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The use and misuse of focus groups.

January 1, 1997 1997-01-01

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Focus groups are a somewhat informal technique that can help you assess user needs and feelings both before interface design and long after implementation. In a focus group, you bring together 6–9 users to discuss issues and concerns about the features of a user interface. The group typically lasts about 2 hours and is run by a moderator who maintains the group's focus.

Focus groups often bring out users' spontaneous reactions and ideas and let you observe some group dynamics and organizational issues. You can also ask people to discuss how they perform activities that span many days or weeks: something that is expensive to observe directly. However, they can only assess what customers say they do and not the way customers actually operate the product. Since there are often major differences between what people say and what they do, direct observation of one user at a time always needs to be done to supplement focus groups .

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Narrow view, getting focused, other issues.

Although focus groups can be a powerful tool in system development, you shouldn't use them as your only source of usability data . People with an advertising or marketing background often rely solely on focus groups to expose products to users. Thus, because advertising and marketing people frequently contribute to website development, focus groups are often used to evaluate web projects. Unfortunately, focus groups are a rather poor method for evaluating interface usability. It is thus dangerous to rely on them as your only method in a web design project. Traditional market research targets products for which usability is a minor concern. When judging, for example, which proposals a politician should support, how sweet a chocolate bar should be, or whether to show a new Mercedes braking in snow or in rain, you need expose a group of consumers only to different versions of the proposal, candy, or commercial, ask them which they prefer, and listen to their reasons as to why they prefer one or the other.

Software products, websites, and other interactive systems also need to be liked by customers, but no amount of subjective preference will make a product viable if users can't use it. To assess whether users can operate an interactive system, the only proper methodology is to watch one user at a time use the system. Because focus groups are groups, individuals rarely get the chance to explore the system on their own; instead, the moderator usually provides a product demo as the basis for discussion. Watching a demo is fundamentally different from actually using the product : There is never a question as to what to do next, and you don't have to ponder the meaning of numerous screen options.

Consider, for example, the problem of windowing versus scrolling as methods for changing the information visible on the screen. The windowing principle says that to see the information in the beginning of a file, the user moves the window to the top of the file. Scrolling, on the contrary, says that to see the beginning of the file, you scroll down the screen until the desired content becomes visible. In other words, the command to get to the top of the file should be called UP (or shown as an upward-pointing arrow) if windowing is preferred, whereas the same command should be called DOWN if scrolling is preferred.

When they actually carry out the task, most users perform better in the windowing model (which is therefore used in most current GUI standards). But if you give a demo of moving text files to people new to computers, many of them will say that the scrolling model characterizes what they are seeing (since they see the text move down to get to the beginning). If GUIs had been designed by focus groups, we would have ended up with a suboptimal command.

In interactive systems development, the proper role of focus groups is not to assess interaction styles or design usability, but to discover what users want from the system. For example, in developing Sun's new online documentation system, we ran a focus group with system administrators to discover:

• their thoughts and preferences on issues such as distributing and replicating huge documentation files across multiple servers
• whether or not they needed faster access to local copies of the documentation on specific client machines

These questions would never emerge in a usability test (although we did run usability studies to see if administrators could operate the system). We could have investigated the needs of system administrators in other ways — including field trips to customer locations — but it was more efficient to have a focus group discuss the problems in a single session.

For participants, the focus-group session should feel free-flowing and relatively unstructured, but in reality, the moderator must follow a preplanned script of specific issues and set goals for the type of information to be gathered. During the group session, the moderator has the difficult job of keeping the discussion on track without inhibiting the flow of ideas and comments. The moderator also must ensure that all group members contribute to the discussion and must avoid letting one participant's opinions dominate. After the session, data analysis can be as simple as having the moderator write a short report summing up the prevailing mood in the group, illustrated with a few colorful quotes. You can also do more detailed analyses, but the unstructured nature of the groups make this difficult and time-consuming.

Focus groups require several representative users. Because you need a flowing discussion and various perspectives, the initial focus group should have at least 6 users . Typically, you should run more than one focus group , because the outcome of any single session may not be representative and discussions can get sidetracked.

As with any method based on asking users what they want — instead of measuring or observing how they actually use things — focus groups can produce inaccurate data because users may think they want one thing when they need another . You can minimize this problem by exposing users to the most concrete examples of the technology being discussed as possible.

For example, Irene Greif ran focus groups to assess a version management facility for Lotus 1-2-3. The new features were presented to the focus group as a way to let multiple users compare alternative views of a spreadsheet across computer networks. Initially, group members were skeptical about these ideas and expressed distrust in networks and nervousness about what other people would do to their spreadsheets. After seeing a prototype and scenarios of version management in use, participants moved from skepticism to enthusiasm.

A cheap way to approximate a focus group is to rely on email, websites, or online communities. For example, Yia Yang started a project on undo facilities by posting on the British academic network, asking users which undo facilities they used and how they liked them. Posting questions to a group with an interest in the issues can generate considerable discussion. A disadvantage is that online discussions are difficult (or impossible) to keep confidential unless they take place on an intranet, behind a firewall.

Another disadvantage to this approach is bias . Internet users tend to be people with above-average interest in computers, and participants in online discussion groups tend to have above-average involvement in the group's topic.

Although online discussions are unlikely to reflect the average user's concerns, they can be a good way of getting in touch with power users . These users have needs that will sometimes surface later for the average user. Thus, addressing the power users' needs may be a way of getting a head start on future usability work.

Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research (5th edition), by Richard A. Krueger and Mary Anne Casey.

See also: Cost of running a focus group

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Conducting a focus group for UX research

UX focus groups are an essential part of product design, allowing designers and developers to gather valuable insights into the needs and preferences of their target audience.

By bringing together a group of individuals who represent the user base, the UX team can observe their behavior, listen to their feedback, and gain a deeper understanding of their needs and preferences.

Conducting UX focus groups can provide numerous benefits, including identifying usability issues, gaining insights into user behavior, and generating ideas for product improvement.

However, to ensure the success of a focus group, you’ll need to carefully plan your group and select the right participants.

By the end of this guide, you’ll have a solid understanding of the importance of UX focus groups, how to plan, set up, and conduct them effectively, and how to use the data gathered for the greatest benefits.

Introduction to UX focus groups and their importance in product design

Online focus groups, in-person focus groups.

• Benefits of conducting UX focus groups

How to choose focus group participants

Planning and setting up a successful focus group, conducting the focus group sessions, example scenario: healthcare tech startup, analyzing the data collected from the focus groups, tips for reporting and presenting focus group findings to stakeholders.

Focus groups allow for drawing out ideas and information that may not be easily shared in interviews or surveys. As a somewhat informal technique, they can assess user needs and feelings both before and after interface design.

Focus groups generate qualitative data in the form of notes, transcripts, audio, and video recordings, which can be synthesized into recommendations for product directions or opportunities.

Typically consisting of 5–10 users and lasting about two hours, focus groups are moderated to maintain focus. They can elicit spontaneous reactions, ideas, and group dynamics, and can explore activities that span over a longer time period, which may be expensive to observe directly. The dynamics among group members can reveal unconscious ideas your team has taken for granted, and their reactions can shed light on important considerations for development teams.

Unlike interviews, the value of focus groups lies in group discussion and interactions among members. However, there is a risk of participants influencing each other or inhibiting honest feedback.

Therefore, it’s important to supplement focus groups with direct observation of individual users because there may be differences between what people say and what they actually do, which is also an important consideration for a UX design team.

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Types of focus groups

In the field of UX research, focus groups serve a different purpose compared to traditional market research focus groups.

While the latter aims to gather feedback on product ideas and determine their value to target customers, UX research focus groups implement user testing to identify opportunities for improvement in specific elements, aspects, or behaviors of a product or feature. So, to get the data you need, you might need to decide which type of focus group you should go with, be it an online or in-person focus group.

Online focus groups offer convenience but may exclude some potential participants due to poor internet connection, lack of a desktop device, or limited digital literacy. This could result in lower participation rates or difficulties in using unfamiliar online meeting tools or whiteboard platforms.

Online focus groups might be better when the budget is tight because skips the need to rent a place to gather, pay for catering, cover travel costs, and so on. More importantly, if there is a need to check the website or app prototype and gather data on it from different regions, it might be more convenient to use online focus groups.

In-person focus groups are limited to participants within a commutable distance, particularly if the study does not provide travel funding or adequate notice for those commuting from further away. Any shortcomings of in-person focus groups can be overridden with money, but the costs may skyrocket.

On the other hand, when a UX team needs to gather data on the user using one prototype, like a specific device with an app on it, the in-person interview might be the only option.

For example, if you have your first prototype of VR glasses and you want to check how users interact with its interface and how they use it, you will need to bring everyone together to try it because they won’t be able to test it at home.

What are the benefits of conducting UX focus groups

• Focus groups are a good way to draw out ideas and information that participants may not be willing or able to share in an interview or survey
• Being in a small group setting makes people more comfortable and encourages them to discuss sensitive or personal topics
• Focus groups can uncover ideas that were previously unconscious and shed light on the importance of certain considerations
• They are straightforward to organize, usually inexpensive, and provide immediate results
• Results are often more appealing than raw data and provide extensive interaction among participants
• Moderators guide the discussion according to research objectives, and the process can be observed in real-time

Recruiting participants for a focus group involves identifying the individuals who can answer your research questions. For early-stage development, highly diverse individuals are preferred within the target market.

Screener surveys should focus on filtering participants based on traits that are relevant to the research question, rather than just demographics. Online communities can be a cheaper way to generate discussion and get in touch with appropriate users.

To create a balanced group, it is important to consider introverted and extroverted participants and conduct a group with only self-identified introverts if necessary.

When recruiting, researchers should select participants based on specific traits or characteristics, such as age, occupation, experience, education, and ethnicity. The ultimate goal is to get feedback from the target audience/demographics that might benefit the UX research the most.

To plan and execute a successful focus group, it’s crucial to prepare in advance by ensuring all logistics are in place, such as writing materials, user devices, and recording equipment.

Making participants feel comfortable is key, so greet them warmly and provide refreshments and necessary tools like pens and paper or internet access.

Before deciding on a focus group study, ensure it’s the right method to meet your research goals, which should be specific, practical, and actionable. The location of the group will impact group dynamics, so choose a comfortable, distraction-free space that mimics where participants typically discuss the subject matter.

Group size affects the discussion, so aim for 5 to 10 participants and conduct 3 to 6 groups depending on your study requirements.

Communicate effectively with participants, including sending them clear information on time, date, location, and research topic, and obtain their documented informed consent.

To get the most out of your focus group sessions, it’s important to plan ahead and follow a few key steps:

• Determine the goal of the focus group and create a list of questions to meet those objectives
• Choose a suitable location and time for the focus group, and keep the session to about two hours with the allotted time for each question
• Start with an icebreaker to help participants feel comfortable sharing feedback, and take notes for easy reference and sharing
• Have a prototype prepared for users to interact with, and use a moderator to keep the conversation on track and encourage participation

UX focus groups are essential for understanding your product from the user’s perspective and gaining valuable feedback. When conducted properly, they provide insight into your target users and what they really need.

Conducting focus groups is a common approach used in three distinct situations: during the initial stages of a research study, while developing a plan of action for research, and after the study’s completion to establish the results.

As an illustration, let’s consider a healthcare tech startup that is creating a mobile app to help people manage their mental health.

The startup selects a group of individuals that match their target user demographics, such as people with a mental health issues history, for a productive discussion. The moderator asks questions about the types of features they would like to see in a mental health app and how they prefer to interact with it. Group members discuss why they do or do not find certain features appealing and how they feel about specific user interface design elements.

Based on the feedback, the startup can create a mobile app that caters to the specific needs and wants of its target users.

Questions that you might ask during the focus group meeting will usually be divided into four parts. For our example scenario, they might look like this:

• Primary question : What are your thoughts on the idea of a mobile app to manage mental health?
• Probe questions : Can you describe your experience with mental health apps, if any? What features do you think are essential for a mental health app to have? How do you currently manage your mental health, if at all?
• Questions to follow up : Could you elaborate on why you find this feature appealing? How important is it for you to have privacy and confidentiality while using a mental health app? What would make you switch from your current mental health management method to using a mobile app?
• Questions for the conclusion : To summarize, what are the top three features that you would like to see in the app? Is there anything that we have not discussed yet that you would like to add to the conversation?

Analyzing UX focus group data can be challenging due to the high volume of data your group will produce. To effectively analyze the data, have both the video and transcript to capture nonverbal communication accurately.

Focus group note-taking tips, such as drawing a seating chart, recording observations about group dynamics, and noting down key points and themes, can make analysis easier.

Reviewing notes after each session and using qualitative coding to tag the data can help to organize, tabulate, and analyze patterns and themes. Themes and categories to consider include likes and dislikes, emotive words, mental models, problems/issues, and ideas/opportunities.

When analyzing the data, consider the words used, the intensity of feelings behind responses, the frequency of certain comments, and the context of particular responses. Analyzing each session individually and then conducting a meta-analysis of key insights and themes can provide valuable insights.

When sharing your UX focus group findings, remember that the value of focus groups lies in their ability to provide big-picture, qualitative information about people. Key things to consider:

• Use your initial research questions as a guide and focus on the key insights, themes, and takeaways that relate back to your study goals
• If your focus groups involve group activities, consider including the outputs of these activities in your final report
• Sharing video clips and key quotes can also help stakeholders connect with the data, but always contextualize the information for people who weren’t in the room

Your job as a researcher is to help people make sense of the research, and that is why make sure to use some visuals and charts to appeal to stakeholders and keep their attention on the most important findings.

