Most RFPs ask whether a vendor ‘supports qualitative research.’ Every vendor says yes, and you end up in a demo of the wrong product. An online bulletin board is a specific research object: a group of people answers a sequence of questions and tasks over several days, on their own time, and a researcher moderates and analyzes as it unfolds. This guide gives you 25 questions that test for that object. For each one you get the reason it matters and what a strong answer sounds like.
How to use this list
Do not paste all 25 into an RFP and call it done. Long questionnaires produce long, polished, evasive answers. Pick the questions that match your real studies, ask vendors to answer in two or three sentences, and then verify the answers in a pilot with one of your own discussion guides. A claim you have watched work on your guide is worth more than ten paragraphs of marketing copy.
How to score the answers
| Answer type | What it sounds like | How to treat it |
|---|---|---|
| Specific and demonstrable | ‘Day 3 unlocks when Day 2 is complete or at 8am local time. Here is the setting.’ | Verify in the pilot, then score high |
| Generic and evasive | ‘Our flexible platform supports many methodologies.’ | Ask a follow-up; if it stays vague, score low |
| Honest limitation | ‘We do not do X. Customers use Y alongside us.’ | Treat as a plus; it saves you a surprise later |
| Roadmap promise | ‘That ships next quarter.’ | Score as not available today and ask for a contract commitment |
Section 1: Research object
These four questions establish whether the product is built for timed, multi-day studies at all. A survey tool, a community platform, and a study board can all show you a screen with questions on it, so you have to probe the structure underneath.
Research object
Section 2: Authoring
Authoring is where most agencies lose hours. Every extra hour a senior researcher spends rebuilding a guide inside a tool is margin that does not come back. Ask about the path from a finished document to a board you can invite people into.
Authoring
Section 3: Fieldwork and completes
A ‘complete’ is a participant who finishes every required task. Fieldwork is the window when people are answering. Everything in this section is about protecting completes, because a beautiful board that half the sample abandons is a failed study.
Fieldwork and completes
Section 4: Analysis and delivery
Analysis is where AI claims get loud. Your job is to separate what the software does reliably from what is a demo. A theme is a recurring idea across participants, such as ‘worried about price’; AI can propose them, but a researcher must be able to check them against real quotes.
Analysis and delivery
Section 5: Trust, privacy, and agency operations
Boards contain confidential stimuli and personal details from people’s homes. Agencies also run several clients at once. These questions test whether the vendor’s trust model fits that reality. A strong answer is concrete about mechanisms, not just certifications.
Trust, privacy, and agency operations
FAQ