How top research teams build standout user panels – and what you can steal from them

Building a great user panel is part art, part science – and some research teams are absolutely nailing it. In this post, we’re highlighting top user panels built by leading Research Teams (who also happen to be Rally customers), breaking down what makes them work and sharing our biggest takeaways.  

From seamless sign-up flows to creative engagement strategies, these teams have figured out how to recruit, retain, and activate the right participants. Whether you’re just starting your panel or looking to refine it, you’ll find plenty of ideas to borrow (or straight-up steal). 

5 signals that you need a user panel 

1. Recruitment is your biggest bottleneck – If finding participants delays your research, a panel will speed things up.
2. You do research often – If your team runs studies regularly, having an active and engaged pool of your own users saves time.
3. You need to track users over time – If tracking the same users over time matters (e.g. how many incentives they’ve received, how many studies they’ve contributed to, when they last signed a consent form), a panel helps to organize participant segments and data.
4. You have strict participant criteria – If you need niche users that are hard to find (like B2B or exec level participants), a panel ensures better targeting and availability of specific users.‍
5. You are scaling research across teams – If multiple teams need participant access, a panel centralizes recruitment, reduces duplication, and keeps participants from being contacted too frequently.

‍Why build your own user panel? 

A user panel is a curated group of participants who have opted in to provide feedback, insights, and experiences about a product or service. These panels help UX and research teams conduct studies more efficiently by providing a ready-made pool of engaged users who closely match their target audience. Instead of scrambling to find participants for every new study, teams with a well-managed user panel can recruit faster, collect higher-quality data, and maintain long-term relationships with research participants.

What can you achieve with an internal user panel? 

• Faster turnaround: Accelerates research cycles by providing quick access to known participants.
• Reliable engagement: Ensures a steady pipeline of vetted users familiar with your product.‍
• Operational efficiency: Streamlines recruitment and reduces dependency on external sourcing.

Panel Showcase

User panels aren’t one-size-fits-all. Each research team builds theirs to fit unique goals, workflows, and audiences. At Rally, our customers have created powerful panels that drive impactful research, from continuously engaging niche user groups to scaling participant access across global teams. In this section, we’ll highlight a few standout panels, what makes them successful, and how they help teams move faster and learn more.

UserTesting 

👀 What they call their panel: Experience Research Program

📣 How they invite people to join: “Help shape the future of UserTesting”

👉Top 3 takeaways from their panel sign up experience: 

1. Clear and transparent participant experience: The FAQ section and privacy policy access set clear expectations, ensuring participants understand how their data will be used and what to expect. This builds trust and encourages sign-ups.
2. Well designed and efficient flow: A branded experience, a progress bar, and a streamlined process (taking 5 minutes or less) make signing up quick and engaging, reducing drop-off. The placement of consent at the end ensures participants feel informed before committing.
3. Smart use of participant data: Asking users about areas of interest creates valuable metadata that researchers can later use to filter and find the right participants in Rally, making the panel more useful for targeted research.

Read the case study: How UserTesting achieved a 104% study fill rate with a highly engaged user panel 

Explore UserTesting’s Experience Research Program here.

GitLab 

👀 What they call their panel: UX Research at GitLab

📣 How they invite people to join: “Get the latest features, share your feedback, drive product improvements”

👉Top 3 takeaways from their panel sign up experience: 

1. Transparency and personal touch: GitLab’s "What’s in it for me" section clearly communicates the value of joining, while the team section (including pets!) adds a human element that makes the experience more engaging and relatable.
2. Seamless Rally and Qualtrics integration: The Qualtrics survey embedded within Rally combines advanced survey functionality with Rally’s participant data management and syncing, ensuring researchers get rich insights while keeping panel operations smooth.
3. Smart recruitment insights: The "Where did you hear about us?" question and separate links for different recruitment channels help the ReOps team refine their acquisition strategy. 

Explore Gitlab’s Research Program here. 

OutSystems 

👀 What they call their panel: OutSystems Research Program

📣 How they invite people to join: “Get involved in Product Development”

👉Top 3 takeaways from their panel sign up experience: 

1. Simple process for participants: The "How it Works" section is a straightforward, 3-step guide that makes it easy for participants to understand how to get involved without needing to know the technical details. 
2. Comprehensive FAQ section: The FAQ section is thorough and effectively addresses participant concerns. It also includes details about receiving study links from Rally, which shows OutSystems' understanding of their developer audience and their potential skepticism about third-party links.
3. Participant control and flexibility: OutSystems allows participants to choose the types of research activities they want to engage in (surveys, interviews, etc). This approach not only improves study fill rates but also ensures participants are comfortable with the format of research they choose to participate in.

Explore OutSystem’s Research Program here. 

Genesys 

👀 What they call their panel: Genesys User Experience Research

📣 How they invite people to join: “Influence Genesys products and help us shape the future of customer service.”

👉Top 3 takeaways from their panel sign up experience: 

1. Clear value proposition for participants: Genesys does a great job making it crystal clear why participants should join—because, let’s be honest, everyone wants to know what they’re getting out of it.
2. A clean, friendly, and welcoming experience: The main landing page stays clutter-free by moving FAQs to a separate page, the screener has fun touches like images and emojis, and participants can ask questions before signing up. 
3. Research that actually works for participants: By asking about language preferences and accessibility needs up front, Genesys makes sure studies are easy to join and comfortable for everyone.

Explore Genesys’ Research Program here. 

Contentful

👀 What they call their panel: The Contentful research panel

📣 How they invite people to join: “Sign up to become part of our research panel and shape the future of Contentful products!”

👉Top 3 takeaways from their panel sign up experience: 

1. Easy to join (and easy on the eyes): The “how it works” section breaks down the research process into 4 simple steps, making signing up a breeze. Custom graphics, branding, and a progress bar keep everything looking polished and engaging.
2. A smooth, tailored experience: Branched questions ensure participants only see what’s relevant to them. Contentful’s screener also asks whether or not the participant is interested in participating in AI studies – later, the researcher can filter participants to get only the best matches based on their responses. 
3. Clarity up front, plus easy participant tracking: Contentful asks for consent right at the start of the sign-up form. Plus, unique sign-up links help track where people are coming from so that researchers can keep tabs on what recruitment channels are working best. 

Explore Contentful’s Research Program here. 

Cloudflare 

👀 What they call their panel: Cloudflare Research

📣 How they invite people to join: “We're hoping to get your feedback on new Cloudflare product experiences our team is working on!”

👉Top 3 takeaways from their panel sign up experience: 

1. Smart segmentation from the start: By asking participants what payment tier they’re in, Cloudflare can create targeted segments within the panel, making it easier to match the right people to the right studies.
2. Respecting participant preferences: Participants get to choose how often they want to be contacted, which means Cloudflare can automatically apply cooldown periods based on participant responses to respect how often they want to contribute.
3. Letting participants take the lead: By allowing participants to pick the types of research they want to be part of, Cloudflare ensures they’re only involved in studies they’re comfortable with, leading to better engagement and more meaningful insights.

‍Explore Cloudflare’s Research Program here.