Focus Groups: An Overview
Quick Tip!
The Corps conducts both internal and external focus groups. Focus group methods vary depending on three main things:
- How much time do we have?
- How many people are we interviewing?
- Why are we doing it?
Reports should be digestible but thorough.
What Are They And Why Do They Matter?
Focus groups are a reliable method of research that allows a researcher to determine the thoughts and feelings of real people. Unlike evaluating a design or conducting quality assurance testing, UX-ers at the Corps conduct focus groups early on in the project lifecycle.
Generally speaking, focus groups are group interviews that are focused on one or more topics. The group setting allows for the sharing and creation of ideas that may have been neglected in a one-on-one interview.
This article will get into the details of how to conduct your own focus groups.
Determine Your Timeline
To save some heart-ache and stress, it is always best to plan out all aspects on the focus group before committing to a certain methodology. Generally, the process for conducting focus groups has four main phases:
- planning (1-2 weeks)
- recruiting / scheduling (3-6 weeks, see below for reasoning)
- conducting (1 week)
- reporting (1-2 weeks)
These are estimates for each phase, but they all greatly depend on project scope, especially with recruitment and scheduling. If recruiting from external sources, it takes several weeks to develop and distribute recruitment assets. Also, it is best to account for the time it takes people to respond. These estimates are based on real experiences with Digital Corps projects, but other projects may be different. Certain clients or situations may take up to 3-6 weeks for recruiting and scheduling – you are at the mercy of others at this point.
These estimates vary due to a number of factors. Are there multiple team members and schedules conflict? Is the client for this project slow to respond? Are there special permissions that take more time? Try to plan for the worst to avoid overbooking.
It is recommended to sum all sections and then compare this to the project timeline. If the proposed focus groups require 6-8 weeks but the JPM has only allotted 5 weeks to conduct them, the plan should be revised.
Quick Tip!
There aren’t set time requirements for these phases; they all depend greatly on availability, current workload, and many other factors.
However, if the plan relies on interviewing external participants (i.e. not Digital Corps employees), add at least 2 weeks to the prediction for scheduling. It always takes longer than expected.
Focus Group Design
There are numerous factors that affect the design of focus groups. This article is going to cover participants, methods, and reporting.
Participants
It is best practice to find participants who closely fit the project’s target audience. If the project is focused on a writing challenge for Ball State faculty, don’t make a focus group with Digital Corps students. With any kind of testing, flexibility is key. If external participants aren’t available (not enough time to recruit, the sample isn’t accessible, etc.), using Digital Corps employees is OK but there are two caveats:
- Make it clear in the plans and reports that the participants do not match the project’s target audience.
- Frame the test questions in a way that forces participants to adopt the target audiences’ perspective. Scenario-based questions work best for this.
Because it is more common (and also more work) to interview external participants, the following information will be most relevant for focus groups that include external participants, rather than Digital Corps employees.
Recruiting
When finding participants, the first step is to decide how many groups to include, as well as the qualifying requirements for each groups. Is one group females, age 65 and older? What about international students? Ideally, each focus group should have 5-6 participants.
Secondly, decide where to look. Using social media, posters, and more are all great ways to recruit. Reach out to the client and ask if they have a contact list of potential participants. Even if they don’t, they often share helpful resources.
Incentives
Based on the scope of the project, availability of incentives may differ. At the very least, always provide bottled water and/or some basic snacks. However, if the Digital Corps (or the client) is able to provide funds for an incentive, definitely include one in your study. Even a $5 gift card can serve as motivation and help boost the number of participants.
Consent Documents
Typically focus groups are recorded (video, sound, or both) and if this is part of the plan, written consent is required.
In human research, some people are in what is known as a Vulnerable Population. This means that there are extra steps to take to ensure that the study is legally and ethically sound.
There are several groups considered to be vulnerable, but here are a few:
- Children
- Pregnant Women
- Prisoners
Should a study need to include a vulnerable population, discuss next steps with relevant team leads.
Methods
When writing questions, they should be open-ended (never yes/no) and relate to the study’s overall research goals. It is good practice to have more questions prepared than time would allow. This accounts for especially quiet groups that may not provide long-winded responses.
Identify the goals of the study. Looking for differences between new users and experienced users? Comparing international and traditional students? Determine how many focus groups you need by looking at these differences. Each group should have 5-6 participants.
Quick Tip!
Consider having general questions (that all groups are asked) as well as group specific questions (that pertain to specific types of participants).
The Traditional Focus Group
This is the most common way to conduct a focus group. The traditional focus group is in person and it consists of primarily one long discussion. Moderators ask questions, participants answer them. Make sure to ask participants directly–it’s easy for the extroverts in the room to take over the conversation, but the introverts have just as much valuable information!
The hard part comes with know when to ask follow-up questions. Follow-up questions are spontaneous questions that the proctor comes up with to help a participant further explain their though process.
The Saturate and Group Method
As mentioned earlier, some people are more willing to speak; this is great and it shouldn’t be discouraged! However, it can be difficult to keep the quiet ones talking while taking notes and trying to think of follow-up questions.
The saturate and group method is a great alternative. Use the same questions that would have been used in the traditional focus group, but instead of directly responding to the proctor’s questions, participants will write their answers down on sticky notes.
Then, the group works together to combine similar ideas and share unique viewpoints. In doing so, it allows for more collaboration between participants and easier note taking for the UXer.
Quick Tip!
From experiences at the Digital Corps, the saturate and group method works best with a group of people who are already familiar with each other.
The method still works with a group of strangers, they just need a couple warm up questions to get everyone comfortable!
Reporting
When reporting findings, always think of who will be reading it. Do they already have a good understanding of focus groups or will certain certain concepts need to clarified? Are they familiar with the project or should it be summarized?
There are some things that should always be included in a focus group report:
- Direct participant quotes whenever possible;
- Group similar sentiments together;
- Never refer to participants by name, assign them a number and use that throughout the report;
- Give specific recommendations and next steps.