Wrapping up

To sum up, focus groups are an important UX research method that can uncover valuable insights for product design. They allow for group discussions and interactions among participants and they generate qualitative data that can be synthesized into recommendations for product directions or opportunities.

If this article has you doubting whether a focus group is right for your use case, there are plenty of other UX research methods to consider. You may find another method that’s better for your budget or situation.

And for those of you ready to conduct your next focus group, we hope you carry this advice into your study.

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• What Is a Focus Group? | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

What is a Focus Group | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

Published on December 10, 2021 by Tegan George . Revised on June 22, 2023.

A focus group is a research method that brings together a small group of people to answer questions in a moderated setting. The group is chosen due to predefined demographic traits, and the questions are designed to shed light on a topic of interest.

Table of contents

What is a focus group, step 1: choose your topic of interest, step 2: define your research scope and hypotheses, step 3: determine your focus group questions, step 4: select a moderator or co-moderator, step 5: recruit your participants, step 6: set up your focus group, step 7: host your focus group, step 8: analyze your data and report your results, advantages and disadvantages of focus groups, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about focus groups.

Focus groups are a type of qualitative research . Observations of the group’s dynamic, their answers to focus group questions, and even their body language can guide future research on consumer decisions, products and services, or controversial topics.

Focus groups are often used in marketing, library science, social science, and user research disciplines. They can provide more nuanced and natural feedback than individual interviews and are easier to organize than experiments or large-scale surveys .

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Focus groups are primarily considered a confirmatory research technique . In other words, their discussion-heavy setting is most useful for confirming or refuting preexisting beliefs. For this reason, they are great for conducting explanatory research , where you explore why something occurs when limited information is available.

A focus group may be a good choice for you if:

• You’re interested in real-time, unfiltered responses on a given topic or in the dynamics of a discussion between participants
• Your questions are rooted in feelings or perceptions , and cannot easily be answered with “yes” or “no”
• You’re confident that a relatively small number of responses will answer your question
• You’re seeking directional information that will help you uncover new questions or future research ideas
• Structured interviews : The questions are predetermined in both topic and order.
• Semi-structured interviews : A few questions are predetermined, but other questions aren’t planned.
• Unstructured interviews : None of the questions are predetermined.

Differences between types of interviews

Make sure to choose the type of interview that suits your research best. This table shows the most important differences between the four types.

Topics favorable to focus groups

As a rule of thumb, research topics related to thoughts, beliefs, and feelings work well in focus groups. If you are seeking direction, explanation, or in-depth dialogue, a focus group could be a good fit.

However, if your questions are dichotomous or if you need to reach a large audience quickly, a survey may be a better option. If your question hinges upon behavior but you are worried about influencing responses, consider an observational study .

• If you want to determine whether the student body would regularly consume vegan food, a survey would be a great way to gauge student preferences.

However, food is much more than just consumption and nourishment and can have emotional, cultural, and other implications on individuals.

• If you’re interested in something less concrete, such as students’ perceptions of vegan food or the interplay between their choices at the dining hall and their feelings of homesickness or loneliness, perhaps a focus group would be best.

Once you have determined that a focus group is the right choice for your topic, you can start thinking about what you expect the group discussion to yield.

Perhaps literature already exists on your subject or a sufficiently similar topic that you can use as a starting point. If the topic isn’t well studied, use your instincts to determine what you think is most worthy of study.

Setting your scope will help you formulate intriguing hypotheses , set clear questions, and recruit the right participants.

• Are you interested in a particular sector of the population, such as vegans or non-vegans?
• Are you interested in including vegetarians in your analysis?
• Perhaps not all students eat at the dining hall. Will your study exclude those who don’t?
• Are you only interested in students who have strong opinions on the subject?

A benefit of focus groups is that your hypotheses can be open-ended. You can be open to a wide variety of opinions, which can lead to unexpected conclusions.

The questions that you ask your focus group are crucially important to your analysis. Take your time formulating them, paying special attention to phrasing. Be careful to avoid leading questions , which can affect your responses.

Overall, your focus group questions should be:

• Open-ended and flexible
• Impossible to answer with “yes” or “no” (questions that start with “why” or “how” are often best)
• Unambiguous, getting straight to the point while still stimulating discussion
• Unbiased and neutral

If you are discussing a controversial topic, be careful that your questions do not cause social desirability bias . Here, your respondents may lie about their true beliefs to mask any socially unacceptable or unpopular opinions. This and other demand characteristics can hurt your analysis and lead to several types of reseach bias in your results, particularly if your participants react in a different way once knowing they’re being observed. These include self-selection bias , the Hawthorne effect , the Pygmalion effect , and recall bias .

• Engagement questions make your participants feel comfortable and at ease: “What is your favorite food at the dining hall?”
• Exploration questions drill down to the focus of your analysis: “What pros and cons of offering vegan options do you see?”
• Exit questions pick up on anything you may have previously missed in your discussion: “Is there anything you’d like to mention about vegan options in the dining hall that we haven’t discussed?”

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It is important to have more than one moderator in the room. If you would like to take the lead asking questions, select a co-moderator who can coordinate the technology, take notes, and observe the behavior of the participants.

If your hypotheses have behavioral aspects, consider asking someone else to be lead moderator so that you are free to take a more observational role.

Depending on your topic, there are a few types of moderator roles that you can choose from.

• The most common is the dual-moderator , introduced above.
• Another common option is the dueling-moderator style . Here, you and your co-moderator take opposing sides on an issue to allow participants to see different perspectives and respond accordingly.

Depending on your research topic, there are a few sampling methods you can choose from to help you recruit and select participants.

• Voluntary response sampling , such as posting a flyer on campus and finding participants based on responses
• Convenience sampling of those who are most readily accessible to you, such as fellow students at your university
• Stratified sampling of a particular age, race, ethnicity, gender identity, or other characteristic of interest to you
• Judgment sampling of a specific set of participants that you already know you want to include

Beware of sampling bias and selection bias , which can occur when some members of the population are more likely to be included than others.

Number of participants

In most cases, one focus group will not be sufficient to answer your research question. It is likely that you will need to schedule three to four groups. A good rule of thumb is to stop when you’ve reached a saturation point (i.e., when you aren’t receiving new responses to your questions).

Most focus groups have 6–10 participants. It’s a good idea to over-recruit just in case someone doesn’t show up. As a rule of thumb, you shouldn’t have fewer than 6 or more than 12 participants, in order to get the most reliable results.

Lastly, it’s preferable for your participants not to know you or each other, as this can bias your results.

A focus group is not just a group of people coming together to discuss their opinions. While well-run focus groups have an enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere, they are backed up by rigorous methods to provide robust observations.

Confirm a time and date

Be sure to confirm a time and date with your participants well in advance. Focus groups usually meet for 45–90 minutes, but some can last longer. However, beware of the possibility of wandering attention spans. If you really think your session needs to last longer than 90 minutes, schedule a few breaks.

Confirm whether it will take place in person or online

You will also need to decide whether the group will meet in person or online. If you are hosting it in person, be sure to pick an appropriate location.

• An uncomfortable or awkward location may affect the mood or level of participation of your group members.
• Online sessions are convenient, as participants can join from home, but they can also lessen the connection between participants.

As a general rule, make sure you are in a noise-free environment that minimizes distractions and interruptions to your participants.

Consent and ethical considerations

It’s important to take into account ethical considerations and informed consent when conducting your research. Informed consent means that participants possess all the information they need to decide whether they want to participate in the research before it starts. This includes information about benefits, risks, funding, and institutional approval.

Participants should also sign a release form that states that they are comfortable with being audio- or video-recorded. While verbal consent may be sufficient, it is best to ask participants to sign a form.

A disadvantage of focus groups is that they are too small to provide true anonymity to participants. Make sure that your participants know this prior to participating.

There are a few things you can do to commit to keeping information private. You can secure confidentiality by removing all identifying information from your report or offer to pseudonymize the data later. Data pseudonymization entails replacing any identifying information about participants with pseudonymous or false identifiers.

Preparation prior to participation

If there is something you would like participants to read, study, or prepare beforehand, be sure to let them know well in advance. It’s also a good idea to call them the day before to ensure they will still be participating.

Consider conducting a tech check prior to the arrival of your participants, and note any environmental or external factors that could affect the mood of the group that day. Be sure that you are organized and ready, as a stressful atmosphere can be distracting and counterproductive.

Starting the focus group

Welcome individuals to the focus group by introducing the topic, yourself, and your co-moderator, and go over any ground rules or suggestions for a successful discussion. It’s important to make your participants feel at ease and forthcoming with their responses.

Consider starting out with an icebreaker, which will allow participants to relax and settle into the space a bit. Your icebreaker can be related to your study topic or not; it’s just an exercise to get participants talking.

Leading the discussion

Once you start asking your questions, try to keep response times equal between participants. Take note of the most and least talkative members of the group, as well as any participants with particularly strong or dominant personalities.

You can ask less talkative members questions directly to encourage them to participate or ask participants questions by name to even the playing field. Feel free to ask participants to elaborate on their answers or to give an example.

As a moderator, strive to remain neutral . Refrain from reacting to responses, and be aware of your body language (e.g., nodding, raising eyebrows) and the possibility for observer bias . Active listening skills, such as parroting back answers or asking for clarification, are good methods to encourage participation and signal that you’re listening.

Many focus groups offer a monetary incentive for participants. Depending on your research budget, this is a nice way to show appreciation for their time and commitment. To keep everyone feeling fresh, consider offering snacks or drinks as well.

After concluding your focus group, you and your co-moderator should debrief, recording initial impressions of the discussion as well as any highlights, issues, or immediate conclusions you’ve drawn.

The next step is to transcribe and clean your data . Assign each participant a number or pseudonym for organizational purposes. Transcribe the recordings and conduct content analysis to look for themes or categories of responses. The categories you choose can then form the basis for reporting your results.

Just like other research methods, focus groups come with advantages and disadvantages.

• They are fairly straightforward to organize and results have strong face validity .
• They are usually inexpensive, even if you compensate participant.
• A focus group is much less time-consuming than a survey or experiment , and you get immediate results.
• Focus group results are often more comprehensible and intuitive than raw data.

Disadvantages

• It can be difficult to assemble a truly representative sample. Focus groups are generally not considered externally valid due to their small sample sizes.
• Due to the small sample size, you cannot ensure the anonymity of respondents, which may influence their desire to speak freely.
• Depth of analysis can be a concern, as it can be challenging to get honest opinions on controversial topics.
• There is a lot of room for error in the data analysis and high potential for observer dependency in drawing conclusions. You have to be careful not to cherry-pick responses to fit a prior conclusion.

If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

• Student’s  t -distribution
• Normal distribution
• Null and Alternative Hypotheses
• Chi square tests
• Confidence interval
• Quartiles & Quantiles
• Cluster sampling
• Stratified sampling
• Data cleansing
• Reproducibility vs Replicability
• Peer review
• Prospective cohort study

Research bias

• Implicit bias
• Cognitive bias
• Placebo effect
• Hawthorne effect
• Hindsight bias
• Affect heuristic
• Social desirability bias

A focus group is a research method that brings together a small group of people to answer questions in a moderated setting. The group is chosen due to predefined demographic traits, and the questions are designed to shed light on a topic of interest. It is one of 4 types of interviews .

As a rule of thumb, questions related to thoughts, beliefs, and feelings work well in focus groups. Take your time formulating strong questions, paying special attention to phrasing. Be careful to avoid leading questions , which can bias your responses.

There are various approaches to qualitative data analysis , but they all share five steps in common:

• Prepare and organize your data.
• Review and explore your data.
• Develop a data coding system.
• Assign codes to the data.
• Identify recurring themes.

The specifics of each step depend on the focus of the analysis. Some common approaches include textual analysis , thematic analysis , and discourse analysis .

Every dataset requires different techniques to clean dirty data , but you need to address these issues in a systematic way. You focus on finding and resolving data points that don’t agree or fit with the rest of your dataset.

These data might be missing values, outliers, duplicate values, incorrectly formatted, or irrelevant. You’ll start with screening and diagnosing your data. Then, you’ll often standardize and accept or remove data to make your dataset consistent and valid.

The four most common types of interviews are:

• Structured interviews : The questions are predetermined in both topic and order. 
• Focus group interviews : The questions are presented to a group instead of one individual.

It’s impossible to completely avoid observer bias in studies where data collection is done or recorded manually, but you can take steps to reduce this type of bias in your research .

Scope of research is determined at the beginning of your research process , prior to the data collection stage. Sometimes called “scope of study,” your scope delineates what will and will not be covered in your project. It helps you focus your work and your time, ensuring that you’ll be able to achieve your goals and outcomes.

Defining a scope can be very useful in any research project, from a research proposal to a thesis or dissertation . A scope is needed for all types of research: quantitative , qualitative , and mixed methods .

To define your scope of research, consider the following:

• Budget constraints or any specifics of grant funding
• Your proposed timeline and duration
• Specifics about your population of study, your proposed sample size , and the research methodology you’ll pursue
• Any inclusion and exclusion criteria
• Any anticipated control , extraneous , or confounding variables that could bias your research if not accounted for properly.

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Focus groups.

A Focus group refers to a group of 10 or fewer individuals who gather in a room to discuss a product, service, concept or merely an idea. A focus group is a qualitative research method to find out different attitudes, responses about a subject. The Focus group can either react or discuss a series of survey questions or are given statements on which they share opinions.

