics, location,
activity
❏ More ethical issues about consent

18. VR and AR
❏ The price of virtual reality is falling,
opening up new opportunities, especially
for qual and communities
❏ Numbers of participants smaller
❏ The same equipment and training can be used multiple times
❏ Viable virtual worlds, holodecks, second life scenarios
❏ Augmented reality is seen by many as potentially bigger than VR

19. More DIY Qual
❏ Automation lowering the barriers to
creating qual
❏ More tools available for qual
❏ AI chatbots to conduct qual
❏ AI to help analyse qual

20. Big Picture
❏ Rapid qual is one of the key benefits of online communities
So, make sure colleagues are aware of it
❏ The range of qual options is growing
❏ Online, offline, phone
❏ Synchronous vs Asynchronous
❏ Text and/or beyond text
❏ Use qual to enhance members’ engagement with the community

21. Thank You
Ray Poynter

22. QuestionPro Communities - Innovation
❏ Ideation Engine
❏ Idea Board Module
❏ Social Listening
❏ Twitter Integration
❏ New Redesigned Community App
❏ Fully Integrated with Communities

23. Idea Board
❏ Members can post ideas
❏ Other members can vote and comment on these ideas
❏ Popular ideas bubble up to the top of the list
❏ Ideas can be shared on social media - Twitter and Facebook
❏ Idea status can be updated by the Community Manager

24. Idea Board

25. Social Listening
❏ Integrate your company’s Twitter account with your QP Community.
❏ Allow members or non-members to tweet at your company using a
predefined hashtag.
❏ The idea will automatically get added to the community.
❏ All members will be able to vote on and give feedback about the
idea.

26. View on Twitter

27. View on Idea Board

28. View in Portal

29. New Community App - Key Features
❏ User News/Activity Feed
❏ Distribute Messages Dynamically
❏ Points & Leaderboard
❏ Levels/Gamification
❏ Refer-a-Friend/Share app
❏ Quick Polling Feature

30. New Community App
Screenshots:
❏ User Feed
❏ Leaderboard
❏ Discussion

31. Q and A
Ray Poynter
NewMR
Dan Fleetwood
QuestionPro

32. questionpro.com/communities
@questionpro
communities@questionpro.com
Dan Fleetwood
dan.fleetwood@questionpro.com
Ray Poynter
ray.poynter@thefutureplace.com