Making focus groups matter
In the right context, focus groups can provide significant insights and research value. Here’s a guide to making the most of managing your focus groups.
The perception of the value found in focus groups is, to say the least, polarised. Some label them as worthless or that they even ‘suck’ while others claim the opposite.
In my opinion and experience, focus groups can provide valuable insights into your field of interest and research, especially when helping a client understand their user’s — and sometimes their own! — motivations, drivers and challenges.
Obviously, there are a ton of methodologies for how to involve users in a research project, and focus group interviews are just one of the options. But I believe that they can be especially useful when done and framed purposefully — and so I’ve decided to share my best tips for how to manage and conduct a focus group.
As a Senior UX Researcher working in a strategy-design consultancy, conducting and observing focus groups are a central part of the process I employ when looking for insights into people’s lives and their stories. These could vary from an employees’ decision to retain or switch a job, to understanding the pain points of an allergy patient’s daily routine — or something completely different. Over the years, I’ve noted down a few do’s and don’ts, and they form the basis of this story. They centre around how to get started, how to choose your focus and some specific and tangible examples for how to conduct your groups. I hope you find them useful.
Why focus groups?
But let’s begin with the big why, what is the point of focus groups in the first place? Focus groups are useful in some circumstances, and in others, they aren’t. In my experience, they are especially useful as a method to see how topics are socially discussed and constructed. Questions that are too specific are therefore usually not as relevant as the interaction between participants when they discuss certain topics. Your role as the focus group moderator is to prompt this interaction and facilitate constructive conversations. Additionally, you should support by creating an environment within the sessions where participants feel respected, comfortable, and valued.
Size matters
When creating your focus groups the number of participants plays a key role in making the most of the session. The number of participants in the groups can vary according to your experience, but I prefer smaller groups with approximately 5–8 participants. This size facilitates easy engagement, and it’s easier to make sure that everyone feels comfortable and included. I have also observed focus groups with a sample size of 10–12 participants, but I tend to discourage this size, as they are harder to control, and there is only a limited opportunity to give all participants the time and confidence needed to share their opinions and experience with the group.
Getting started. What should I ask participants?
Every time I prepare for a new session, I follow these steps. Being well prepared by being clear on the scope and direction of the conversation helps myself, the participants, and in my job the client, make the most of the insights provided during the group sessions.
1. Understand the project.
Always begin by establishing a clear overview of the project you’re working on, and its background. Ask yourself questions such as, what does the client do? Which issues are especially relevant to the project? Are there any recent studies which could influence or provide valuable background information to the project?
For instance, when working with business-to-business projects a really useful piece of background information could be the newest insights into the size and structure of the customer base or the target audience for the new initiative. I also find information like audience mapping relevant, as this type of information can help to define the scope and the precision of the research frame.
2. Set goals.
Any research frame should be accompanied by setting your goals. Identify the information you expect to have collected once you’ve completed your focus group interviews. For example, if your client is a furniture design company, be sure to align the goals of the focus group with the goals and strategic direction of the client. Is the purpose of the group to test and receive feedback on that client’s decision to introduce sustainable furniture or high-end design furniture to their portfolio? Or is it the opposite? Is the client planning to reinforce their range of affordable design and do they need to identify price-points, styles, and colours? If you do not align the goals and purpose of the focus group with the overall strategy of the client, you risk ending up with a muddle of opinions that don’t inform strategic nor cohesive insights towards the project itself.
3. Scope the conversation.
Based on the previous two steps, map the overall themes and topics that the sessions need to cover. Once you’ve done this, touch base with the client about which areas are of primary and secondary interest. Knowing what to prioritise beforehand allows you to focus and direct the conversations in the group — especially if you’re running out of time, or if an entirely new subject surfaces within the focus group discussion.
4. Limit the questions.
Don’t overburden the group with too many questions. Plan to dedicate between 10 and 15 minutes to each question, and plan backwards accordingly. e.g. if the session you’ve booked is scheduled to last 2 hours, then you shouldn’t have more than 8 to 10 questions.
5. Get the right participants.
A focus group works better, if the participants have something in common that they can actively discuss and contribute with. Base your recruitment on common denominators. e.g. a group of top Airbnb hosts, a group of recent first time Airbnb guests, a group of freshly on-boarded employees or a group who have recently purchased a car. Just to mention a few examples.
When in session, make sure to have rules and a frame for the conversation
Planning and structuring a session allows you to make the most of it. Once you’ve gathered the participants, and you’re in session, I recommend establishing and following a few simple rules. It helps everyone to keep their focus, but more importantly it also supports the group by creating the best environment for them to express their opinions on the subject matter.
- At the beginning of each session give a brief introduction to yourself, the project and share the basic rules for the conversation with the group. Keep it short but be sure to cover all the parts that you consider important. I plan approximately 5–7 min for the introduction and establishment of the basic rules.
- Make sure to encourage everyone to speak and comment on the other participant’s statement and opinions. By asking everyone to comment, the interaction remains as natural as possible.
