Written by: Evan Goodfellow
A Great Way to Gather Input from your Customers
We recently completed a 3-day Bulletin Board online qualitative research project using our online community software. For the project we recruited 20 individuals from our SaskWatch panel. The purpose of the project was to show how effective a 3-day research discussion group can be. The Bulletin Board is a great way to gather input on a product or service of yours.
Putting the Bulletin Board to the Test
The first day of the Bulletin Board we wanted to get individuals talking and familiar with the format. We started by asking who were their favourite sports teams. We also chose this topic to show the difference between our online communities and anonymous message boards. Discussion threads regarding favourite sports teams can become very heated due to the anonymous nature of these forums. With our discussion threads we see a high level of respect for individuals opinions and comments, and this group in particular had members commenting later that had enjoyed the threads because members had put a lot of thought into their responses and were very respectful towards one another.
The second day we asked members about their favourite movies, followed by questions regarding how individuals watch movies, and television. The responses to favourite movies and why were well thought out, as one individual said his favourite movie was The Shawshank Redemption because “this movie exemplified man’s struggle within himself.”
Learning About User Experience
The third day we focused on getting the participants to share their opinion about our product, which is the online discussion itself. We wanted to find out what the user experience was like, and find out what things the participants enjoyed as well as what things they thought could be improved upon. The responses helped us confirm what we were doing right as well as show areas that we could improve in.
High Levels of Retention and Engagement
The results for the Bulletin Board showed high levels of retention and engagement. The full 20 members participated the first day, followed by 18 the second, and 17 the last day. The first day had 56 comments, followed by 57 the next day and 30 the following day. Members commented how participating in the research project was convenient for them allowing them to comment at any time throughout the day, from their phone or computer. We saw that a very high number of participants logged into the community after 10 pm.
Research projects using the Bulletin Board format is a great way for a company to gather great qualitative data regarding a research subject. The online discussion format is easy to use for participants and allows for high retention rates, and high levels of participation.
If you would like to find out more about how our online community software can help, please contact us.
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