10 Tips for Moderating a Bulletin Board Focus Group
In many ways, a bulletin board focus group works a lot like a face-to-face focus group. But there are some special considerations for an online moderator to keep in mind when using a bulletin board focus group. Here are 10 tips from 20|20 CEO Jim Bryson:
1. Set the discussion tone early: The first day sets the tone for the entire bulletin board focus group, so don’t take it lightly or breeze through it. Be interesting, personal and complete. Avoid being overly wordy. Above all, make it fun. The behavior you model and expect the first day will carry through the entire group.
2. Minimize completely closed-ended questions: Within the same post, include follow-up probes to any closed-ended questions to encourage full explanations of the closed ended response. Example questions that might appear in a single post: “What brand of toothpaste do you use most often and why do you prefer that brand?” If you must do a closed-ended question, consider including it as a survey type question that most of the top platforms provide.
3. Use video, pictures and text formatting: This creates visual interest in your posts and demonstrates to participants how to do the same.
4. Ask no more than 10 questions in one sitting: One of the benefits of online qualitative research is that it allows you to reach participants in more natural settings. But just because they’re not sitting in a focus group facility doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be respectful of participants’ time. Keeping each session to 30 minutes or less makes participation more manageable and prevents participant burn out.
5. Begin each day with a review: After the first day, begin the bulletin board focus group by reminding participants to review and respond to the previous day’s posts.
6. End each day with a sneak peek of the next topic: Not only will this generate interest for participants to return, but it will also give them time to start thinking about tomorrow’s topic.
7. Remember that bulletin board focus groups are dynamic discussions: As with face-to-face, learn as you go and make changes to your guide as needed. Resist the temptation to load the guide and forget it. Edit the guide to reflect the discussion.
8. Keep a bulletin board open for stragglers: To accommodate stragglers who want to play catch up, allow participants access to the bulletin board for a couple of days after the discussion ends.
9. Remind participants when you probe a specific post: Often, participants do not go back and review previous posts so they will not see a probe. Therefore, remind them to check their project alerts and send them an e-mail asking them to respond to your probe.
10. Model the behavior you desire: It’s a repeat of the first tip, but it’s important: Be upbeat, descriptive and interactive, and your participants will reciprocate. This is a conversation, not a report, so don’t get hung up on spelling and grammar. Write like you talk. Be conversational, personal and express emotion.
