All over the industry I’ve talked to facilities and recruiters who are managing the fallout of in-person qual canceling. Large companies have enacted travel bans and work at home policies. Just today I had two projects convert from in-person to web camera interviews.

So, while it’s top of mind, let’s talk about online qual. No, it’s not the same as in-person qual. No, you don’t get the thrill of eating M&Ms behind the glass, but we are incredibly lucky at the progress that’s been made in new virtual technologies.

Thus, without further ado, I present to you the incredibly timely topic of…

Tools, Tips and Tricks for Online Qual

1) Online Bulletin Boards (OBBs)

Over the past few years, the capabilities and simplicity of conducting online bulletin boards has improved dramatically! In fact, they have quickly become one of my favorite methodologies. Here are some of the benefits:

· Asynchronicity – My computer doesn’t think that’s a real word, but I’m going with it. The benefit with asychronicity is that respondents can get on the boards and answer whenever it is convenient for them. This allows them to put more thought and consideration behind their answers. It also allows them to get away from their children at multiple points throughout the day (wait…that’s not a research benefit…ok sorry…got distracted). Letting them answer on their own time schedule also allows you to give them tasks or missions

· Dynamic Question Types and Guide – I love having the flexibility to create an interesting and interactive guide with questions that range from a standard single select check box to a video screen recording (detailed here) to a Mad Lib style fill in the blank. What I also love is being able to modify the guide throughout the project so that we can adjust on the fly to dig deeper on certain topics or explore new ones. PRO TIP: Leave a day in between posting to give yourself time to read and digest responses and to make necessary modifications to future exercises.

· Interaction – Some people mistakenly believe that there is no interaction on these types of boards. I disagree. Sure, you don’t get the in-the-moment interaction, but people do connect and comment on each other’s ideas. I’ve seen this happen more and more over the years as respondents have become more comfortable using other social media tools to connect. As the moderator, I sometimes spur on that conversation by re-asking a respondent’s question or fostering some internal debate in a follow-up probe. All of this leads to a richer experience and deeper insights. PRO TIP: Provide small ‘prizes’ to those who foster the most community each day by interacting with each other’s posts.

2) Online Focus Groups

Online focus groups are an interesting amalgamation of in-person focus groups and in-depth interviews. You can do quite a lot with them, but there are some limitations.

Obviously, the first limitation is that respondents have to have some type of webcam to participate, but that has become less and less of a problem as of late because most laptops have this capability built in.

There are some great benefits to using online focus groups:

· Live Back & Front of House Interactions – In comparison to OBBs, focus groups have the great benefit of live interactions between respondents. This allows you to get real face-to-face reactions just like an in-person setting, but without the spread of nasty viruses. What some people may not realize is that there is also room for behind-the-glass discussions where clients and observers can comment on results in real-time. This includes the ability to ping the moderator to ask additional questions on-the-fly. So, despite having to bring your own M&Ms for munching, you get a pretty authentic experience from Online Groups. PRO TIP: Limit the number of respondents to 6 or fewer or the moderator will end up playing verbal traffic cop more than actually probing for deeper insights.

· Improved Geographic Diversity – Avoid public spaces, grungy airport bathrooms, and expensive hotel rooms while expanding the reach of your research. Being able to pull respondents from across the country or the world is a huge benefit of these tools.

· Testing Stimuli – There are sometimes concerns about showing stimuli in an online setting, but I’ve never had any difficulty with it. I’ve shown everything from mini-blinds to restaurant-layouts to website mock-ups. Sure, respondents can’t touch and feel the prototypes, but you can provide very detailed renderings. PRO TIP: Work with a qualitative company that will upload your stimuli and run tech checks with respondents to avoid a last-minute hassle during the groups.

Ok. As I began to write this, I realized that I have seriously underestimated the amount I could write about each of these topics. So, I’m going to pause here and save Mobile Diaries and Video Interviews for a second blog. If there are other topics you want me to write about, just let me know.