Quick details: Focus Groups

Structure: Structured, Semi-structured

Preparation: Questions/ Topics, Participant recruitment

Deliverables: Recordings, Transcripts, Documentation

More about Focus groups

A focus group may also be given a product or service to try and then elicit reactions, feelings and general attitude towards that product or service in a group.

Focus groups are usually conducted by or on behalf of a business or organization, for market research. An experienced and skilled design research company who specializes in focus groups, can prove to be extremely valuable in planning, conducting, recruiting and evaluating data collected from focus group sessions and further translating them into insights for the business or organization to use.

Focus groups are traditionally carried out face-to-face, but online focus groups through web chat and forums are becoming increasingly popular. They are also more cost effective for organizations. 

Focus groups are most helpful in situations where an immediate response can be used to improve a product, service offering, a campaign or even a simple concept.

Advantages of Focus groups

1. firsthand customer interaction.

Businesses can interact with their customers firsthand through focus groups. Working face-to-face with real customers and not an imaginary character can reveal deeper insights into the opinion as well as the behavior of their customers.

2. Deep Insights

An observant researcher can interpret the participant’s mood from their body language as well as tone of voice.

3. Time and Cost effective

Interviewing large groups of people together is more time and cost effective than interviewing people individually. Focus groups are quite useful in quick data collection from the group.

4. Simulated Customer Experience

In order to test a product, idea or service, customer experience can be simulated within a focus group and feedback can be collected on that experience for improvement even before the new product, service or concept is launched in the market. Of course, some elements must be controlled during the simulation but this approach can lead to data that can help tweak the offering .

5. Adaptive Conversation

The facilitator can steer the conversation or discussion on the idea under considered in the desired direction .

6. Variety of thoughts

Depending on the diversity of your focus group, the thoughts or opinions could be just as diverse .

Disadvantages of Focus groups

1. very situation specific.

Unlike most other design research methods, focus groups are applicable in all cases .

2. Not in-depth

Compared to in-depth interviews, focus groups do not allow the facilitator to dig deeper with every participant in the limited time allotted for the focused discussion.

3. Peer pressure

A few participants of a focus group may not express their opinions openly, get influenced by the opinions of other participants or sometimes not express themselves at all in a focus group discussion.

4. Relatively costly

Compared to surveys, focus group discussions are more expensive to execute as they also involve paying a fee to the participants of the focus group .

Think Design's recommendation

Focus groups is a very effective method when you need to get opinions of respondents in a group. Usually, users’ opinions about a product, service or a brand are influenced by several people and in real life, users do discuss these among peers. Focus group is a way of capturing those dynamics and is usually used for validating something.

Focus groups as a technique has recently been criticized due to an inherent issue: that generally, one of the participants is much more dominating than the others and tends to influence the entire group. In such a case, the outcome may be representative of such participant and not the entire group. However, we do believe that focus group is still one of the most widely used research methods and continue to be so. It does need an experienced moderator so that any challenges while conducting it are mitigated.

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Related methods.

• Card Sorting
• Concurrent Probing
• Contextual Inquiry
• Dyads & Triads
• Extreme User Interviews
• Fly On The Wall
• In-depth Interviews
• Personal Inventory
• Retrospective Probing
• Unfocus Group
• User Testing/ Validation
• Word Concept Association

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What are Focus Groups in User Experience Research?

A focus group is a qualitative research method that aims to gather quick user insights from a variety of people in a short period of time.

Focus groups are designed to gain an understanding of customer opinions and perceptions of new concepts or ideas. They are typically used during the design and early stages of the research phase to gain consensus on customer perception. Focus groups are also useful after the product has been implemented since it helps to gather user insights on a functioning product.

The goal of a focus group is to get many participants in a room to gather as many different ideas and perspectives as possible. However, having too many people can limit the ability to gather feedback from all participants. After all, there isn’t a linear relationship between the number of participants and the number of insights. We found that the ideal group size for a focus group is 8 – 10 people.

It is also recommended to facilitate three or four different focus groups to ensure a good mix of perspectives and ideas.

Preparing for your Focus Group

Focus groups require the researcher to create a list of questions, or a discussion guide, to structure the group conversation. However, feel free to let conversations evolve as they will without researcher intervention. The session should generally last from 60 to 90 minutes.

Once you have the objectives for your focus group, you should start recruiting for it. If you’d like to learn more about recruiting participants for high-quality user insights, read this post.

Also, you should select a location that is convenient for your participants. If you don’t have space in your office, you can find conference rooms on sites like Breather .

Once you’ve done that, send a follow-up invitation with the proposed agenda, topics for discussion, and location details. It’s a good idea to send over the topic ahead of time so participants can opt out, especially if it’s a sensitive topic.  

Conducting the Focus Group

While conducting the focus group, ask permission to record the session so you can reference it in the future. It will be helpful to refer to the recording in the synthesis phase in case there are any gaps in your notes. 

If co-workers want to join, have them sit on the outskirts of the room, quietly taking notes. As a facilitator, it’s difficult to take notes while conducting the focus group so leave room for breaks so your co-workers can ask questions . 

During the session, encourage equal participation among the group. If a few people dominate the conversation, call on others to participate. Also, consider a round-table approach in which you go around the table, giving each person a chance to answer each question.

Lastly, avoid abrupt topic changes. Even though you created a discussion guide, allow the conversation to naturally unfold. This is how you will gain the most valuable user insights.

Following the Session

After the focus group, review any notes and recordings. Write down any points of group consensus, surprises or unexpected topics and review with your co-workers.

Advantages of Conducting a Focus Group 

As a socially-oriented research method, focus groups capture real-life data in a social setting. The research team will be able to see how participants speak about a particular topic. Typically, points of consensus will be highlighted during the focus group.

Focus groups generate quick results. Unlike moderated sessions, where you’ll spend hours and hours gathering user insights from 6-8 individual participants, focus groups yield similar insights in an hour or two. Focus groups produce a large amount of data on a topic in a short period of time.  

Group conversations often bring out aspects of a topic or reveal information about a subject that may not have been anticipated by the researcher or emerged from individual interviews.

Lastly, it provides access to comparisons that participants make between personal experiences. This can be very valuable and provide access to consensus and diversity of experiences on a topic.

Limitations of Conducting a Focus Group 

Focus groups are a poor method for evaluating interface usability. Instead, they should be used to evaluate concepts, ideas, and brand perception. In order to conduct a usability study to test prototypes and websites, opt for a moderated or unmoderated session. You’ll be able to easily conduct both types of studies with a comprehensive user testing software.

Another downside of conducting a focus group is that group dynamics can be swayed with strong opinions. Participants may not want to disagree with the larger group but they would be more willing to share their opinion in a one-on-one setting.

You must be diligent with the participants you select since they must be comfortable interacting openly. If they are shy and don’t speak their mind, you won’t be able to surface those valuable user insights that you’re looking for.  

As with most facilitated research, moderators can inadvertently influence the data, since they have the ability to sway comments and take the conversation in a different direction.

Lastly, groups can be difficult to pull together since you have to coordinate and schedule participants so that they are in the same room at the same time.  

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What Is a Focus Group and How to Conduct It? (+ Examples)

Appinio Research · 14.09.2023 · 19min read

Have you ever wondered how businesses gain deep insights into consumer behavior, preferences, and opinions? Introducing focus groups—a powerful tool that unlocks the authentic voices of participants and reveals invaluable qualitative data. In this guide, we'll walk you through every step of the focus group process, from meticulous planning and skillful moderation to insightful analysis and actionable recommendations. Whether you're a researcher, marketer, or decision-maker, this guide equips you with the knowledge and strategies to harness the potential of focus groups and make informed, impactful decisions.

What is a Focus Group?

At its core, a focus group is a structured conversation involving a small group of individuals who share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences regarding a particular subject. The primary purpose of a focus group is to uncover nuanced insights that might not emerge through other research methods . You're essentially providing a platform for participants to express themselves freely, leading to a richer, more holistic understanding of the topic.

Why are Focus Groups Important in Market Research?

Focus groups play a pivotal role in market research . They allow you to delve into consumers' motivations, desires, and pain points, helping businesses tailor their products and services to better meet customer needs. Unlike quantitative data, focus groups provide qualitative context, shedding light on "why" people feel the way they do.

Focus groups serve as invaluable tools for gaining insights into people's opinions, attitudes, and perceptions. They bring together a diverse group of participants to engage in open discussions on a specific topic, offering qualitative data that goes beyond quantitative surveys. 

Benefits of Conducting Focus Groups

Conducting focus groups offers a range of benefits that contribute to informed decision-making and improved outcomes:

• Rich Insights: Focus groups elicit detailed responses, offering a deeper understanding of participants' perspectives.
• Real-time Interaction: Observing participants' interactions in real-time provides valuable non-verbal cues that text-based surveys can't capture.
• Group Dynamics: Group discussions can stimulate new ideas as participants bounce thoughts off each other.
• Uncovering Unconscious Factors: Focus groups can reveal subconscious opinions or emotions that participants might not even be aware of.
• Flexible Approach: The open-ended nature of focus groups allows for unexpected insights to emerge.

How to Set Up a Focus Group?

Before you embark on your focus group journey, thorough planning and meticulous preparation are crucial to ensuring the success of your sessions. Let's delve deeper into each step of this vital phase.

1. Identify Research Objectives

Research objectives serve as the compass guiding your focus group sessions. Clearly define what you aim to achieve through these discussions. Are you seeking insights into customer preferences, testing a new product concept, or exploring perceptions of a brand? Align your objectives with the overarching goals of your research to maintain focus and relevance.

2. Select Participant Demographics

Choosing the right participants is instrumental in obtaining diverse and representative insights. Consider the characteristics that are relevant to your research objectives. These may include:

• Income level

By selecting participants who mirror your target audience, you enhance the accuracy and applicability of your findings.

3. Recruit Participants

Effective participant recruitment is crucial for the success of your focus groups. Utilize various channels such as social media, online forums, email lists, and professional networks. Craft clear and compelling recruitment messages that communicate the focus group's purpose and participation benefits. Ensure that participants are genuinely interested, reliable, and willing to engage in open discussions.

4. Create Discussion Guidelines

Discussion guidelines provide structure to your focus group sessions while allowing for spontaneous conversations. Clearly outline the scope of the discussion, the key topics you intend to cover, and any specific areas of interest. Having a flexible framework ensures that discussions remain on track while permitting organic exploration of the subject matter.

5. Choose a Skilled Moderator

The role of the moderator is pivotal in shaping the dynamics and outcomes of your focus group. Opt for a skilled moderator who possesses strong facilitation and interpersonal skills. The moderator should be capable of guiding discussions, managing group dynamics, and ensuring that all participants have an equal opportunity to contribute. A skilled moderator can navigate unexpected twists in the conversation and encourage deeper insights.

How to Design a Focus Group?

Designing your focus group sessions requires thoughtful consideration of various elements to create an environment conducive to rich discussions.

1. Determine Group Size

The size of your focus group impacts the quality of interactions and the depth of insights. Aim for a balance between having a sufficiently diverse group and maintaining a manageable discussion. Generally, a group of 6 to 10 participants is optimal, allowing for a variety of viewpoints without overwhelming the conversation.

2. Select the Location

The choice of location plays a significant role, particularly for in-person focus groups. Select a comfortable and neutral venue that minimizes distractions and fosters open dialogue. If virtual sessions are more practical, ensure that the online platform is user-friendly and accessible to all participants, regardless of their technical proficiency.

3. Set the Duration

The duration of your focus group session impacts participant engagement and the quality of insights. Sessions typically last between 1 to 2 hours, striking a balance between allowing participants to delve into the topic without exhausting their attention spans. Longer sessions may lead to participant fatigue, which can hinder the quality of responses.

4. Prepare Stimuli (if applicable)

If your research involves presenting stimuli such as visuals, prototypes, or samples, careful preparation is essential. Ensure that your material is ready and relevant to the discussion topics. Stimuli can serve as conversation starters and tangible references for participants, enriching the depth of their responses.

5. Develop Open-Ended Questions

Crafting open-ended questions is an art that drives meaningful conversations. These questions encourage participants to openly share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Avoid closed-ended or leading questions, as they limit the scope of responses. Developing thoughtful and open-ended prompts creates opportunities for participants to express themselves authentically.

As you move forward with your focus group journey, remember that every aspect of planning and designing contributes to the quality of insights you'll gain. Your meticulous preparation sets the stage for rich, valuable discussions that uncover nuances and perspectives that quantitative data alone can't provide.

How to Conduct a Focus Group?

With your meticulous planning in place, it's time to bring your focus group to life. Conducting a focus group involves skillful facilitation, attentive moderation, and the ability to navigate diverse perspectives.

Let's explore the intricacies of this process and how to ensure a successful session.

Icebreaker Activities

Begin your focus group session with engaging icebreaker activities. Icebreakers serve multiple purposes, from easing participants into the conversation to creating a comfortable atmosphere for open sharing.

Some common icebreaker activities include:

• Introduction Round: Have each participant introduce themselves, sharing their name, background, and a fun fact related to the topic.
• "Two Truths and a Lie": Participants share two factual statements and one false statement about themselves, prompting discussion as others guess the lie.

Establishing Group Norms

Setting clear group norms from the outset creates a respectful and productive discussion environment. Norms ensure participants feel valued, heard, and safe sharing their viewpoints.

• Active Listening: Encourage attentive listening by asking participants to refrain from interrupting while others speak.
• Respectful Interaction: Emphasize the importance of respectful disagreement and constructive feedback.
• Confidentiality: Stress that participants should keep the discussion content confidential, fostering an environment of trust.
• Equal Participation: Encourage balanced participation by ensuring everyone has a chance to share their thoughts.

