I know that the literal definition of community is "a group of people living in one place..." but community in the context of research is considerably more than this.

Shared Interest & Common Goals

Research communities are about identity, interest, and common goals. They are living, breathing, organic entities that hopefully result in greater understanding about a situation or an audience. Though we live in a web 2.0 world, communities are not solely about specific features (e.g. forums, blogs, profile pages). For example, if you have a panel of people and suddenly give them a forum section to connect - this does not alone represent a community. These are static tools that are combined to give people a place to connect, but connection and a sense of community do not just happen, no matter what the feature set.

Identity & Life 

A good community needs action, life, interconnected activities and touch-points so that people can feel part of a shared goal and move together as a group. Members need to see and react to other members. They need to have a sense of self and others around them to truly be part of something as alive as a community. They need to be acknowledged, encouraged and engaged. 

Features Alone are not Enough

The tools and features you use to create this engagement do matter, but more importantly, the mix and context of these tools needs to foster connection for members and moderators. If I have a group of people that is solely engaged through surveys, they are not able to meet and see other people with this shared purpose. So, even if they check out the forum section or have a profile section, it can be an awkward experience that does not encourage thoughtful participation. The same theory applies to the use of photos and blogs. Having the features in a platform is great, but you can't expect people to share images of their life unless they are comfortable and acknowledged in an purposeful environment.

Result

The more you can create a shared identity, a shared interest, and shared goals the more rewarding your community will be.

Interested in getting the most out of your research community? Think about some of the following:

Make your research wish list

What are the specific issues and topics you will want to explore over the life of the community? In what ways do you want to "understand" your customers better? List these out before you get started.

Set your expectations 

What are you hoping to achieve through your research community? Are you replacing or supplementing other research efforts? What are the tangible measures of success for you? Share these with your vendor and review them over time.

Nominate a community champion

Who at your organization will be responsible for the research community? Who can liaise with your community vendor and your internal teams to make the experience the most rewarding? Responsibility leads to success.

Build a plan

How long do you want your community to last? How are you going to manage the flow of research activities over the life of your community? Does your business cycle require a certain focus on particular research items at specific times throughout the year? A plan is important to sustaining your community over the long haul.

Choose the right vendor 

Are you a DIY or a DIFM client? Who do you want to manage your community and more importantly, can that vendor deliver on what you need? If your focus is research, make sure you are comfortable with the researchers working on your community.

Know your audience 

Is there a natural affinity for your brand or are people more skeptical about you? What special characteristics does your audience possess that will impact the community design and overall facilitation techniques? Different types of people require different approaches to communities... one size does not always fit all.

Do you wonder about whether or not you need an online research community? Well, here are here a few key signs that you might be a good candidate for an online community. If any of these apply to you - you may fit the mold.

1. You crave a better understanding of your customers or other special audience. You are interested in how they live, how your brand fits into their lifestyle and what they think about the general world around them.

2. You do a lot of qualitative research or at least want to! You are interested in creating conversations with your audience to understand what makes them tick.

3. You are naturally curious and open to new approaches to market research and qualitative research especially.

4. You have a high demand for research and have several internal teams and departments that may want to tap into a central community to test ideas and concepts.

5. In your organization ideation and trend spotting is very important and continuous concept development is engrained in your culture.

6. You want ongoing access to a resource that  can provide you with quick/directional research at a moments notice.

7. Your industry changes quickly and you need to stay on top of these changes and how your customers react.

There are plenty more, but I thought I would keep it simple.  Feel free to offer additional characteristics if you can.