---
source_url: "https://www.hyve.net/en/online-research-communities/"
title: Online Research Communities - HYVE
mirrored_at: 2026-08-25T01:31:41.073Z
host: www.hyve.net
cited_in_42a: true
mirror_canonical: "https://index.42a.ai/www.hyve.net/en/online-research-communities/index"
---

> **Original source:** https://www.hyve.net/en/online-research-communities/

## What are Online Research Communities

**Online Research Communities** (ORCs) or **Market Research Online Communities** (MROCs) are **closed platforms** where **selected users** meet to discuss topics and take part in various research-related tasks. The activities are moderated by researchers and the platform enables these researchers to use a mix of **qualitative and quantitative methods** to uncover **insights** from users. These users are recruited to fit certain target criteria. If you’ve ever wished that you could go back to a participant and ask more of them a few days later, ORCs are the right tool for you.

Explore Opportunities

Test Ideas

Understand customers

Collect Feedback

Throughout your online research community project, you will learn plenty about your customers needs and wants. Therefore, this is the perfect playground to **explore innovation opportunities** by identifying consumer insights, needs, wishes and concerns.

![Crowdsourcing and open innovation community](https://www.hyve.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Crowdsourcing-and-open-innovation-community-1024x683.jpg)

**24/7 access to participants and their comments**

Users can log in day and night, from different time zones and geographies

Activities are left open for several days

Observer accounts allow clients to access the community 24/7

![Ideation process](https://www.hyve.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/shutterstock_699875743-1024x683.jpg)

**Larger number of participants than in-person methods**

Number of active participants per community range from 30 to 150

Enable one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many interactions

![](https://www.hyve.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/headway-5QgIuuBxKwM-unsplash-1-1024x683.jpg)

**Direct feedback channel for innovation projects**

Explore needs at the start of your project

Gather ideas from participants

Test concepts & prototypes with online users

Ideal in a HYVE Lab context

![](https://www.hyve.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Lab.jpg)

**Reflected feedback over longer periods of time**

Daily, weekly, monthly contact with users

Content shared by users include personal stories & anecdotes, impressions on trying out new products & services, and reflections on images and thoughts they have previously shared with us

### Research Design

**~ 3 weeks**

-   Deriving research questions from your brief
-   Developing an activity plan and discussion guidelines, including stimulus design and translation (if required)
-   Setting a vision for your community

### Recruiting

**~ 3 weeks**

-   Finding motivated, creative consumers who meet your selection criteria
-   Selecting and inviting participants to join
-   Creating an incentive strategy to reward their participation

### ORC Setup

**~ 1 week**

-   Conceptualizing and developing the look and feel of your community
-   Selecting and implementing research and co-creation modules
-   Setting up and testing the site before launch

### Live Phase

**Minimum 1 week**

-   Activating and building relationships with participants
-   Expertly moderating the online activities
-   Encouraging consumers’ continuous feedback and documentation of their experiences

### Insight Generation

**~ 2 weeks**

-   Qualitative and quantitative analysis of multiple sources of data
-   Aggregation and interpretation of findings
-   Combination of insights to derive actionable recommendations

## Choose from different formats of Online Research Communities

### Research Sprint

**5-10 days**

Best for short ideation, concept testing, backing up assumptions

Short time frame best suited to busy target groups

But mostly quick reads, scratching the surface, checking assumptions

**1-5 months**

Best for one specific part of your project (e.g. exploration, concept testing, idea refinement)

Medium time frame best suited to diary tasks, tracking journeys

But no continuity throughout the innovation process or your firm’s project

**6+ months**

Best for online innovation projects (from start to finish), taking the pulse of consumers on various topics, quick checks, and deeper dives

Longer time frame best suited to ongoing research, brand tracking, or advisory boards

But requires longer-term commitment from your team

## Why HYVE is the right partner for you

**INNOVATION**  
We are an innovation agency so we can use your online research community to fuel or support larger innovation projects within your company, or a HYVE Innovation Lab.

**RESEARCH EXPERTISE**  
We have a wide range of research methods that can complement your community (and again, we do them all in-house). Our experienced and multi-lingual moderators take care of research design, moderation & analysis.

**TAILORED DESIGN**  
We can adapt the look & feel of the community to your company CI, design unique stimulus to engage participants, and create impactful outputs to share within your organisation & get internal buy-in.

**TECH PLATFORM**  
We are platform-agnostic: we host your community on the platform that best suits your needs. Each platform comes with a wide range of activity types and new modules can be developed upon request. Tech support is provided.

![Aurelie Jamard von HYVE über ORCs](https://www.hyve.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/2535/hyve-online-research-community-desktop-999999x868.jpg)