Moderator's Role and Techniques

The role of the moderator is pivotal in guiding discussions while maintaining a balanced and focused conversation. A skilled moderator employs various techniques to facilitate meaningful interactions:

• Active Listening: The moderator listens attentively to participants' responses, demonstrating that their opinions are valued.
• Probing: The moderator asks follow-up questions to dig deeper into participants' responses and uncover underlying motivations.
• Reflection: Summarizing participants' contributions shows that their thoughts are being accurately captured.
• Redirecting: If discussions veer off-topic, the moderator gently guides the conversation back to the main subject.

Encouraging Balanced Participation

Balanced involvement ensures that all participants have the opportunity to contribute. Some individuals naturally dominate discussions, while others might hesitate to speak up.

Techniques to encourage balanced participation include:

• Direct Questions: Address specific questions to participants who haven't spoken much, inviting their input.
• Round-Robin Sharing: Go around the group, giving each participant a chance to share their thoughts on a particular topic.
• Thought Pairing: Ask participants to pair up and share their perspectives with a partner before sharing with the larger group.

Probing for Deeper Insights

As discussions progress, employing probing techniques helps uncover deeper insights beneath surface-level responses. Probing involves asking follow-up questions that encourage participants to elaborate on their thoughts and feelings:

• "Why" Questions: Ask participants to explain the reasoning behind their opinions. For example, "Why do you think this approach would be effective?"
• "Tell Me More" Prompt: Encourage participants to elaborate by simply asking them to share more details about a specific point they made.
• Hypothetical Scenarios: Present hypothetical scenarios related to the topic and ask participants how they would respond, leading to more nuanced insights.

By skillfully employing these techniques, you can create an environment where participants feel comfortable expressing their opinions and where discussions naturally flow, leading to in-depth insights that you can later analyze.

How to Collect Focus Group Data?

With your focus group sessions successfully conducted, the next phase involves extracting meaningful insights from the rich discussions. We'll look at popular data collection and analysis methods to ensure that your findings are both accurate and actionable.

Recording and Transcribing Sessions

Recording focus group sessions is essential to capture participants' responses in their own words and preserve the nuances of the conversation.

• Recording: Use audio or video recording equipment to capture the entire discussion. Ensure that participants are comfortable with being recorded and understand the purpose of the recording.
• Transcribing: Transcribe the recorded sessions verbatim. Transcriptions provide a textual version of the discussions, which is easier to review and analyze.

Identifying Key Themes and Patterns

As you review the transcribed discussions, focus on identifying emerging themes and patterns. Themes are recurring topics or ideas that participants discuss, while patterns involve the connections between these themes. Look for insights that align with your research objectives.

• Open Coding: Start with open coding, where you assign preliminary labels to sections of the text corresponding to certain themes.
• Axial Coding: Organize the open codes into broader categories or themes, establishing relationships between them.
• Selective Coding: Refine the codes further, focusing on the most significant themes and their connections.

Coding and Categorizing Responses

Coding and categorization involve systematically organizing participants' responses based on identified themes and patterns. This process allows you to aggregate and compare the data, making it easier to draw conclusions.

• Codebook Development: Create a codebook that outlines the themes, definitions, and examples for each code.
• Applying Codes: Read through the transcribed data and apply the relevant codes to sections corresponding to each theme.
• Categorization: Group similar codes together to form categories that encapsulate broader concepts.

Using Qualitative Analysis Software

Qualitative analysis software can streamline the process of coding, categorization, and data management. Platforms like Appinio offer features that enhance the efficiency and accuracy of your analysis:

• Code Management: Software allows you to easily create, apply, and modify codes.
• Search and Retrieval: Quickly search for specific keywords or themes within the transcribed data.
• Visualization: Some tools provide visual representations of the data, making it easier to identify patterns and trends.

Extracting Actionable Insights

From the coded and categorized data, you can extract actionable insights that inform decision-making. These insights are drawn from the participants' perspectives and can lead to improvements in products, services, or strategies:

• Quoting Participant Responses: Use direct quotes from participants to illustrate key points and provide authenticity to your findings.
• Patterns and Trends: Identify overarching patterns and trends that provide a holistic understanding of participants' opinions.
• Identify Opportunities: Look for opportunities for innovation, improvements, or addressing pain points that participants highlight.

By meticulously analyzing the transcribed data and extracting meaningful insights, you bridge the gap between raw conversation and actionable recommendations that can drive positive change.

How to Analyze Focus Group Data?

As you move into the interpretation and reporting phase of your focus group research, you'll synthesize the gathered insights into a coherent narrative. Here's how you can effectively interpret and communicate your findings to various stakeholders.

1. Summarize Findings

Summarizing the key findings of your focus group sessions provides a concise overview of the insights gathered. Focus on the most salient themes, patterns, and opinions that emerged during the discussions. This summary sets the stage for more in-depth exploration in the subsequent sections.

2. Relate Findings to Research Objectives

Connect the dots between your findings and the initial research objectives you established. Highlight how each identified theme or pattern addresses specific research goals. This linkage reinforces the relevance of your insights and underscores the value of your focus group research.

3. Provide Rich Descriptions

Enrich your report with detailed descriptions of participants' responses. These descriptions add depth and context to your findings, helping stakeholders understand the nuances of participants' opinions and perspectives. Paint a vivid picture of the discussions to ensure your audience gains a comprehensive understanding.

4. Incorporate Participant Quotes

Incorporating direct quotes from participants adds authenticity and humanizes your findings. Quotes allow stakeholders to hear participants' voices firsthand, making the insights more relatable. Select quotes that encapsulate key points, emotions, or unique perspectives shared during the focus group discussions.

5. Make Data-Driven Recommendations

Formulate actionable recommendations based on the insights extracted from your focus group data. These recommendations should be grounded in the participants' perspectives and aligned with your research objectives. Whether refining a marketing strategy, modifying a product feature, or enhancing customer service, your recommendations should be informed and practical.

How to Lead a Focus Group?

Conducting focus groups comes with its own set of challenges. By adhering to best practices, you can navigate these challenges effectively and ensure the integrity of your research.

• Ensure Objectivity and Impartiality: Maintain objectivity throughout your focus group research. As the moderator, your role is facilitating discussions, not influencing outcomes. Avoid expressing personal opinions or steering the conversation in a particular direction.
• Minimize Groupthink and Bias: Be vigilant about group dynamics that might lead to groupthink, where participants conform to the majority opinion. Encourage diverse viewpoints and foster an environment where participants feel comfortable expressing dissenting views.
• Deal with Dominant Participants: In some focus groups, specific individuals may dominate the conversation. Gently redirect the discussion to ensure all participants have an equal contribution opportunity. Use techniques like directly addressing quieter participants for their input.
• Address Sensitive Topics: When discussing sensitive topics, create a supportive and nonjudgmental environment. Approach these discussions with empathy and use considerate language. Clearly communicate that participants are free to share their thoughts without fear of judgment.
• Adapt to Virtual Focus Groups: Virtual focus groups offer convenience but present unique challenges. Ensure participants are comfortable with the technology and provide clear instructions for joining the virtual session. Be prepared to troubleshoot technical issues that may arise.

Navigating these best practices and challenges ensures that your focus group research is conducted ethically, rigorously, and effectively.

Focus Group Examples

Let's explore how focus groups can be applied across various domains to extract valuable insights and drive informed decisions.

Example 1: SaaS Product Development

Imagine a SaaS company aiming to enhance its project management software. To gather insights for improvements, they conduct a focus group with current users:

• Planning: The company identifies research objectives, including user experience enhancement and feature preferences.
• Participants: They recruit a diverse group of existing users, ranging from freelancers to project managers.
• Discussion: The focus group discusses pain points, desired features, and overall user satisfaction.
• Analysis: The company analyzes transcribed discussions, identifying recurring themes like seamless collaboration and customizable dashboards.
• Insights: These insights lead to data-driven decisions, resulting in feature updates like improved collaboration tools and a user-customizable interface.

Example 2: Business Strategy Alignment

A retail chain considers expanding its product offerings. To align their business strategy with customer preferences, they conduct a focus group:

• Planning: The company defines research objectives to understand customer preferences and potential demand.
• Participants: They select a mix of loyal and potential new customers from various demographics.
• Discussion: The focus group explores participants' shopping habits, preferences, and thoughts on the proposed products.
• Analysis: The company identifies patterns, discovering that participants value eco-friendly products and unique offerings.
• Insights: Equipped with insights, the retail chain refines its expansion strategy to include sustainable products and innovative offerings, resonating with customer expectations.

Example 3: Academic Research

An academic researcher is exploring attitudes toward online learning. They decide to use focus groups to delve into students' perspectives:

• Planning: The researcher outlines research objectives centered around understanding students' experiences with online learning.
• Participants: A mix of online and in-person students with varying academic backgrounds and preferences.
• Discussion: The focus group conversations revolve around challenges, advantages, and suggestions for enhancing online education.
• Analysis: The researcher uncovers recurring themes, such as the importance of interactive content and effective communication.
• Insights: The researcher contributes to developing more engaging online courses, prioritizing interactive elements and clear communication channels.

These examples showcase the versatility of focus groups in capturing nuanced insights across diverse domains. Whether it's shaping software features, refining business strategies, or informing academic research, focus groups provide a platform to tap into authentic participant perspectives, resulting in well-informed decisions and strategies.

Focus groups are not just discussions—they're windows into understanding, catalysts for improvement, and sources of innovation. Following the steps outlined in this guide, you've gained the tools to orchestrate meaningful conversations, extract nuanced insights, and translate those insights into actionable recommendations. Remember, each participant's voice adds a unique brushstroke to the canvas of insights, and your role as a skilled moderator brings those brushstrokes to life.

As you venture into focus groups, approach each session with curiosity and openness. Listen actively, probe gently, and navigate group dynamics with finesse. Whether you're fine-tuning a marketing campaign, shaping the next product iteration, or charting the course for your organization's future, the authentic perspectives gathered through focus groups will guide your way. Embrace the art of facilitation, savor the richness of discussion, and let the insights gained propel you toward confident decisions and successful outcomes. Your commitment to the power of dialogue ensures that participants' voices continue to shape meaningful change.

How to Conduct a Focus Group online in Minutes?

Discover the revolutionary way to conduct focus groups and gain invaluable insights in just minutes. Appinio , a dynamic real-time market research platform, empowers companies to tap into consumer perspectives swiftly and effectively.

By handling the research and technology complexities, Appinio frees you to focus on what truly matters – swift, data-driven decision-making. Uncover the excitement of seamless integration, intuitive processes, and lightning-fast answers to fuel your business success.

Why Appinio?

• Transformative Speed: From questions to insights in minutes, Appinio ensures rapid access to the consumer pulse.
• Seamless Integration: Integrate real-time consumer insights seamlessly into everyday decision-making.
• Empower Your Choices: Embrace the power of data-driven decisions without the hassle of traditional research methods.

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How to Lead UX Research Focus Groups

Focus groups that are steered through the lenses of user experience design and user testing.

Tremis Skeete

Product Coalition

T oday, digital product design is far from a siloed practice, and if you’re a product designer, staying on top of understanding how humans use products is at the center of UX design principles. As product teams become more connected and globalized, getting feedback from customers in order to spawn new ideas, or to improve upon existing ones: can be a great thing to bring people together.

I will never argue against the value of observing users in their natural environment in order to gather valuable insights . It’s a great way to discover how customers use software.

But what if opportunities to observe individual customers are hard or impossible to come by? What if you’re designing for users that can only make time to review software as a group? If you’re a designer that works in this kind of environment, then it’s time to improvise. It’s time for you to put on your ‘facilitator hat’ and enter the world of UX Research Focus Groups .

What is a UX Research Focus Group?

A focus group that is steered through the lenses of UX design and user testing is essentially a discussion on a digital product. The focus group is guided by the product’s developers and attended by stakeholders, users, prospective users, and pretty much anyone else that can offer valuable feedback.

It’s Not a Market Research Focus Group

With UX research focus groups, the context is different from the historical lens of market research focus groups, where the objective is to gather opinions about certain ideas, products and services. With market research focus groups, the objective is to determine whether or not product ideas are valuable in the eyes of target customers. With UX research focus groups, the objective is to determine via user testing, which elements, aspects, or behaviors of a given product or feature can be improved or eliminated.

Why UX Research Focus Groups?

You may be wondering why focus groups should be used. What I have found is that when I do focus groups with people that interact with products my teams helped to develop, we are able to get critical feedback in the moment. But, in order to get that critical, real-time feedback, we needed to be asking the right questions. We needed to be able to witness what users respond to, and how they respond. We needed to be able to ‘read between the lines’ and recognize both verbal and nonverbal cues.

We needed to be able to witness what users respond to, and how they respond. We needed to be able to ‘read between the lines’ and recognize both verbal and nonverbal cues.

In the past, we have used a few different types of feedback-gathering techniques. We have done product demonstrations, where users get to see the product in action. We have conducted usability testing, where users are given devices to use the product throughout the discussion. We have done user interviews and group surveys. We have done design critiques. All of these were useful, but none of them felt complete. So, we combined all of these techniques into our focus group activities:

Your Questions Must Be Based on Hypotheses

The key to crafting effective questions, especially during the ‘five-finger’ user group survey segment of a focus group session is:

Your questions must be based on the assumptions in the product hypotheses you’re striving to validate.

