Let’s dispense with this little turd blossom right up front: Henry Ford never said, “If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have said "a faster horse,” – it’s simply an myth This is an introduction to the fundamentals of doing customer research with an emphasis on Focus Groups. This is part of the introduction to ux research series. In this talk we walk through the basics of focus groups, types of focus groups, as well as an in-depth explanation of process and pitfalls. Research is usually conducted to gain a deep understanding of the client’s target users in order to apply a customer-centered approach to the strategic development of the client’s brand and product. In addition, focus groups seeks to reveal insights into how the target customers emotions, attitudes, beliefs, and experiences in using existing products and brands.

1. Will Evans
@semanticwill
Yana Kuchirko
@mslogophiliac

2. People do not know what they want. They barely know
what they need, but they definitely do not know what they
want. They’re conditioned by the limited imagination of
what is possible. … Most of the time, focus groups are built
on the pressure of ignorance.
Massimo Vignelli

3. "It's really hard to design products by
focus groups. A lot of times, people
don't know what they want until you
show it to them.”
- Steve Jobs
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4. Let’s dispense with this little turd
blossom right up front: Henry Ford
never said, “If I'd asked customers what
they wanted, they would have said "a
faster horse,”
It’s not even a useful lie!
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5. What are focus groups?
The concept of focus groups was developed in 1930’s
by psychoanalyst Ernest Dichter as a social research
method
Focus groups are structured interviews that quickly
and inexpensively reveal a target audience’s desires,
experiences, attitudes, and priorities
Focus groups can be a useful technique when a
company needs a lot of insight from potential or
existing customers in a short amount of time
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6. What are focus groups?
Focus groups are good at uncovering people’s desires,
motivations, values, and first hand experiences.
In a focus group, people generally feel comfortable
revealing their thoughts and feelings, thereby sharing
their views on issues and assumptions that are at the
core of their experience of a product.
With the right question, the right group and the right
moderator, focus groups can yield useful insights.
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7. When to do Focus Groups?
In product design, focus groups are used early in the
design cycle when the team is generating ideas and
seeking to understand the needs of the target audience.
Early in the design cycle, focus groups can help the
company understand:
User’s fundamental issues and perceptions of the product
What users believe are the important features of the product
What types of problems users experience with the product
Where do users feel the product fails to meet their
expectations
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8. When to do Focus Groups? (cont.)
Later in the development process focus groups can
help the company identify and prioritize features to
build and release in the product
Knowing why people value certain features can determine
what gets developed and in what order
Focus groups also serve as a platform for generating
ideas of what users wish to see in future releases
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9. Focus Groups cannot be used to
unequivocally prove or disprove a
hypothesis about the user experience
of a product.
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10. When NOT to do Focus Groups?
When the objective is to acquire usability information
A group of people can’t provide specific information regarding
product features without structured usability testing sessions
When seeking to understand the perspectives of the bigger
population
Quantitative data that is generalizable to the bigger population
requires surveys or other methodological approaches that require a
large sample of participants
There is no guarantee that proportion of responses in the group
matches that of larger population of users
Although focus groups are an excellent way to gather
motivations and insights from the users, it cannot be used to
unequivocally prove or disprove a hypothesis about the
user experience
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12. Exploratory Focus Groups
Typically conducted in the beginning of a design cycle
Uncover users’ general attitudes on a given topic, allowing
product designs to
See how their users will understand their product
What words users will use to speak about it
What criteria they will use to judge it
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13. Feature Prioritization Focus Groups
Generally held at the beginning of the product design cycle
when the outlines of the product are clear.
These groups focus on features of the product that are most
attractive to the users, with an emphasis on why they are
appealing.
Underlying assumption of this type of focus group is that
that the participants are interested in the product, with
discussion focusing on what kinds of things they would like
the product to do for them.
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14. Competitive Analysis Focus Groups
Aims to uncover what attracts and repels users with respect
to competitor’s sites
What associations do users have with the competitor?
What aspects of the user experience they find valuable?
Where does the product satisfy users’s needs and where does it not
suffice?
What emotions does the product evoke?
How do users identify with the product?
