Discussion Forums
The discussion section allows for threaded and indented
conversations, with the ability for moderators to probe and inform
respondents of follow-up probes to their comments. Moderators also
have the ability to launch evaluations of ads, videos and other
multimedia content. Discussions can be run in an "aided" or “unaided”
format, which minimizes the impact of “group think” and bias on the
responses.
Surveys & Polls
The survey and poll section is ideal for running short surveys and
polls to the greater community or a sub-set of members. The PluggedIN
Platform has twelve built-in survey question types available, ranging
from simple multiple choice to “drag and drop” ranking questions.
Results are available instantly for clients to see, as well as select
members (with permission). Moderators and client observers can
instantly download survey data for further analysis.
Blogs & Diaries
Each community member is provided with a blog, which is similar to
an online journal or diary. Having a blog gives community members a
venue to tell you what is "top of mind," apart from the ongoing
research-related activities in the discussion and survey sections. The
blog section can also be used by community members to keep an ongoing
diary of their experiences with a product or service.
Photo Sharing
All community members are also provided with the ability to upload
and share photos with the community. These photos can be arranged into
albums based on themes you define, or simply shared on an ad-hoc basis
with other community members. Giving community members the ability to
share photos provides you with a “semi-ethnographic” perspective of
their lives, and helps you get a much better picture of who they are
beyond their responses in discussions and surveys.
Multimedia Galleries
The gallery section allows community members to share blogs and
photos around a specific theme. For example, you can create a gallery
that asks community members to share photos around “what does Brand X
mean to you?” Similar to photo sharing, galleries allow you to get a
valuable “semi-ethnographic” perspective on members and really learn
about who they are and what is important to them.
Points
A highly customizable points system allows you to reward members for
their ongoing participation, while ensuring that honorariums are
distributed fairly to those who actually participate. Members are able
to see exactly when and how they earned points, ensuring transparency
throughout the entire honorarium process and making the management of
incentives much easier.
Groups
You can think of groups as “communities within a community.” A group
is a private, invitation-only area of the community where you can launch
discussions, surveys and galleries apart from other community members.
Groups can be setup and moderated by administrators or by community
members themselves.
User Lists
Administrators and site moderators can push research activities to a
highly targeted group when necessary. For example, suppose you want to
run a discussion only among women ages 20-24 in a certain geographic
location. You can quickly and easily launch any activity to that group
with the customizable user list feature.
“Command Central”
Upon
initially logging into the site, community members are sent to their
“Command Central” page, which is where they can see the latest
research-related activities, updates from friends, comments from other
community members and follow-up probes from the community facilitators
that have been directed at them specifically.
Member Profile Pages
Each
member is given their own profile page, which allows them to introduce
themselves to the community, share background information and stories
on themselves, and manage all aspects of their public persona in the
community.
Friends Lists
Community
members are given the ability to make connections with other members
through the “friend list” feature. Once they have established a
connection, they are able to follow what their friends are up to on
their “Command Central” page.
Observer Access
Client
observers are able to access all parts of the site at any time through
their own secure login. Observers (and administrators) have one-click
access to transcripts from discussions and raw survey data.