When I say “assumptions in the product hypotheses,” I mean — the untested ideas you’ve created for your product, and, what you believe the product will do as a result for your target customers.

You Must Have A Clickable Prototype or MVP

Firstly, for your focus group you must have the following:

• A clickable prototype or MVP. Wireframes or mockups are not enough.
• Intimate knowledge of how the prototype/MVP should work, or, someone else must be in attendance (e.g. a lead product designer or developer) that has intimate knowledge.
• A list of questions or statements that are designed to steer your participants to think critically. One of my favorite books for learning how to craft great questions and how to interview users is Interviewing Users by Steve Portigal . In light of reading Interviewing Users and other books such as Lean UX by Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden ; by applying several of the recommended techniques, we performed experiments and learned to create our own approach for crafting the right kinds of focus group questions and/or statements.
• A list of questions or statements that are designed to test your assumptions on your participants.
• A recorder and/or note taker i.e. someone or something that captures moments where there are pain points, enlightening opinions and other forms of feedback.

Getting Prepared

It’s important to prepare in advance for your focus group. Arrive early and check your logistics. Make sure all of your writing materials are ready. Make sure all of your user devices, if you are using them, are operational. Make sure your recording equipment is ready. It also never hurts to have refreshments. I usually provide sparkling water, dried fruit, almonds, and chocolates.

Being afraid of your audience is not an option. Greet them as they walk through the door. Offer them refreshments. Provide them with pens and paper. If they are required to use internet ready devices, ensure they have access to the internet. Overall, just make them feel comfortable. The more comfortable they are, the more likely they will be to open up to you about the product, and the more likely you will be to get useful feedback.

Avoid Open Ended Questions

As you begin the group session, remember to avoid open ended questions.

Unless it’s absolutely necessary, avoid open ended questions.

For market research focus groups — open ended questions work well, because the objective is to essentially learn opinions on what people find valuable within a product. So, questions such as “what did you think of that product?” or “how did using this product make you feel?” tend to make sense.

But in UX research focus groups, asking things like, “what did you think?” or “how did that make you feel?” as they are using a digital product — it puts pressure on participants and leads to skewed and forced responses.

When you ask more specific questions, like “what could be added to this screen?” or “what would you fix about this interaction?” that guide participants into thinking about a certain scenario — they are more likely to provide honest and critical feedback.

Rather than asking open ended questions and having them throw random responses at you, you can empower them to provide informative feedback that could lead to decisions being made on the product’s development.

If you do choose to ask an open ended question — do it in the moments when you believe there is a story about a past experience that is driving their answer. Let’s remember that for later.

Asking Questions: Four Categories

During a focus group session, the questions you ask can be separated into the following four categories:

• Usability & Performance: Whether or not your stakeholders can use the product and how they respond to its performance.
• Interaction Design: Your stakeholders’ understanding of what certain interactions with the product will result in.
• Visual Design: How delightful, pleasing and comprehensible the product is to look at.
• Content Understanding: Your stakeholders’ understanding of the labeling, text, and instructions.

If you’re wondering what other kinds of questions you could ask, here are examples:

Usability & system performance questions.

• What do you think is the most important thing we should fix?
• Out of everything you’ve seen here, what do you think you do not need?
• If you could use this on your phone, would it make your job easier to do?
• If you could change anything about this app right now what would it be?
• Is there anything you think should perform differently?

Interaction Design Questions

• Does anything seem out of place or unnecessary?
• When you explored the programs did you get confused at any point?
• Did anything distract you or get in the way?
• Does the navigation make sense?
• With the navigation, did you find whatever you were looking for?

Visual Design Questions

• If anything — what could we do to ensure that you would use this system frequently?
• How would you describe using this system in your own words?
• Was there any information or features you think are missing?
• Were there any steps taken in the software that you think we should improve or design differently?
• Is there anything you think should look differently?

Content Understanding Questions

• Is there any other content you’d want or need to see on this page?
• Is there any content you’d like to see us offer?
• Is there anything on this site that doesn’t work the way you expected it to?

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The Five Finger Survey

Most of the focus groups I facilitate last about an hour. In the last ten minutes of that hour, I conduct what is called a Five Finger Survey. After you’ve gone through all of the modules with the group, the Five Finger Survey provides a summary of everyone’s thoughts and feelings.

This can provide a fun and fast-paced questioning session that will show you feedback patterns in the group and create opportunities to ask ethnographic questions. It can also give you an opportunity to get feedback from the participants that didn’t initially talk as much as the rest. The survey involves the speaker making statements about the product, and participants holding up anywhere from one to five fingers to represent their response:

Spotting Feedback Patterns

During the five finger survey, as the focus group leader you have an opportunity to gain deeper insights by spotting feedback patterns, and then, work to understand the feedback patterns in order to explain why the participants responded in the way they did.

For example — if you notice that there are individuals responding consecutively with low finger counts, then it’s your job to pause the survey segment and ask why they feel this way.

Remember — the low finger counts is just an example of data i.e. the “what happened”. It’s your job as the researcher to then understand the reasons for why that happened. The reasons are what help you to craft insights.

Find Out The Story Behind The Feedback

When you do ask why — find out if they experienced something in their past that might be influencing their low finger counts. Chances are, they might tell you a story about their experiences with another product. You could find out by asking:

“Did you use another product where you felt like it did not do a good enough job? If you did, I’d love to hear more about it.”

If there is a story, that’s an opportunity for you to listen for the pain points and gain valuable insights. Based on experience, I’ve managed to uncover perspectives that proved to be valuable in making products better.

Remember — before you conduct this survey, make sure that your participants understand the process. Also make sure that you say the responses out loud for your recorder and note taker.

Testing Your Hypotheses

Now let’s say one of your hypotheses is the following:

“We believe adding a ‘quick search’ on the application homepage will be a useful feature for their training instructors, as it will save them time in locating their client data. This will increase the platform adoption rate within their organization by 20%”

Then, your critical thinking questions (during product demo and testing) could be:

• When you explored this feature, did you get confused at any point?
• If you use this feature on your phone, would it make your job easier to do?
• Is there any other content you’d want or need to see on this screen?

And, the assumptions you test with your participants (during the five-finger survey) could be:

• I was able to complete tasks and scenarios quickly.
• I feel comfortable using this software.
• The software gave me enough error messages so that I can figure out how to fix my problems.
• I would need to learn a lot of things before I could use this software.
• Whenever I made a mistake using the software, I could recover easily.
• The on-screen messages and information was clear and easy to understand.
• When I needed information from the software, it was easy to find.
• The information found in the system was useful.
• The organization of information on the UI screens is clear.
• The user interfaces are visually pleasing to the eye.
• The software has all the functions and capabilities I expect it to have.
• I think this software would make my job easier to do.
• Overall, I am satisfied with how easy it is to use this software.

UX Focus Groups Are About Clarity

Once your focus group has concluded, it’s important that you collect and review all of your notes and distill your findings into the before mentioned four categories. This way you can gain clarity from your findings and identify high priority next steps and organize your items in a backlog.

You should also update your understanding of your user goals, challenges, and pain points, as well as your ethnographic questions, so you can follow up with participants after the focus group has ended.

There is an art to leading a UX research focus group. What I mean is — you have to be very perceptive about more than just what participants tell you.

You have to use your ability to put yourself in their shoes when they respond, and when you perceive and sense that you need to find out more, and you want to ask them questions in order for them to explain further, don’t hesitate in asking.

Don’t just assume that the answers they give you are the insights.

The answers they give you is no more than just data.

It is you, the researcher, that needs to dig deeper into yourself and into their answers until your gut feeling tells you that you’ve discovered the insight. That is the “art” I’m referring to.

But if you’re clear about the assumptions you want to validate, and ask questions designed to steer your group towards giving thoughtful feedback — you can gain actionable information that can help you greatly improve your products in the long run.

I would like to thank Jessie Sun and Janice Cawthorn for the valuable conversations and feedback; Troy Wood, Kemi Akinsanya-Rose, Jack Roughley, Michael Luskind, ProductTank Toronto, Geoffrey Mahase, Arunansu Pattanayak, Anas Raza Firdousi, Chandra Sekhar Peela and Michael Larkin for the conversations and experiments which contributed to the creation of these focus group techniques and this article.

How to Effectively Lead Focus Groups: Presented at ProductTank Toronto

How to effectively lead focus groups: presented at producttank toronto - download as a pdf or view online for free.

www.slideshare.net

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Executive Editor at Product Coalition. https://linkedin.com/in/tremisskeete/

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The Power of Focus Groups in User Research and User Experience Design

Home » The Power of Focus Groups in User Research and User Experience Design

Focus groups are a popular method of user research, and they can be a powerful tool in user experience design. In this blog post, we will explore the power of focus groups in user research and how they can help you create a better user experience.

What are Focus Groups?

Focus groups are qualitative research sessions that involve a small group of individuals who represent the target audience for a product or service. The participants are carefully selected to reflect the diversity and characteristics of the target user group. In a focus group, a trained moderator facilitates a discussion by asking open-ended questions and encouraging participants to share their thoughts, opinions, and experiences.

The Power of Focus Groups in User Research

(1) In-depth insights: Focus groups provide an opportunity to gain in-depth insights into the attitudes, preferences, and motivations of users. Through open discussions, participants can express their opinions, share personal experiences, and elaborate on their needs and desires. This qualitative data helps researchers to understand the underlying reasons behind user behaviors and preferences, which may not be evident through other research methods.

For example, let’s say you’re designing a new mobile banking app, by conducting a focus group with potential users, you can learn about their expectations, pain points, and desired features. This valuable information can inform your design decisions and help you create a user-friendly and intuitive app.

(2) Group dynamics and interactions: Focus groups leverage the power of group dynamics to generate richer insights. Participants can build upon each other’s ideas, challenge assumptions, and spark new thoughts through their interactions.

These group dynamics allow researchers to observe how users influence each other and how consensus or disagreements are reached. Such observations can reveal social and cultural factors that shape user preferences and behaviors.

For instance, imagine you’re developing a social media platform, conducting focus groups can shed light on how users perceive and interact with different social features, and whether their preferences align or differ based on factors such as age, gender, or cultural background.

(3) Rapid feedback iteration: Focus groups can provide rapid feedback on prototypes, designs, or concepts at different stages of development. By presenting mock-ups or prototypes to participants and soliciting their feedback, you can quickly identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.

This iterative feedback loop allows you to refine your designs early in the development process, saving time and resources in the long run.

A focus group can help you identify usability issues, confusing navigation elements, or missing key features. Armed with this feedback, you can make iterative improvements to enhance the overall user experience.

As a UX designer working on a mobile gaming application some years ago, I wanted to ensure that the user experience was engaging, intuitive, and met the needs of our target audience. To gather insights and feedback, we decided to conduct focus groups with potential users.

We carefully recruited participants who were avid mobile gamers and represented a diverse range of ages, gaming preferences, and experience levels. We wanted to capture a broad spectrum of perspectives to inform our design decisions.

During the focus group sessions, we began by introducing the concept and purpose of the gaming application. We then facilitated open discussions by asking participants about their gaming habits, favorite features in existing gaming apps, and their expectations for a new gaming experience.

The group dynamics in the focus groups were remarkable. Participants shared their personal gaming stories, debated different game mechanics, and provided valuable insights into what made a mobile game addictive and enjoyable for them.

Through these interactions, we uncovered various patterns and preferences that we might have missed through other research methods.

For example, one recurring theme that emerged was the importance of social features in mobile gaming. Participants expressed a desire for multiplayer options, leaderboards, and the ability to connect with friends within the game. This highlighted the need to prioritize social integration in our design to enhance the overall user experience.

Additionally, the focus groups helped us identify potential pain points and areas for improvement. Participants shared frustrations with overly complex tutorials, cluttered interfaces, and excessive in-app advertisements. These insights guided us in simplifying the onboarding process, streamlining the user interface, and implementing non-intrusive ad placements.

Furthermore, focus groups allowed us to test early prototypes and gather immediate feedback. We presented participants with wireframes and mock-ups of various game screens, seeking their opinions on layout, color schemes, and iconography. Their feedback helped us refine our design choices and ensured that we were aligning with their visual preferences and usability expectations.

Overall, the focus groups provided invaluable insights into the minds of our target users. We were able to create a gaming application that resonated with their needs and preferences, resulting in a more engaging and enjoyable user experience.

The experience of using focus groups reinforced the power of qualitative research in shaping the user experience. By listening to the voices of our potential users, we were able to make informed design decisions that ultimately led to a successful product launch and positive user feedback.

