Five Arguments Against Focus Groups - And How To Overcome Them
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2013 Five Arguments Against Focus Groups — And How to Overcome Them Bob Thomas Manager of User Experience, Liberty Mutual [email protected] @bobthomas
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Focus groups can help marketing teams figure out what consumers want so they can build the right products for them. But this methodology has been co-opted by user experience teams, who incorporate traditional UX exercises into focus group sessions. The argument against focus groups involves the inability to predict future behavior, the great divide between what users say and what they do. The argument for them is that with preparation and a skilled moderator, they provide actionable results. Can we UX researchers rely on focus groups to drive design and strategy? Or are they the wrong tool for the job? Bob Thomas believes that focus groups belong in the UX toolkit. They can provide high-level results that enable companies to make strategic decisions around product direction, early in the development cycle. Their success depends on preparation and good moderator skills. Bob Thomas is Manager of User Experience at Liberty Mutual, where he has worked to expand usability best practices and build a UX team. He has presented at local and national UXPA conferences. He holds an MS in Human Factors in Information Design from Bentley University, and an MBA from Suffolk University. He is on the Board of Directors of New Hampshire UXPA.
Transcript of Five Arguments Against Focus Groups - And How To Overcome Them
2013
Five Arguments Against Focus Groups — And How to Overcome ThemBob ThomasManager of User Experience, Liberty Mutual
[email protected]@bobthomas
2013
Five Arguments Against Focus Groups
1. You spend your time listening to users instead of observing their behavior
2. Focus groups are ruined by dominant participants and group think
3. Focus groups rely on users’ abilities to predict their future behavior
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Five Arguments Against Focus Groups
4. It’s wrong to allow users to design products in focus groups
5. Focus groups are selected as a methodology, because everyone understands them
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Two Camps in User Experience
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Argument 1: You spend your time listening to users instead of observing their behavior
๏ Change a flaw to a strength: Make focus group participants do things
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๏ Then build a discussion around activities your participants just completed
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Argument 2: Focus groups are ruined by dominant participants and group think
๏ Control the room: set the ground rules early
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๏ Skilled moderating requires inclusiveness and facilitation
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๏ Summarize what ALL participants say. This ensures everyone’s words count.
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๏ Prepare effectively - Write a moderator’s guide or test
plan - Do practice runs
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Argument 3: Focus groups rely on users’ abilities to predict their future behavior
๏ Change a flaw to a strength: Recruit participants based on past experience
๏ Build discussions around task-based scenarios
Primary Recruit: Have filed an auto insurance claim within the last 12 months
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๏ Ultimately you want to base your strategic direction on what users say they will do, based on that past experience
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Argument 4: It’s wrong to allow users in focus groups to design products
๏ Change the focus: Show them designs and get their reactions
54% negative words, including “busy” and “overwhelming”
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๏ Focus groups let you showcase ideas that you can then usability test
Session 1
Claim via phone call
Claim via mobile app
Claim via tablet app
Claim via computer
Research claims online
Claim via live chat
Someone Injured 6 1 0 0 0 0Car Towed 7 0 0 0 0 0Car Drivable 6 0 0 0 1 0First Accident 6 0 0 0 1 0Second Accident 5 0 0 1 1 0Totals 30 1 0 1 3 0
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๏ Focus groups don’t help you make design decisions. They help you make strategic ones.
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Argument 5: They only become the methodology of choice because everyone understands them
๏ Make them work for you: OK, so management understands focus groups. Why not use them to sell UX?
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๏ Management loves focus groups. It’s a mental model that makes sense to them.
Source: www.CartoonStock.com
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๏ Focus groups can end the opinion wars
Source: Photo courtesy of Schlesinger Associates’ New Jersey facility
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Conclusion
1.You spend your time listening to users instead of observing their behavior
2.Focus groups are ruined by dominant participants and group think
3.Focus groups rely on users’ abilities to predict their future behavior
4. It’s wrong to allow users to design products in focus groups
5.Focus groups only become the methodology of choice because everyone understands them
1. Make users do things
2. Prepare. Set ground rules. Facilitate.
3. Recruit based on past experience and then create scenarios
4. Use them to confirm and deny ideas
5. Rely on them to end the opinion wars
5 Arguments Against Focus Groups 5 Ways to Overcome Them
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Let’s keep focus groups in the UX toolkit. Thank you!
2013Bob ThomasManager of User ExperienceLiberty Mutual
E-mail:[email protected]
Twitter:@bobthomas
Source: Original photo courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Art Gallery
