Questions to ask before starting a Kinnect pilot
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A successful Kinnect pilot starts with a clear participation problem.
The goal is not to launch another app, add another communication channel, or measure activity for its own sake. The goal is to understand where participation is breaking down, then use Kinnect to make the next step easier for members and more visible for organisers.
This guide helps you choose the right group, behaviour and success measures before you launch.
You do not need perfect answers to every question. Even a simple starting point — one group, one behaviour, one success measure — is enough to begin.
This guide builds on the five conditions Kinnect is designed to support — introductions, integration, independence, information and intelligence — but starts with a simpler question:
Where do we need more people to take part, come back, or create activity themselves?
The simple version
A good pilot usually starts with three answers:
Who are we trying to help?
A specific group of members or employees.
What do we want them to do more often?
Join, come back, meet others, or make plans.
How will we know it is working?
More repeat participation, less organiser chasing, clearer engagement signals or better routes in for new people.
1. Who are we trying to help take part more often?
A pilot should begin with a specific group of people.
That might be new employees, first-time members, quieter members, event attendees, a department, a cohort, a club, a location or a group that already has regular activity but weak follow-through.
The clearer the group, the easier it is to design the pilot around real behaviour.
Ask:
Who needs a clearer route in?
Who is currently interested but not taking part?
Who attends once but does not come back?
Which group would benefit most from more regular participation?
2. What action do we want to make easier?
Kinnect works best when there is something practical for members to do.
That might be joining an event, showing interest, making a plan, meeting someone new, returning after a first activity or creating follow-up activity between official moments.
Ask:
What do we want members to do more often?
Where does interest currently stall?
What is the next step people do not take?
What small behaviour would show that the pilot is working?
3. What moments already create interest?
Most communities already have sparks of interest. The opportunity is to make those sparks easier to act on.
These moments might include onboarding, events, talks, training sessions, socials, shared interests, announcements, new joiner activity or recurring groups.
Ask:
Where do people already show interest?
Which events or activities create energy but little follow-up?
Where are people saying “we should do this again” but nothing happens?
What moments could become simple plans?
4. What organiser effort are we trying to reduce?
Many participation problems are currently solved manually.
Organisers remind people, chase replies, make introductions, answer questions, suggest follow-ups and keep plans alive. That work is valuable, but it is hard to scale.
Ask:
What are organisers currently doing manually?
Which reminders, nudges or follow-ups happen repeatedly?
Where does participation depend too much on one person?
What could members do themselves with the right prompt or tool?
What would free organisers to support people more intentionally?
5. What signals would help us act earlier?
A good pilot should help organisers see more than attendance.
Interest, engagement, re-engagement, new member activity and signs of disengagement can all help organisers understand where support is needed.
Ask:
What do we wish we could see earlier?
Who might be drifting without us noticing?
Which new members are finding a route in?
Who is showing interest but not taking the next step?
What would tell us that someone needs a follow-up?
6. What would success look like after 30, 60 or 90 days?
Success should be specific enough to learn from.
It does not need to be a dramatic transformation. A good pilot might show that more members are taking part twice, more plans are being created by members, organisers are doing less chasing, or quieter members are easier to spot.
Ask:
What would we expect to see after 30 days?
What would show that members are creating more activity themselves?
What would show that new people are integrating faster?
What would show that organisers have better visibility?
What evidence would make us confident enough to expand?
A strong pilot does not try to prove everything at once.
It focuses on one group, one participation problem and a small number of behaviours that matter.
From there, Kinnect can help you learn where interest turns into action, what brings people back, where organisers are carrying too much, and who may need a next step.
Related resource
To understand the thinking behind these questions, read Five conditions for repeat participation — our guide to the introductions, routes in, member-led activity, information and engagement signals that help people keep taking part.