Best Practices for Conducting Focus Groups

To make the most of focus groups in user research, here are some best practices to consider:

• Clearly define research objectives: Clearly define your research objectives and the specific questions you want to explore. This will help you structure the focus group session and ensure you gather relevant insights.
• Recruit diverse participants: Aim for diversity in your focus group participants to capture a wide range of perspectives. Consider factors such as age, gender, cultural background, and level of expertise to ensure a representative sample.
• Prepare a discussion guide: Create a discussion guide with open-ended questions that encourage participants to share their thoughts and experiences. This will help you facilitate the session effectively and cover all the necessary topics.
• Engage a skilled moderator: A skilled moderator is crucial to guide the discussion, manage group dynamics, and ensure that all participants have an opportunity to share their views. The moderator should be trained in qualitative research techniques and have good interpersonal skills.
• Use audio or video recording: Recording the focus group session allows you to capture the discussions and interactions in detail. This ensures that you don’t miss any important insights and allows you to review the session later for more accurate analysis.
• Create a comfortable environment: Choose a suitable venue for the focus group session that is comfortable and conducive to open discussions. Ensure that participants feel relaxed and encouraged to express their opinions without judgment.
• Analyze and interpret data: After the focus group session, carefully analyze the data collected.  A great tool you can use is Insight7 . Look for patterns, recurring themes, and key insights that emerge from the discussions. This analysis will help you identify user needs, pain points, and opportunities for improvement.
• Supplement with other research methods: While focus groups provide valuable qualitative insights, it’s essential to complement them with other research methods such as surveys, interviews, or usability testing. This helps validate and triangulate the findings, providing a more comprehensive understanding of user needs.
• Iteratively incorporate insights into design: The insights gained from focus groups should be used to inform the design process. Take the feedback and recommendations from participants and incorporate them into your prototypes or designs. Continuously iterate and refine based on user feedback to create a user experience that aligns with their needs and expectations.
• Maintain participant confidentiality: It’s crucial to ensure participant confidentiality and obtain informed consent before conducting the focus group. Protect the privacy of participants by anonymizing their responses and maintaining the confidentiality of their personal information.

Focus groups are a powerful tool in user research and user experience design. They provide in-depth insights, leverage group dynamics, and enable rapid feedback iteration. By conducting focus groups, you can gain a deep understanding of user needs, preferences, and motivations, which in turn allows you to create products and services that resonate with your target audience.

Incorporate the insights gained from focus groups into your design process, and you’ll be well on your way to delivering a superior user experience.

Avoiding Bias in User Research: A Crucial Path to Reliable Insights

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How to conduct user research: A step-by-step guide

This is part one of a guide to User research.

Continue with part two: How to conduct user research: A Step-by-step guide

Continue with part three: What is exploratory research and why is it so exciting?

What user research did you conduct to reveal your ideal user?

Uh-oh. Not this question again. We both know the most common answer and it’s not great.

“Uhm, we talked to some users and had a brainstorming session with our team. It’s not much, but we don’t have time to do anything more right now. It’s better than nothing.”

Let’s be brutally honest about the meaning of that answer and rephrase it:

“ We don’t have time to get to know our actual user and maximize our chances of success. We’ll just assume that we know what they want and then wonder why the product fails at a later stage.”

If that sounds super bad, it’s because IT IS. You don’t want to end up in this situation. And you won’t.

After reading this guide, you’ll know exactly how to carry out the user research that will become your guiding star during product development.

On this page

Why is user research so important?

Step #1: define research objectives.

Go ahead – create that fake persona

Step #2: Pick your methods

Qualitative methods – the why, quantitative methods – the what, behavioral and attitudinal methods, step #3: find your participants, how to recruit participants, how many participants, step #4: conduct user research.

Focus groups

Competitive analysis

Field studies

What’s next?

User research can be a scary word. It may sound like money you don’t have, time you can’t spare, and expertise you need to find. That’s why some people convince themselves that it’s not that important.

Which is a HUGE mistake.

User research is crucial – without it, you’ll spend your energy, time and money on a product that is based around false assumptions that won’t work in the real world.

Let’s take a look at Segway, a technologically brilliant product with incredible introductory publicity. Although it’s still around, it simply didn’t reach initial expectations. Here are some of the reasons why:

• It brought mockery, not admiration. The user was always “that guy”, who often felt fat or lazy.
• Cities were not prepared for it. Neither users nor policemen knew if it should be used on the road or on the sidewalk.
• A large segment of the target market comprised of postal and security workers. However, postal workers need both hands while walking, and security workers prefer bikes that don’t have a limited range.

Segway mainly fell short because of issues that could’ve been foreseen and solved by better user research.

Tim Brown, the CEO of the innovation and design firm IDEO, sums it up nicely:

“Empathy is at the heart of design. Without the understanding of what others see, feel, and experience, design is a pointless task.”

? Bonus material Download User research checklist and a comparison table

Never forget – you are not your user.

You require proper user research to understand your user’s problems, pain points, needs, desires, feelings and behaviours.

Let’s start with the process!

Before you get in touch with your target users, you need to define why you are doing the research in the first place. 

Establish clear objectives and agree with your team on your exact goals – this will make it much easier to gain valuable insights. Otherwise, your findings will be all over the place.

Here are some sample questions that will help you to define your objectives:

• What do you want to uncover?
• What are the knowledge gaps that you need to fill?
• What is already working and what isn’t?
• Is there a problem that needs to be fixed? What is that problem?
• What will the research bring to the business and/or your customers?

Once you start answering questions like these, it’s time to make a list of objectives. These should be specific and concise .

Let’s say you are making a travel recommendation app. Your research goals could be:

• Understand the end-to-end process of how participants are currently making travel decisions.
• Uncover the different tools that participants are using to make travel decisions.
• Identify problems or barriers that they encounter when making travel decisions.

I suggest that you prioritize your objectives and create an Excel table. It will come in handy later.

Go ahead, create that fake persona

A useful exercise for you to do at this stage is to write down some hypotheses about your target users.

Ask yourself:

What do we think we understand about our users that is relevant to our business or product?

Yes, brainstorm the heck out of this persona, but keep it relevant to the topic at hand.

Here’s my empathy map and empathy map canvas to really help you flesh out your imaginary user.

Once you’re finished, research any and every statement , need and desire with real people.

It’s a simple yet effective way to create questions for some of the research methods that you’ll be using.

However, you need to be prepared to throw some of your assumptions out of the window. If you think this persona may affect your bias, don’t bother with hypotheses and dive straight into research with a completely open mind.

Alright, you have your research goals. Now let’s see how you can reach them.

Here’s the main question you should be asking yourself at this step in the process:

Based on our time and manpower, what methods should we select?

It’s essential to pick the right method at the right time . I’ll delve into more details on specific methods in Step #4. For now, let’s take a quick look at what categories you can choose from.

Qualitative research tells you ‘why’ something occurs. It tells you the reasons behind the behavior, the problem or the desire. It answers questions like: “ Why do you prefer using app X instead of other similar apps?” or “What’s the hardest part about being a sales manager? Why?” .

Qualitative data comes in the form of actual insights and it’s fairly easy to understand.

Most of the methods we’ll look at in Step #4 are qualitative methods.

Quantitative research helps you to understand what is happening by providing different metrics.

It answers questions such as “What percentage of users left their shopping cart without completing the purchase?” or “Is it better to have a big or small subscription button?”.

Most quantitative methods come in handy when testing your product, but not so much when you’re researching your users. This is because they don’t tell you why particular trends or patterns occur.

There is a big difference between “what people do” and “what people say”.

As their names imply, attitudinal research is used to understand or measure attitudes and beliefs, whereas behavioral research is used to measure and observe behaviors.

Here’s a practical landscape that will help you choose the best methods for you. If it doesn’t make sense now, return to it once you’ve finished the guide and you’ll have a much better understanding.

Source: Nielsen Norman Group

I’ll give you my own suggestions and tips about the most common and useful methods in Step #4 – Conducting research.

In general, if your objectives are specific enough, it shouldn’t be too hard to see which methods will help you achieve them.

Remember that Excel table? Choose a method or two that will fulfill each objective and type it in the column beside it.

It won’t always be possible to carry out everything you’ve written down. If this is the case, go with the method(s) that will give you most of the answers. With your table, it will be easy to pick and choose the most effective options for you.

Onto the next step!

This stage is all about channeling your inner Sherlock and finding the people with the secret intel for your product’s success.

Consider your niche, your objectives and your methods – this should give you a general idea of the group or groups you want to talk to and research further.

Here’s my advice for most cases.

If you’re building something from the ground up, the best participants might be:

• People you assume face the problem that your product aims to solve
• Your competitors’ customers

If you are developing something or solving a problem for an existing product, you should also take a look at:

• Advocates and super-users
• Customers who have recently churned
• Users who tried to sign up or buy but decided not to commit

There are plenty of ways to bring on participants, and you can get creative so long as you keep your desired target group in mind.

You can recruit them online – via social media, online forums or niche community sites.

You can publish an ad with requirements and offer some kind of incentive.

You can always use a recruitment agency, too. This can be costly, but it’s also efficient.

If you have a user database and are changing or improving your product, you can find your participants in there. Make sure that you contact plenty of your existing users, as most of them won’t respond.

You can even ask your friends to recommend the right kind of people who you wouldn’t otherwise know.

With that said, you should always be wary of including friends in your research . Sure, they’re the easiest people to reach, but your friendship can (and probably will) get in the way of obtaining honest answers. There are plenty of horror stories about people validating their “brilliant” ideas with their friends, only to lose a fortune in the future. Only consider them if you are 100% sure that they will speak their mind no matter what.

That depends on the method. If you’re not holding a massive online survey, you can usually start with 5 people in each segment . That’s enough to get the most important unique insights. You can then assess the situation and decide whether or not you need to expand your research.

Finally! Let’s go through some of the more common methods you’ll be using, including their pros and cons, some pro tips, and when you should use them.

Engaging in one-on-one discussions with users enables you to acquire detailed information about a user’s attitudes, desires, and experiences. Individual concerns and misunderstandings can be directly addressed and cleared up on the spot.

Interviews are time-consuming, especially on a per participant basis. You have to prepare for them, conduct them, analyze them and sometimes even transcribe them. They also limit your sample size, which can be problematic. The quality of your data will depend on the ability of your interviewer, and hiring an expert can be expensive.

• Prepare questions that stick to your main topics. Include follow-up questions for when you want to dig deeper into certain areas.
• Record the interview . Don’t rely on your notes. You don’t want to interrupt the flow of the interview by furiously scribbling down your answers, and you’ll need the recording for any potential in-depth analysis later on.
• Conduct at least one trial run of the interview to see if everything flows and feels right. Create a “playbook” on how the interview should move along and update it with your findings.
• If you are not comfortable with interviewing people, let someone else do it or hire an expert interviewer. You want to make people feel like they are talking to someone they know, rather than actually being interviewed. In my experience, psychologists are a great choice for an interviewer.

Interviews are not really time-sensitive, as long as you do them before the development process.

However, they can be a great supplement to online surveys and vice-versa. Conducting an interview beforehand helps you to create a more focused and relevant survey, while conducting an interview afterwards helps you to explain the survey answers.

Surveys are generally conducted online, which means that it’s possible to gather a lot of data in a very short time for a very low price . Surveys are usually anonymous, so users are often more honest in their responses.

It’s more difficult to get a representative sample because it’s tough to control who takes part in the survey – especially if you post it across social media channels or general forums. Surveys are quite rigid and if you don’t account for all possible answers, you might be missing out on valuable data. You have to be very careful when choosing your questions – poorly worded or leading ones can negatively influence how users respond. Length can also be an issue, as many people hate taking long surveys.

• Keep your surveys brief , particularly if participants won’t be compensated for their time. Only focus on what is truly important.
• Make sure that the questions can be easily understood. Unclear or ambiguous questions result in data on which you can’t depend. Keep the wording as simple as possible.
• Avoid using leading questions. Don’t ask questions that assume something, such as “What do you dislike about X?”. Replace this with “What’s your experience with X?”.
• Find engaged, niche online communities that fit your user profile. You’ll get more relevant data from these.

Similar to interviews. It depends on whether you want to use the survey as a preliminary method, or if you want a lot of answers to a few, very focused questions.

Focus Groups

Focus groups are moderated discussions with around 5 to 10 participants, the intention of which is to gain insight into the individuals’ attitudes, ideas and desires.

As focus groups include multiple people, they can quickly reveal the desires, experiences, and attitudes of your target audience . They are helpful when you require a lot of specific information in a short amount of time. When conducted correctly, they can act like interviews on steroids.

Focus groups can be tough to schedule and manage. If the moderator isn’t experienced, the discussion can quickly go off-topic. There might be an alpha participant that dictates the general opinion, and because it’s not one-on-one, people won’t always speak their mind.

• Find an experienced moderator who will lead the discussion. Having another person observing and taking notes is also highly recommended, as he or she can emphasize actionable insights and catch non-verbal clues that would otherwise be missed.
• Define the scope of your research . What questions will you ask? How in-depth do you want to go with the answers? How long do you want each discussion to last? This will determine how many people and groups should be tested.
• If possible, recruit potential or existing users who are likely to provide good feedback, yet will still allow others to speak their mind. You won’t know the participants most of the time, so having an experienced moderator is crucial.

Focus groups work best when you have a few clear topics that you want to focus on.

Competitive Analysis

A competitive analysis highlights the strengths and weaknesses of existing products . It explores how successful competitors act on the market. It gives you a solid basis for other user research methods and can also uncover business opportunities. It helps you to define your competitive advantage , as well as identify different user types.

A competitive analysis can tell you what exists, but not why it exists. You may collect a long feature list, but you won’t know which features are valued most by users and which they don’t use at all. In many cases, it’s impossible to tell how well a product is doing, which makes the data less useful. It also has limited use if you’re creating something that’s relatively new to the market.

• Create a list or table of information that you want to gather – market share, prices, features, visual design language, content, etc.
• Don’t let it go stale. Update it as the market changes so that you include new competitors.
• If you find something really interesting but don’t know the reason behind it, conduct research among your competitor’s users .
• After concluding your initial user research, go over the findings of your competitive analysis to see if you’ve discovered anything that’s missing on the market .

It can be a great first method, especially if you’re likely to talk to users of your competitors’ products

Field Studies

Field studies are research activities that take place in the user’s context, rather than at your company or office. Some are purely observational (the researcher is a “fly on the wall”), others are field interviews, and some act as a demonstration of pain points in existing systems.

