I think it’s important to highlight and weigh the benefits and drawbacks of any research methodology before recommending it. If you’ve been following this blog for any amount of time, you know that we’re big fans of online research communities , and feel they offer a number of unique benefits to organizations that use them effectively. However, no methodology is perfect, so read on to hear about some of the potential limitations of an online research community and how they can be overcome.

Limitation #1 - Direct observation

I’ll start with a fairly obvious limitation of online research communities (as well as just about any other online research methodology) - the ability to directly observe interactions with a product or service. While research communities provide a venue for people to document and carefully describe their ongoing experiences with a product or service, sometimes nothing beats good ol’ face-to-face observation achieved through more “traditional” qualitative research methodologies like focus groups and ethnography studies.

What’s the solution then?

You can make up for this limitation in a few creative ways. For example, you can send a select group of community members a webcam and ask them to record their interactions with a product. Or, you can recruit members in select geographic locations for running focus groups and/or ethnography studies to actually observe interactions with a product, and then follow-up with ongoing discussions in the research community.

Limitation #2 - Website Usability

This limitation is actually fairly similar to the first one, but is worthy of it’s own since it’s something that many companies pursue separately. While it’s possible to ask basic questions around website concepts, barriers to effective navigation, taxonomy, user interface, etc…, nothing beats observing people use an application in-person or using some of TechSmith’s great remote usability tools.

What’s the solution then?

Once again, there are ways to use webcams and integrated remote usability tools to get basic usability studies accomplished. There are also ways of reaching out to community members using web meetings and phone conversations in an in-depth interview format.

Limitation #3 - Brainstorming & Ideation

This isn’t to say that brainstorming can’t be done in an online research community. In fact, there are benefits to having an ongoing brainstorming session that runs over months, rather than a few hours. However, if you’ve ever been part of (or observed) a professionally moderated ideation session, you know how effective real time interaction can be when generating ideas. It’s difficult to translate some real-time brainstorming activities into effective research community activities.

What’s the solution then?

Keep running conventional brainstorming sessions when you need ideas, while acknowledging that the type of brainstorming that will happen in your research community is likely to be a little “different” than what you’re used to. It usually involves different types of activities that take better advantage of the asynchronous format of an online research community.