Prototype improvement
Online Discussion Test
Let you gather feedback by creating or joining digital spaces where users can share opinions, experiences, and reactions over time. Instead of one-off interactions, this tool helps you observe how ideas evolve through conversation, questions, and peer exchange.
Why Use this tool?
Capture natural, unfiltered feedback.
Online forums allow people to react in their own time and words. This often leads to richer insights than formal tests, especially for understanding perceptions, concerns, expectations, and emotional reactions to a concept or experience.
what you should know
Start With: A concept, experience, or problem you want feedback on
End With: Patterns, reactions, questions, and learning from users
Time Needed:
• Preparation: Medium
• Execution: 1 hour to several days
• Analysis: High
Difficulty: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ☆☆ (3 out of 5 – requires facilitation and synthesis)
People:
• 6-25 participants
• 2-4 facilitators
A quickguide to start
2. Choose your users. Identify the target group you want to hear from.
3. Select the forum. Use an existing space (WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn, specialized forums) or create a dedicated one.
4. Post clear prompts. Share the concept or prototype (if applicable) and ask focused questions or actions.
5. Let the conversation flow. Give people time to respond, react, and comment on each other’s inputs.
6.Synthesize learning. Look for recurring themes, tensions, and opportunities in the discussion.
helpful tips
- Keep prompts simple — one main question at a time works best.
- Encourage participants to react to each other, not just to you.
- Capture quotes and examples; they’re often as valuable as conclusions.
RACU meets AI
Discussion Forums Internet
How Can AI Make RACU Easier ?
AI can be your creative partner and research assistant, ready to help you move faster and think deeper at every step of the RACU process.
For each RACU tool, we’ll share a ready-to-use AI prompt. Just copy the prompt into your favorite AI tool (like ChatGPT or Copilot) and it will guide you through the method step by step.
The AI becomes your facilitator, asking the right questions so you can build your thinking as you go. No need to fill out a blank form, the prompt starts the conversation and adapts to your answers in real time.
PROMPT – COPILOT, CHAT GPT
You are a facilitator helping me complete a Research & Discovery Card for a design thinking challenge.
Guide me step-by-step by asking the following questions one at a time, and wait for my answer before moving on. You can ask follow-up questions if needed to clarify or improve my responses.
Start with general context:
1. What is the challenge, project, or topic you’re working on? (Briefly describe the scope or goal.)
Then go into Research (existing data):
2. What existing information do we need to gather to better understand this challenge?
3. Where can we get that information? (e.g., internal reports, dashboards, previous research, public sources)
4. What specific questions will this data help us answer?
5. Who on the team will be responsible for gathering this information?
Then move to Discovery (new research):
6. Who should we learn from? (e.g., users, clients, collaborators, stakeholders)
7. Where can we find or reach them?
8. What topics, needs, or behaviors should we explore in the research?
9. What discovery methods could work best for this challenge? (Examples: interviews, shadowing, observation, journaling, immersing yourself in the experience, etc.)
10. How many people should we involve or study?
11. When will this research happen?
12. Who on the team will lead or coordinate this discovery work?
At the end, summarize my answers as a Research & Discovery Plan with two sections:
- Research (existing data)
- Discovery (new fieldwork)
Use bullet points and keep it simple enough to copy into a worksheet.