This type of focus group is often conducted anonymously
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15. Trend Explanations Focus Group
Generally held in either a re-design part of the development
process, or in response to specific emotional or functional
issues in product development
Exploring the trends of users’ behaviors, needs, and
expectations within and across products.
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17. How to conduct Focus Groups
Assemble your team
Make sure you have a good cross section of product, ux, marketing
and development.
Create a schedule
A good schedule provides sufficient time for recruiting, testing,
analyzing and integrating results
Define your users
Recruit participants who are your users and thus likely to provide the
best feedback – usually 6-8
Define the scope of your research
What is the complexity of your questions?
What is the depth at which you wish to explore the answers?
This will determine the number of people and the number of groups
that need to be conducted
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18. How to run your Focus Groups
Choose a topics for discussion
On average, 3-5 topics per 90 minute focus group
Create a discussion guide
Consider the “core” questions you and your product team
are trying to answer and prioritize them
Establish roles
Who will moderate? Who will take notes? Who will lead the
discussion afterwards
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19. Asking Good Questions
Questions should be:
 Carefully ordered, thus positioning participants within a
certain frame of mind, containing an intuitive flow
 Non-directed: should not imply an answer. Example:
“How difficult do you find this feature?”
 Open-ended: general enough not to constrain answers to
a specific responses (limit yes-no questions)
 Focused: focused on specific topics you are investigating
 Personal: people love to generalize their experience to the
bigger public; create questions that concentrate on person’s
current behavior and opinions without many opportunities
to project their experiences onto the general public
 Unambiguous: clear and concise, with few shades of
meaning.
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20. Example Discussion Guide
Warm up and introduction (approx. 15 min)
Introduction of moderation
Ice breakers for participants
Outline of the process
Main topic discussion
Moderate group discussion that focuses on specific questions you
and your company have regarding a product.
Wrap-Up
Final thoughts and reflections
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21. Warm Up & Introduction Tips
 Telling participants that they were chosen to be part of
the group allows them to feel more comfortable with one
another
 Informing the group of the purpose of the session focuses
their attention to the desired end goal
 Clearly set out expectations and “ground rules” for
discussion (no blocking, interruption, flow of discussion)
 Acknowledge any potentially anxiety provoking features
of the environment (camera, mirrored wall) to help
people feel more comfortable
• Inform participants of their rights to participation
Freedom to leave at any point, confidentiality of their thoughts
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22. Main Discussion Tips
Probes and follow-up questions are extremely useful
They dig deeper into any given topic
They clarify what people mean when they state their opinions
My definition of “useful”, “clear”, and/or “good” may not mirror
other people’s definitions of there terms.
Probes help create a common definition of terms, and alleviate
potential misunderstandings between the researcher and participant.
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23. Context Is King (not content)
Comfortable environment is key to a lively discussion
Limited interruptions
After the session begins, no new person should join the session so
that the dynamic isn’t altered by another person’s presence
Food is encouraged
Eating is an informal activity that often breaks tension in any group
No noisy snacks that disturb the conversation
Seating order
Have a 10-15 minute social time before the focus group starts so the
moderator can identify introverts, extroverts, and alpha-jerks
Videotaping advised
Human interaction is incredible complex. Since the moderator is
part of the group dynamic, it is helpful to videotape the sessions in
order to capture gestures, and other subtle interactions
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24. John McLaughlin is a perfect
example of a bad moderator
and a douchebag: highly
opinionated, clearly biased,
with a tendency for
dominating the discussion
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25. What about the moderator?
Group moderation is a skill
Basic skills any moderator should embody are:
Respect for the participants
Ability to listen closely to other’s perspectives
Ability to think fast on multiple levels simultaneously.
The moderator must be able to predict the direction of the
conversation and drive it toward a desired direction,
without the participants realizing that they are being
moderated.
This can be accomplished via moderator’s subtle cues, tone, and/or
body language
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26. Effective Moderation
Control
Moderator should always be in control of leading discussion towards
answers to questions, and deterring tangents
Good time management
The flow should be monitored so that introduction of topics is at
appropriate times, transitions are intuitive and natural.