You really get to see the big picture –  field studies allow you to gain insights that will fundamentally change your product design . You see what people actually do instead of what they say they do. A field study can explain problems and behaviours that you don’t understand better than any other method.

It’s the most time-consuming and expensive method. The results rely on the observer more than any of the other options. It’s not appropriate for products that are used in rare and specific situations.

• Establish clear objectives. Always remember why you are doing the research. Field studies can provide a variety of insights and sometimes it can be hard to stay focused. This is especially true if you are participating in the observed activity.
• Be patient. Observation might take some time. If you rush, you might end up with biased results.
• Keep an open mind and don’t ask leading questions. Be prepared to abandon your preconceptions, assumptions and beliefs. When interviewing people, try to leave any predispositions or biases at the door.
• Be warm but professional. If you conduct interviews or participate in an activity, you won’t want people around you to feel awkward or tense. Instead, you’ll want to observe how they act naturally.

Use a field study when no other method will do or if it becomes clear that you don’t really understand your user. If needed, you should conduct this as soon as possible – it can lead to monumental changes.

We started with a user persona and we’ll finish on this topic, too. But yours will be backed by research 😉

A persona outlines your ideal user in a concise and understandable way. It includes the most important insights that you’ve discovered. It makes it easier to design products around your actual users and speak their language. It’s a great way to familiarize new people on your team with your target market.

A persona is only as good as the user research behind it. Many companies create a “should be” persona instead of an actual one. Not only can such a persona be useless, it can also be misleading.

• Keep personas brief. Avoid adding unnecessary details and omit information that does not aid your decision making. If a persona document is too long, it simply won’t be used.
• Make personas specific and realistic. Avoid exaggerating and include enough detail to help you find real people that represent your ideal user.

Create these after you’ve carried out all of the initial user research. Compile your findings and create a persona that will guide your development process.

Now you know who you are creating your product for – you’ve identified their problems, needs and desires. You’ve laid the groundwork, so now it’s time to design a product that will blow your target user away! But that’s a topic for a whole separate guide, one that will take you through the process of product development and testing 😉

PS. Don’t forget -> Here is your ? User Research Checklist and comparison table

About the author

Oh hey, I’m Romina Kavcic

I am a Design Strategist who holds a Master of Business Administration. I have 14+ years of career experience in design work and consulting across both tech startups and several marquee tech unicorns such as Stellar.org, Outfit7, Databox, Xamarin, Chipolo, Singularity.NET, etc. I currently advise, coach and consult with companies on design strategy & management, visual design and user experience. My work has been published on Forbes, Hackernoon, Blockgeeks, Newsbtc, Bizjournals, and featured on Apple iTunes Store.

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Focus groups as a user experience research method

Focus groups are a research method most often associated with marketing research, market research, and, increasingly, UX research.

Within the latter, through discussion very often serve to seek and achieve new ideas and find new digital solutions in a particular field or industry.

This research method is very eagerly used when designing branding and corporate identity. But the application of focus groups is, of course, much broader.

Focus Group Interviews have been used in the field of academic research — primarily sociology, psychology, and anthropology — for a very long time.

The method is not new. It was developed in the first half of the 20th century, precisely during World War II, and was created by prominent American sociologists Robert Merton and Paul Lazarsfeld.

The vast advantages of focus group interviews have caused the method to be repeatedly modified, developed, and adapted to the needs of various studies, including studies on the usability of digital products.

In this article, we will try to familiarize you with focus groups and answer the most critical questions.

What are focus groups? How long does an FGI take? What is an FGI – Focus Group Interview?

What are the characteristics of focus group interviews?

Focus groups nowadays are almost canonical research, and they definitely cannot be missing from the corpus of methods and research techniques of professional User Experience researchers.

Without further ado, we cordially invite you to read on!

Do you want to perform UX Research?

Focus groups — what are they?

We should start answering the following questions — What are focus groups? What is an FGI (Focus Group Interview)? — by defining this research method.

The description of this method is quite simple.

The focus group belongs to the group of qualitative moderated research and consists of a guided, focused conversation among respondents on specific problems.

It is a study performed through discussion in which participants can express their opinions and emotions and outline attitudes.

A focus group's conversation on a particular topic usually involves five to ten participants.

The course of the conversation is controlled by a moderator, whose role is to ask questions to the group and direct the discussion to the desired topics, problems, and issues.

The size of the group and the number of study participants are not random. Larger groups of more than ten people raise many problems regarding organization, communication, and time.

A group that is too small does not provide good diversity and the desired dynamics of interaction among its members. They may not explore a particular topic in enough depth.

On the other hand, a group that is too large raises the problem of uneven engagement of participants, the issue of its moderation, and the fulfillment of objectives arising from the study scenario, which is prepared before its execution.

Too large a group can also limit the spontaneity of people who are uncomfortable in big gatherings. Furthermore, respondents in too numerous groups may negatively influence each other.

How long does a focus group interview take? Typically, the time required for a research session does not exceed two hours; at a minimum, it usually lasts an hour.

A focus group is used to learn about respondents' perceptions, not behavior.

The influence of the group can be very helpful — it can encourage insights into issues that would not have had a chance to be uncovered in Individual In-Depth Interviews (IDIs) .

But it also has its flipside, which we will write more about later.

Focus group interviews are most commonly used to:

• Gain insight into how to define, describe, and experience usability problems
• Learn about the scope and depth of user experience
• Discover opinions, attitudes, preferences, biases, and experiences
• Learn about spontaneous and uncontrolled responses
• Obtain fresh and new perspectives, ideas, concepts, and solutions
• Get useful feedback.

Focus groups owe their reputation to their ability to obtain a large amount of information in a relatively quick, inexpensive, and uncomplicated manner.

The data obtained during the study with this method (the material may include not only the notes of the research assistant but also recorded auditory, audio-visual material, and transcriptions) are usually synthesized and used to formulate conclusions and new hypotheses.

Focus group interviews also provide helpful material for preparing design recommendations and determining the direction of digital product development.

At the same time, it is essential to remember the cardinal remark made by usability research guru Jakob Nielsen — what people say and do are two different things.

For more on this topic, you can read Nielsen's article " First Rule of Usability? Don't Listen to Users ."

Hence, the results obtained through focus groups should be treated with some caution and confronted with the results of usability tests, in which user actions are the main focus of the study.

Their meaning and usefulness become more critical when they are treated as part of a larger piece of diverse research, leading to an understanding of users' relationship with the digital product in a multi-dimensional, multi-perspective, multi-problem manner.

You should also remember that focus group interviews are not used for usability testing. There are fundamental differences between these research methods.

Mainly, they differ in the following aspects:

• Types of obtained data during a study are different
• The subject of the research is different — in short, FGI focuses on what people think, while usability tests focus on behavior
• Verification of research material — the "truthfulness" of actions is easy to ascertain. You cannot unquestionably verify the "truthfulness" of declarations, opinions, and beliefs.

Of course, from the above points, you cannot draw the wrong conclusion regarding the complete uselessness of this research method in the design, optimization, and development of digital products.

Focus group interviews — advantages and disadvantages

Let's start with an important statement that focus groups are a research method you should use for specific purposes.

Focus groups have advantages and disadvantages, but that much is obvious. In UX, they are useful for creating a better digital product, launching new digital services, performing optimizations, and getting hints. They are a source of design and research inspiration.

Above all, they are used to gain insight into how product users think and react.

To a large extent, the material collected with them is a result of several things:

• Group dynamics (in terms of social, psychological, and emotional interactions)
• Relevance and adequacy of questions prepared by a UX researcher, which should be of interest to the respondents (prompting them to express an opinion, for example)
• Moderator's ability to moderate the discussion    
• Time devoted to the study
• Criteria for selecting respondents
• Self-awareness, openness, and communicativeness of respondents
• Impact of the Groupthink syndrome
• Respondents' understanding of the study's objectives, its conduct, and the role they play is essential.

The disadvantages of focus groups include the following:

• Possibility of dominating the thoughts, reactions, and evaluations of the group by dominant individuals who like to draw attention to themselves
• High dependence of research results on the experience and skills of the focus group moderator
• Limited interaction with the product. The feedback does not always coincide with that which can be gleaned when there is actual interaction with the product when a longer, more natural interaction shapes the experience
• The need to filter respondents (perform screening tests) in terms of, for example, their placement on the introversion-extroversion spectrum
• Inability to predict the course of the study.

When conducting focus group interviews, you should pay special attention to the following:

• Range of topics — their number and complexity must be matched to the time that you will spend on the study (as a rule, it is better to focus on fewer topics but in a more in-depth manner)
• You should test questions before the study session
• The order of questions should be natural, logical, and reasonable
• Moderation of the research should follow the prepared scenario
• A moderator should not take any notes during the study — their assistant should be delegated to this task
• A moderator should only initiate discussions, not take an active part in them
• Questions and answers should be diversified with other activities.

As we mentioned, qualitative research, including the quality of results obtained through focus groups, depends on many factors.

A moderator, whose task is to direct the discussion, ensure the comfort of all participants, and counteract the effect of groupthink, plays a key role.

They should be characterized by the following:

• Above-average communication skills
• Proper timing
• Adequate responsiveness — they should be passive, tactful, or active, taking the initiative depending on the changing interactions between the research participants
• Commitment, enthusiasm, and genuine curiosity
• Ability to encourage the more withdrawn respondents to join the discussion
• Good memory
• Ability to listen
• Flexibility and quick adaptation to changing circumstances
• Ability to manage and organize
• Inquisitiveness
• Empathy — the ability to understand emotions and feedback (which can, for instance, indicate tiredness, fatigue, or the need for a break).

The dependence of the study's results on the skills, experience, and predispositions of a moderator is both an advantage of focus groups and a disadvantage.

An advantage because by hiring a researcher who guarantees high quality and reliability, you can gain a lot.

A disadvantage because the ability to moderate is uncommon and is sometimes costly.

Considering all of the above information, we inevitably come to the crucial questions.

What is the usefulness of this kind of UX research in the process of designing, developing, and creating web and mobile applications?

Why should you use focus groups to create digital products?

The usefulness of focus groups in UX research

You are ready to conduct a focus group interview with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or a clickable digital product prototype, a proper moderator, and a set of good, relevant questions.

You can gain insight into how users and focus group participants react to a digital product or its particular functionalities. You can achieve a better understanding of them.

Focus groups are also a source of new ideas — functional and regarding usability.

Remember that focus groups provide insight into verbal reactions and reactions manifested through body language and facial expressions.

• It is essential in conducting a study using focus groups to formulate questions based on adopted hypotheses.
• The assumptions you make about the product, functionality, usability, performance, interaction, and attractiveness must be reflected in the questions.

For instance, in terms of usability, you can formulate probing questions about what should be changed, improved, removed, or added.

Regarding interactions, you could ask study participants about situations that confused, distracted them, or seemed meaningless to them.

In terms of information architecture, the comprehensibility of the verbal layer, you can ask respondents to point out content that seemed incomprehensible, ambiguous, or confusing and about the content that may be missing.

The usefulness of focus groups in the User Experience research process is primarily expressed in providing researchers with knowledge about:

• Opinions about a digital product
• Attitudes it generates
• Reactions it triggers
• Feelings that a user experiences when interacting with a digital product
• Beliefs and biases that may constitute barriers to using the product
• Preferences — research allows you to collect feedback regarding what users like and what they do not find attractive or enjoyable
• Needs — expressed in the identification of functionalities that are necessary, useful, and completely useless.

In User Experience research (as in all types of qualitative research), the outcome depends on the meticulousness with which researchers adhere to methodological norms.

We want to remind you that research methodology consists of developed recommendations regarding the correct way to conduct a study step by step.

Following the rules of the art of research guarantees the reliability of the results.

It is also worthwhile to follow best practices in research, including focus groups.

Compliance with the formal methodological standard is obviously necessary.

Although compliance with best practices is not mandatory, it certainly proves the reliability of the researcher and their concern for the quality of the results and the conduct of the study (for example, through high research ethics).

It supports obtaining useful results and provides a compelling basis for design and business decisions.

Best practices in UX research using focus groups

Let's start with a fundamental matter, namely, at least two people should conduct focus group interviews.

The research should be performed by a moderator and an assistant, a second researcher who focuses on taking notes and meticulously observing the study participants.

Moderating — if it is to be carried out effectively and serve the research purpose — is such a demanding, absorbing activity that it should not be further disturbed by the need to perform other actions.

The moderator's effectiveness depends mainly on the prepared UX research plan, the scenario, and the list of questions they will ask in the course of the study.

The UX research plan enables the study to be conducted in an orderly, goal-focused, exhaustive manner and provides a clearer, more controlled flow.

However, you should remember that the moderation of focus groups should be as natural, flexible, and open as possible. The research plan and the scenario are only a framework, which leaves room for maneuvering for the moderator.

Rigid adherence to an exact scenario negatively affects the session and is definitely not recommended.

Focus groups have their own peculiarities, which must be respected. High variability, dynamics, and unpredictability are — for an experienced moderator — an opportunity rather than an obstacle to achieving the research goal.

A moderator should maintain complete impartiality and should not share personal judgments, opinions, or beliefs with respondents. Their role is not to actively participate in the discussion but to activate it.

Also, their emotions, tone of voice, and body language should be as neutral as possible. They should not affect the course of the study and the participants' mood, feelings, and comfort.

You should also remember that focus groups are a research method that should be considered complementary within the UX research corpus.

It should be used in tandem with other methods, making it possible to formulate much more conclusive and convincing conclusions.

