Build it Right and They Will Come: How to Design Engaging Online Qual

This article is part of the Communities Summit 2020 Series. Sign up for free to hear Nick share his expertise in ‘Build it Right and They Will Come: 10 Ways to Design Engaging Online Activities’

Online Qual has come a long way.

Long gone are the days of mundane task-types, limited customisation and infinitely laborious back-end dashboards (urgh!).

Make way instead for agile and expansive toolkits, vast visual personalisation and a gradual transition towards greater sophistication and automation.

Whilst the technological revolution is expanding the scope of our research and its possibilities, qualitative research design is grounded in many of the tried and tested norms of traditional f2f groups, workshops and depth interviews.

When it comes to designing online community research, it’s tempting to believe that the same approach to structuring the process, tasks, probing and moderation can easily be directly transferred to an online environment.

A discussion guide is a discussion guide, right? 

Well, not quite …

With online research having evolved into a more robust (and as a result, complex) offering, there is more than ever a need to actively design online qual around the platform and the people you’re engaging with.

The result of not doing so can be an experience and a feeling of frustration. It’s hard to maintain momentum when participants are holding back, or confused and overwhelmed by the process. 

In our Webinar, we’ll explore the why… why don’t we always get the richness and detail we’re after?

We’ll cover some key components of a qual research process and how to design them with online in mind and for substantially better results: more natural engagement, richer answers and ultimately fresher insight.

We’ll discuss how a big part of the solution to better online research and engagement, is about structure and communication: a crystal clear plan that is transparent and will be understood by participants.

Do they know more tasks will be launched in week 2?

Can they realistically do a new diary task on the last day? 

We’ll explore how designing online research with the ‘Activity Plan’ in mind (not just a discussion guide!) helps create a more engaging process for participants, and allow them to feel comfortable in opening up more.

Have the questions been framed and worded in a way that encourages people to write freely and open up about how they are truly feeling? 

We’ll delve into how quality checking insights (and getting a ‘sense of the room’) requires a more pro-active process of feeding back what we’ve learned and asking participants if we are right.

There is a need to go out of our way to stress test the insight and interpretation we think we’ve captured, and build this into the process.

There isn’t a single golden ticket to running a better community, there are many elements at play that impact the success and quality of that research process.

It’s not down to simply the ‘right’ questions being asked, but also about how those questions and tasks are positioned, explained, framed and worded.

Will participants ‘get’ what you are asking them to do… and importantly, will they actually enjoy taking part and WANT to open up? 

Would you? That is the golden question!

Join our session at the Communities Summit 2020 and get dozens of practical tips for maximising your qualitative community.

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