Using Focus Groups to Collect User Experience Data: A How-To Guide From Planning to Data Analysis

Kinsey Gimbel, Jennifer Romano Bergstrom, Hilary Ross, Bryan Wiggins

User Focus 2012

Developing Content

1. Mix up activities and get participants talking early.– Timeline– Videos/Images– Rating exercises

2. Have participants write down answers before discussing to avoid groupthink.

3. Quantitative data can supplement the qualitative, ensuring opinions are not just from the loudest participants.

Planning Your Groups

1. Make sure your recruiter is comfortable recruiting your target audience

2. Pick a moderator your participants are willing to open up to

3. Engage your stakeholders

Moderating Groups

1. Respect your participants– Value their time– Value their opinions

2. Be comfortable with silence and awkwardness– Understand that it’s not a natural interaction– Give participants space to think

3. Data are the point– Groups don’t have to be fun to be valuable– “Bad news is good data”

Reporting Data

1. Most important findings– Goal of the study– Don’t have to share it all

2. Usable data– What speaks to your

audience?

3. Client reports, briefs, presentations

White Females

African American Females