In other words, focus groups should not be treated as the only source of information or knowledge but as a tool to learn about a specific dimension of users' relationship with digital products.

Focus groups as a UX research method. Summary

• Focus groups consist of a directed, problem-focused conversation among respondents conducted in a small group by a moderator.
• In social research, focus groups are a qualitative method used to learn about respondents' perceptions, declarations, assessments, opinions, emotions, and reactions, not their behavior.
• Focus groups usually consist of five to ten participants.
• A moderator controls the course of the conversation during the focus group interview.
• The role of a moderator, a facilitator, a UX researcher is to ask questions to group members and direct the discussion to desired topics, problems, and issues.
• The small number of participants in the study is not a coincidence.
• A group that is too small does not provide good diversity and the desired dynamics of interaction among its members.
• A group that is too large raises the problem of uneven engagement of participants and the issue of its moderation. Achieving a smooth group discussion becomes difficult. Its course is chaotic.
• The data obtained during a focus group interview is usually combined with the results of other studies and is used to make project and business decisions and to pose new hypotheses.
• Focus groups are not meant for usability testing. They are used to gain insight into how product users think and react.
• In this research method, a moderator plays a key role, whose task is to direct the discussion, ensure the comfort of all participants, and counteract the effect of groupthink.
• Moderating focus groups should be natural, flexible, and open.
• A research plan, a study scenario using a focus group, is just a framework that leaves a large room for maneuvering for a moderator.    
• The smooth conduct of the study is primarily controlled by a moderator, who initiates the discussion and refers to the scenario as infrequently as possible to deepen the issue.
• A moderator should remain completely impartial during the study.
• They should not express personal judgments, opinions, and beliefs.    
• The Moderator's emotional reactions, tone of voice, and body language should be as neutral as possible.
• It is about achieving the fluidity that a discussion should have.
• Focus groups should not be treated as the only source of information or knowledge about users of digital products.
• Regarding UX research, this method should be treated as a tool to learn only a specific dimension of users' relationship with digital products.

Next article

How to create a UX research plan?

• The Use and Misuse of Focus Groups
• Focus Groups
• How to Conduct Focus Groups
• Do’s and Don’ts for Focus Groups
• Focus Group
• Why Focus Groups Benefit the Web Design Process
• Can focus groups work for usability testing?

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Making Your UX Life Easier with the MoSCoW

If you’re stuck trying to move a project forward because it seems like there are too many things to concentrate on then the MoSCoW method may help you get unstuck. It’s a prioritization technique which is easy to learn and simple to apply. It can also help you decide what’s really valuable for your UX projects before you get started on them.

There are many different prioritization techniques that can be employed on design projects but one of the simplest to use is the MoSCoW method. It’s used across all business disciplines to enable project teams to work with stakeholders to define requirements. It can also be used as a personal prioritization technique.

What Does MoSCoW Stand For?

MoSCoW is an (almost) acronym designed to reflect the four categories used by the technique to determine priorities; Must have, Should have, Could have and Would like but won’t get. The lower case “o’s” are added simply to give the acronym a pronounceable form. Occasionally, you may also see the whole phrase in block capitals MOSCOW to distinguish it from the name of the city but MoSCoW is more common.

What is the MoSCoW Method?

Experts Dai Clegg and Richard Barker proposed the method in their paper “Case Method Fast-Track: A RAD Approach” and while it was initially intended to be used with the Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) it has long since been adopted throughout many areas of business. In recent times it has become very popular in the Agile and RAD (rapid application development) communities.

The MoSCoW method is most effective when it comes to prioritizing requirements in projects with either fixed or tight deadlines. It works by understanding the idea that all project requirements can be considered important but that they should be prioritized to give the biggest benefits in the fastest possible time frame.

It breaks down the requirements into four categories:

These are the requirements without which a project will fail. They MUST be delivered within the timeframe in order for anyone involved with the project to move on. In essence they make up the MVP ( Minimum Viable Product ) though it can be argued that MUST could stand for Minimum Usable SubseT too.

Should have

Should have requirements aren’t 100% necessary for delivering the project successfully but they are the “most nice to have” out of the list. They may be less time critical than “must have” or might be better held for a future release.

Could have requirements are just “nice to have” they are desirable to provide a nice user experience or customer experience but they’re not that important to the delivery of the project. They will be delivered only if there’s enough time and resources to spare to devote to them. Otherwise, they’re likely to be tabled for future releases and re-reviewed to see if they have become higher or lower priority in the interim.

These are the requirements that everyone agrees aren’t going to happen. It might be because they cost too much to implement or provide too little ROI (Return on Investment) for the efforts required to implement them. These are simply left to one side until they are either removed from the requirements list or become a higher priority.

The MoSCoW method provides a simple way of clarifying the priorities involved on a project. It’s most useful in time bound situations and it can be used to prioritize your own workload (usually with the buy in from a supervisor or manager if you work for someone else) as easily as it can be used for project work.

Implementing MoSCoW – A Practical Process

The easiest way to use MoSCoW is to bring together all the relevant stakeholders to the project and then:

List the requirements (on a flip chart or on a screen)

Vote on which category each requirement falls into (bearing in mind any hierarchical issues within the company itself – the CEOs vote may count for more than the votes of everyone else in the room)

Then collate the information and ensure that each requirement is presented against the relevant category in written form so that it can be used for reference by the project team

You can repeat this exercise whenever you feel it is necessary. Priorities may change mid-project or between releases. It’s important for everyone to understand what the implications of changing priorities in the middle of a project may be in terms of costs, resources, and time.

Issues with MoSCoW

It’s important to know that the MoSCoW method isn’t without its detractors. The main flaw in the method, as identified by authors Kark Weigers and Joy Beatty in their book Software Requirements, is that the method offers no means for comparing one requirement to another. This can make it difficult for those tasked with prioritizing requirements to know which category to place them in.

The Take Away

The MoSCoW method offers a simple process for prioritizing within project delivery. It can also be used to prioritize your work load. It should be used with some caution in that it may be too simple – particularly for complex projects – but it makes for a good starting point. One of the big advantages to its simplicity is that it should be easy to get buy in from other stakeholders to put it into practice.

Check out this useful study into how the MoSCoW method is used by business analysts .

You can read about the MoSCoW method as it was originally designed in: Clegg, Dai; Barker, Richard (2004-11-09). Case Method Fast-Track: A RAD Approach. Addison-Wesley. ISBN 978-0-201-62432-8.

You can read Weigers and Beatty’s criticism and their suggestion for a more complex method in: Wiegers, Karl; Beatty, Joy (2013). Software Requirements. Washington, USA: Microsoft Press. pp. 320–321. ISBN 978-0-7356-7966-5.

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Russian Court Orders Prominent Human Rights Group to Shut

The Supreme Court ruled that Memorial International, which chronicled political repression in Russia, must be liquidated.

By Ivan Nechepurenko and Andrew E. Kramer

MOSCOW — Russia’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the nation’s most prominent human rights organization must close, signaling President Vladimir V. Putin’s longstanding determination to control the narrative of some of the most painful and repressive chapters of Russian history.

The court ordered the liquidation of Memorial International, which chronicled the harrowing persecutions in the infamous Stalin-era labor camps in an effort to preserve the memory of its victims. The group, founded by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov and other dissidents more than three decades ago, became a symbol of the country’s emerging democracy after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The decision comes after a year of broad crackdown on opposition in Russia as the Kremlin moved aggressively to stifle dissent — in the news media, in religious groups, on social networks and especially among activists and political opponents, hundreds of whom have been harassed, jailed or forced into exile.

Shutting down Memorial is also another step in Mr. Putin’s effort to recast Russia’s legacy as a series of glorious accomplishments and soften the image of the often-brutal Soviet regime. While the state opened a comprehensive Gulag history museum in Moscow and Mr. Putin laid flowers at a new monument to the victims of Soviet repression, the increasingly emboldened Kremlin has moved aggressively to remove alternative interpretations of Russian history by organizations it does not control.

In particular Mr. Putin is eager to convince Russians that their country is surrounded by enemies who wish to oversee its demise, a tack he has taken recently in demanding that NATO guarantee it will not expand farther eastward toward Russia. As such, the Kremlin wants the Russian public to focus on foreign foes instead of crimes committed by homegrown dictators.

In recent years, Mr. Putin has shown a keen interest in shaping interpretation of Russia’s history, publishing his views in lengthy articles about the Soviet Union’s key contribution to the victory over Nazism and “the historical unity of Russians and Ukrainians.” His viewpoint includes a renunciation of the democratic steps taken in the 1990s, which included reforms, self-criticism and social and economic upheaval.

The hearing drew dozens of protesters outside the courthouse, and afterward families of those affected by Stalins’ repressions and opposition figures expressed outrage, pointing to the deepening level of repression under Mr. Putin.

Ilya Miklashevsky, 65, whose father and grandfather were both imprisoned in the gulag, said Memorial’s closure represents “a new step downward,” adding, “the country is sleepily moving downhill.”

Sergei Mitrokhin, a Russian opposition politician, said that Memorial was “the last barrier on the way to complete Stalinization of the society and state.”

“What we have now is still lite Stalinism,” he said, speaking on Ekho Moskvy, a radio station. “I am afraid it can turn way worse. It is a tragedy for our country.”

Memorial International oversees an archive of victims of Soviet persecution, mostly in the era of the gulags, the forced labor camps where Russians were imprisoned in harsh, debilitating conditions. Its database contains more than three million names — no more than a quarter of all victims, according to the organization’s estimates.

Memorial’s lawyers have dismissed all of the accusations against the group as unfounded and called its persecution “politically motivated.” In a statement , Memorial said that its members were intent on “finding legal ways” to continue their work.

In Washington, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the United States condemned the decision to close Memorial, which he called “one of Russia’s oldest and most respected historical and human rights organizations.”

Jan Z. Raczynski, chairman of the board of Memorial International, said that the group intended to appeal the ruling and that it would be allowed to operate for at least a month while the appeal was pending. It is unclear what will happen to Memorial’s archive and other physical items, including the ones it displays in a subterranean Moscow museum.

In a separate hearing on Wednesday, the Moscow City Court will rule on whether to shut down Memorial’s Human Rights Center, which compiles a list of current political prisoners in Russia. The center is accused of “justifying terrorist activities” by including members of banned religious organizations on the list.

The list includes Aleksei A. Navalny, the imprisoned Russian opposition leader, who was poisoned in a clandestine operation widely believed to have been organized by the Russian special services. In Siberia on Tuesday, the authorities raided the homes of two regional heads of Mr. Navalny’s political movement, branded as “extremist” by a Russian court in June.

Mr. Raczynski said that the Russian authorities were seeking to whitewash Soviet history, and that the prosecutor had directly addressed historical issues in arguments before the Supreme Court, though the case was ostensibly about violation of the foreign agent law.

The legal pressure, he said, was intended to shut both Memorial’s historical research into Soviet repressions and current human rights advocacy. The two branches of the group’s work are related, he said, and both are now “seen as undermining the authority of the government.”

Criticism of Soviet policies, he said, runs counter to the “current government’s propagandistic concept that, ‘our government was always good.’”

“There’s an old, banal formula that whoever doesn’t know the past is doomed to repeat it,” Mr. Raczynski said. “The situation of the past decade shows we are moving in that direction.”

In another signal of the state’s efforts to block Memorial, a Russian court on Monday extended the term of Yuri Dmitriev, a historian who chaired the group’s regional office in Karelia, to 15 years from 13. Mr. Dmitriev, who discovered mass graves resulting from Stalin’s brutalities, was convicted of sexually abusing his adopted daughter, a charge he denied.

The judge’s ruling on Tuesday cited what it said were repeated violations of the foreign agents law. Passed in 2012, the measure has been criticized by the country’s opposition as a vehicle intended by the Russian state to stifle all dissent. It orders all organizations that receive foreign funding and engage in loosely defined political activity to label themselves as “foreign agents,” a designation that carries the stigma of being on the payroll of foreign governments.

The law imposes onerous requirements on those designated, including extensive financial disclosures. Memorial’s leaders say they have made every effort to comply with the requirements even though they regard the law as unconstitutional.

Yelena Zhemkova, Memorial’s executive director, said that mistakes are possible in its gargantuan task of keeping a registry of victims, but that they are “always corrected.”

“What Memorial does represents 33 years of hard work of very many people,” Ms. Zhemkova told the court. “We work for the benefit of our people and our country.”

During Tuesday’s hearing, Aleksei Zhafyarov, the prosecutor, said Memorial only “speculated on the topic of political repressions” but that in reality it tried to portray the Soviet Union as “a terrorist state” and aimed to “rehabilitate Nazi criminals.”

Mr. Zhafyarov’s statements echoed earlier comments by Mr. Putin, who called Memorial “one of the most reputable organizations” during a meeting with his human rights council this month, but also accused it of glorifying Holocaust perpetrators.

Mr. Raczynski, the chairman of Memorial’s board, said the state’s arguments were specious.

“The general prosecutor said we try to portray the Soviet Union as a terrorist organization,” he said. “Well, we don’t have to try. The Soviet Union was a terrorist organization. In no other country were so many citizens imprisoned under false political accusations.”

Ivan Nechepurenko has been a reporter with the Moscow bureau since 2015, covering politics, economics, sports, and culture in Russia and the former Soviet republics. He was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia. More about Ivan Nechepurenko

Andrew E. Kramer is a reporter based in the Moscow bureau. He was part of a team that won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting for a series on Russia’s covert projection of power. More about Andrew E. Kramer