Market research methods

Focus groups

Focus groups are moderated group interviews and brainstorming sessions that provide information on users' needs and the context within which they use or would use your services or products.

Best Uses

Focus groups can be useful for the following types of discussions:

• Exploratory - Obtain information on general attitudes, understand the circumstances under which users might require your product or service (triggers), understand their desired outcomes, and so on.
• Feature Prioritization - If trade-offs have to be made among various user needs, focus groups can be helpful in prioritizing them.
• Comparative Analysis - Understand where else users go to get similar information, services or products and what attracts them to those sources.
• Trend Explanation - If you notice a trend in the way that users use your website (for example, they always use the search function rather than navigating through the structured product list), then focus groups can be used to better understand why this is happening.

Methodological Considerations:

• Limit the length of the session to between 90 and 120 minutes.
• Generally, conduct two focus groups per location, with 8 to 10 participants per group (recruit 10 to 12 participants to ensure that 8 to 10 show up).
• Use a qualified and knowledgeable moderator who can manage group dynamics, demonstrates flexibility in adapting the discussion flow, probes skillfully to obtain deeper understanding of issues and captures a broad spectrum of opinions.
• Use a semi-structured or open-format discussion.
• Strive for homogeneity in the group's composition. For example, it may not be advisable to have business clients and retail clients in the same focus group, if their needs are very different.
• If you feel that group influence is likely to be a strong factor (for example, participants will be influenced greatly by what others are saying), then personal interviews or mini-groups (two or three persons) may be an option to consider.