A panel is a pre-existing group of pre-screened people (e.g. patients, practitioners etc.) who have given their consent to take part in different research activities over an agreed period. Panel members have given their contact details and other profiling information, which enables fast recruitment for specific research activities as they come up. Patients, students, experts and other staff can also be used as a panel (needs to be agreed case by case).
Keep the user engaged! What’s in it for them?
- Intrinsic vs extrinsic rewards
- Offer exclusivity
- Celebrate achievements
- Share results
- Gamification
- Listen to feedback
Standard procedures and methodologies include: well defined roles within the team (business, operations, dedicated panel management, project writing, research); the importance of building and maintaining your own panel database; gaining and keeping trust of panel members (ethical approach, inform about activities before and after, customised work protocol during sessions and real life testings based on both scientific approaches and experience); methodologies may be common (co-creation, focus group, live testing), but each assignment is custom made, in concertation with client; taking local, cultural and societal differences into acount.