We need to do more audience research and better audience research.
If we do it right, we’ll overcome our fixed idea.
2 years ago we had a client who planned to launch an online community.
She conducted interviews with 10 to 15 members. In about half the transcripts, the interviewee wasn’t initially blown away by the idea. Gradually, however, she talked them around.
Can you spot the problem?
She’s not going to have that depth of interaction with every prospective members.
Most are simply going to think it’s not a good idea. The community is dead upon launch.
Don’t undertake research to validate your existing concept, do research to identify a potential concept.
You should never ask “do you think a community about {x} is a good idea?”
You should be asking open questions about their biggest interests/challenges and sculpting a community around them.
It’s really hard to ignore your own biases in the conceptualisation stage. So write out exactly what you think the community should be before you begin the research. At least then you can be aware of them.