Participant-focused
A moderator should mediate the discussion, rather than expressing
opinions
Respect
All participants should feel comfortable and have a voice, alpha-jerks
managed
Preparation
Moderator should have sufficient knowledge of product space
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27. Effective Moderation Tips
 Spend time with participants beforehand to get a sense of who
is quiet and might need more attention
 Stick to the guide but be flexible enough to stray away from
the script when necessary
 Engage ALL participants in the discussion
 Avoid introducing new terminology and concepts
 Be mindful of body language
 Clarify any comments & restate ideas and opinions to ensure
everyone is on the same page
 Probe for alternative opinions on any given topic
 Don’t dominate the discussion, allow the group to lead
 Provide the group with time to think & give a break when
necessary
 Use humor when appropriate and keep the energy level high
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28. An electronics company was testing a
new boombox they hoped to start
selling. Their research included focus
groups where they showed the two
colour options: yellow and black. The
participants were in agreement that
yellow was the best colour because it is
vibrant and energetic. At the end of the
focus group they were each allowed to
take a boombox home and could
choose yellow or black.
They all chose black.
– Steve Mulder, “The User is Always Right”
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29. Common Obstacles
The moderator is not an objective observer
Moderator affects the group dynamics and discussion
Focus groups reveal the way people think and not the way
they actually behave
Opinions from focus groups may be limited to the
participants in the sessions
The sample may be biased for more reasons than just small size
and therefore cannot be adequately extrapolated to represent the
bigger population
Reticent individuals are often silenced by outspoken ones
Data may be biased toward those who speak up
“Vividness effect”
People often provide examples of situations that are most
emotionally vivid to them.
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30. Common Obstacles
Overly talkative participants
When people are clearly talking without a purpose, ask them kindly to wrap
up and move on: Moderate the extroverts, probe the introverts.
Group dominance (The Alpha-Jerk Effect)
A single dominant/bullying participant can ruin the focus group
Unqualified participants
At times people misunderstand what the participation criteria are, or
misrepresent their experience
Tangents
They can be useful for discussion of values and ideas, but should be wrapped
up quickly and redirected to main discussion point
Hostility & Offensive Ideas
Vehement disagreement or offensive ideas can lead people in the group to
feel uncomfortable. The moderator should redirect conversation to the
focusing on the ideas behind any given perspective: Go Meta!
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31. Researchers must continually
be careful to avoid the trap of
selective perception
- Richard A. Krueger
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32. What data to collect?
Focus groups produce a ton of potentially useful
information which can be extracted by means of:
Transcripts
Quotations
Observer opinions
Models
Videotapes
What information should be prioritized depends upon how
what form of data answers your question, and how quickly
you need to synthesize the results.
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33. Analysis Steps
Capture the initial hypothesis
During the debriefing (occurring with little time lapse from focus
group to retain memory), discuss with other observers thoughts
regarding the groups' opinions and feedback
Transcribe and code
Video interaction should be transcribed and themes/trends of
opinions should be extracted via coding
Coding is a method of extrapolating ideas from the
transcripts and categorizing the responses (thus generating
quantitative data).
Your codes (general categories) should be short, concise,
descriptive in nature, and accurately depicting a users’ single idea.
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34. Coding Framework
Top-down
A hypothesis of what types of themes the participants’ transcripts
will generate already exists and is confirmed using the data
A pre-existing model is applied to the data.
Bottom-up
The data is explored without pre-existing framework in mind,
generating themes based on the responses in the transcript.
The model is generated using the data.
This methodological approach to extracting themes from focus
group interviews is recommended since it is less biased and more
true to the data.
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35. Extracting Trends in Data
Mental models
Mental representations of how your users understand the way the
world or a product works
Values
What do people like and dislike and what criteria do they use to
establish their opinions
Stories
Stories are a powerful way that people capture their unique,
subjective experiences, and provide details about their
assumptions, order of doing things and ways of solving problems
Product pitfalls
Brainstorms during focus groups can produce a list of problems
that users experience using the product
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36. Getting the most out of the data
Questions to read for
 What are reasons behind people’s opinions?
 What terminology do people use and do products
speak their users’ language?
 Where do people contradict themselves?
 When do people change their minds and how does
that reveal their actual values and perspectives on a
given product?
 What do people consider to be important and is the
product that is popular actually important to them?
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37. Thanks!
Will Evans
@semanticwill
Yana Kuchirko
@mslogophiliac