- Doing this, also remind participants that they should be considerate and let other participants finish any statement and avoid speaking out of turn.
- Let the participants know that they have been invited because of their expertise and because their insights are valuable. The purpose of the session is to collect their personal experience, and as such, they should be reminded that their feelings and experiences are valid.
- Also, let them know that they do not need to agree on a topic, but they’re still more than welcome to share their different experience of a subject without neglecting the experience of another participant.
- Let them know that they shouldn’t take it personally if you, in your role as the moderator, make an interruption, this is purely due to your role in managing the conversation to keep it focused on specific topics.
- For easy and fast engagement, you can also introduce non-verbal or written language as means of communicating. This could be in the shape of participants shaking hands when they meet, or raising their hands when they agree or want to add different points to a conversation. Non-verbal communication also helps the moderator to see immediately who agrees or disagrees.
- If you are managing a remote focus group, these ground rules are even more important. While the rules may be very similar to the ones you have face-to-face, make sure to add and articulate conditions that are specific to remote meetings. Such as the possibility of a bad internet connection, how to ensure every participant remains patient.
Always begin with an icebreaker
When you meet with a group it is likely the first time the participants meet as well. Therefore it is important to make them feel at ease and give them more comfort to talk. The icebreaker is usually the first question that the moderator asks the group and it is usually part of participant’s introductions. Your ice breaker question should be:
- Simple
You don’t want your participants to think too hard about an answer or respond with a complicated story. It is the first time they are saying something in a room full of strangers, so don’t ask about something that they may struggle with.
2. Accessible
Don’t ask what kind of car the participants drive or where they went to college, unless you are sure those questions will apply to everyone in the room, and that they will bring value to your research. The icebreaker should offer everyone a chance to participate, not make participants feel excluded or unqualified from the outset.
3. Light
Even if your focus group is going to address serious topics, keep the icebreaker appropriate but light.Think of the icebreaker as small talk at the beginning of a serious conversation. Don’t ask about current events, for example, since that could be both divisive and depressing.
4. Inclusive
Do not ask something that will create hierarchy or judgement in the group. Asking what people do for a living, for example, could result in some participants feeling like their opinions might have more or less weight than those of others due to the prestige of their day jobs. You want to avoid creating any sort of pecking order that might affect discussion later.
You may also want to make your ice breaker relate to the topic you are discussing, or use it to gather or affirm some basic data on participants.
Here are a few classic icebreaker examples, which I’ve loosely related to a random field of research:
Say your name, what you do, and the last time you experienced something great in relation to home furnishing?
Say your name and how you think your life would change if you didn’t have a chronic disease?
Say your name and three words that you associate with something organic?
Say your name and a few words that describe your experience with allergy drugs.
Two truths, one lie: say two things about yourself that are true and one that is a lie. Then ask the other participants to guess (tweak according to your research topic)
Tell your name and who in history you would love to have dinner with (dead or alive)
Use your questions to keep everyone involved
Try to use your questions to engage everyone in the conversation. You can ask a question directly to one participante and then let the word roll. Questions like “Does anyone have a comment on that? or “What do you think of this?”. It can also help to focus on someone’s experience and ask other participants if they have felt like that as well? Or what was their experience on that specific topic?
It can also make sense to plan some concrete tasks that forces participants to interact. This could be an exercise where you ask participants to comment on the images you show them. For example, when talking about renewable energy you can show a windmill, or when you talk about allergies, you could use images of tissues or a dusty room. Ask about the first impression they get when seeing the image, or ask participants to describe what the image makes them feel. You can then follow up by asking the remaining participants if they agree, or what their thoughts on the matter are. You can also do the same exercise using words instead of images.
Pivot engagement
The dominant person, the quiet one and the rambler — these personas all exist, and you’ll most likely meet them at some point or another in your focus groups. If you have someone that takes up too much or too little space in the conversation, address it subtly:
- If you have someone with a dominant personality, shift the attention to other speakers by calling other participants by their name, inviting them to share their opinion.
- This also goes if someone is more quiet or shy. Explicitly invite this person to answer and encourage them with smiles and nods to make them feel more at ease.
- If you have a ‘rambler’ derailing the focus group, wait for when that person needs to catch their breath, and then quickly interrupt and call on another participant’s opinion or experience.
Also, keep in mind that very complex and exploratory follow up questions and ideas are not a great format for focus groups — because this usually isn’t the objective of the group. Complex follow-up questions are usually time consuming, and it can be hard to get the focus back to the topic you want to discuss. Keep follow-up questions simple by sticking more to “Why is that?” or “Can you elaborate?” types of questions
Expanding your toolbox
This was a short introduction on how I approach managing focus groups. I hope these examples are useful, should you find yourself managing focus groups as part of your work. As mentioned earlier on, I believe that focus groups can provide valuable insights when framed purposefully and correctly. If you find this guide useful, or if you have any comments or suggestions, I would be very happy to hear from you. I constantly try to build and adjust my research toolbox, and I hope I’ve added something valuable to yours.
Manyone is a strategy-design hybrid. Visit us at Manyone.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
