New · Pro & Corporate plans
Last updated:
Research communities—your customers, on call for weeks
Some questions need more than one survey. A Sentink Research Community is a private space where your chosen members talk with you, and with each other, for days, weeks or months. Post discussions, run diaries and home use tests inside the community, choose who sees what, and keep every reply, entry and member in one place.
Built for bilingual teams across the GCC and MENA—with native Arabic RTL, regional fielding, and Dubai-headquartered support.
- 01Moderated discussionsNine formats, from open talk to concept tests
- 02Five visibility modesOpen, blind until first post, moderator-only, private, by group
- 03Diaries & HUTs insideOne membership, every method
- 04One Research inboxEvery new post, entry and reply in one queue
- 05Member 360°Each member’s whole journey on one screen
What you get
- Private, invite-only communities with consent, member capacity and your own welcome message
- Discussion formats: open discussion, moderator-led, question of the day, product feedback, idea generation, concept evaluation, experience sharing, media discussion and announcements
- Five visibility modes: open; blind until a member posts first; visible to moderators only; private one-to-one; or limited to groups
- Schedule topics to open later; members get an email when a new discussion starts
- Replies, reactions, and photo or video posts
- Moderation: review queue, member reports, hide or restore posts and lock topics
- Groups to target topics and tasks at segments, such as age bands, regions or product users
- Run online diaries and home use tests inside the community with the same members
- One Research inbox for new posts, entries, follow-up answers, reports and private posts waiting for a team reply
- Member 360°: groups, completion in every study, posts, entries, open questions and email history for any member
- Combined completion across the community and every diary and HUT inside it
- Engagement metrics: active and contributing members, contributions per week, results by group and a filter for members who have gone quiet
- A personal “What’s new” feed for members: new tasks, new discussions and replies from the team
- Search across discussions and entries, and AI summaries with links to the original posts
- Export every post with its topic, format and visibility, alongside diary and HUT data
- Member portal in English, Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia, on any phone or computer
All features · 01
Conversations that go deeper than a survey
Open a discussion in the format that fits the question—a daily question, a concept to react to, an idea challenge or a product feedback thread. Members reply, react and share photos or videos, and moderators keep the conversation on track.
- Nine discussion formats, including staff-only announcements
- Schedule topics to open later; members are notified by email
- Review queue, member reports, hide, restore and lock
All features · 02
You decide who sees what
Group discussions can make people follow the crowd. For each topic, choose whether members see each other’s posts straight away, only after they have posted their own answer, never (only moderators see them), in a private one-to-one thread with your team, or only within their group.
- Blind-first answers stay independent
- Private threads for sensitive topics
- Group-restricted topics for segments
All features · 03
Every method, one membership
Run online diaries and home use tests inside the community, with the same members, groups and consent. Members see one portal with their tasks, discussions and messages. Your team sees combined completion across everything.
- Diaries and HUTs inside the community
- Combined completion across every study
- One “What’s new” feed for each member
All features · 04
Run it from one inbox
New posts, diary entries, answers to your follow-ups, reports and private posts waiting for a reply all land in one Research inbox across every study you moderate. Open any member to see their whole journey, then use search and AI summaries to turn weeks of conversation into findings.
- Research inbox across the workspace or one community
- Member 360° profile on one screen
- Engagement metrics, search and AI summaries with sources
Who it is for
- Brand and insights teamsKeep a group of real customers close for co-creation, concept tests and fast answers between big studies.
- Research agenciesRun long-term communities for clients, with diaries and HUTs inside, and a clear view of every member.
- Product and innovation teamsTest ideas early, follow real use over time, and ask follow-up questions the same day.
Frequently asked questions
What is an online research community?
A private online space where a chosen group of people take part in discussions and research tasks over days, weeks or months. It is also called an MROC (market research online community) or insight community.
What does “blind until first post” mean?
Members can’t see other people’s answers to that topic until they post their own. Each first answer stays independent, and members can then read and reply to others.
Can I run diaries and home use tests inside a community?
Yes. Diaries and home use tests created inside a community use the same members, groups and consent. Members see everything in one portal, and you see combined completion across all of it.
Which plans include research communities?
Research communities are included with the Pro and Corporate plans and with Enterprise and private instances, together with online diaries and home use tests.
Related features
Open your research community on Sentink
Included with Pro and Corporate plans. Book a demo and we’ll launch your first community with you.