{
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    "title" : "Focus Groups: Are They Right for You? |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Focus Groups: Are They Right for You?",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/04/17/focus-groups-are-they-right-for-you/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Focus Groups: Are They Right for You?","summary" : "The short answer is: it depends on your goals. If you Google “focus group,” you will have a host of positive and negative feedback, but the truth is that it depends on what your needs are. What Is a Focus Group? Focus groups are an inexpensive way","date" : "2015-04-17T11:10:32-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"stacey-sarris" : "Stacey Sarris"},"topics" : {
        
            "design" : "Design",
            "research" : "Research",
            "user-experience" : "User experience"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2015-04-17-focus-groups-are-they-right-for-you.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2015/04/2015-04-17-focus-groups-are-they-right-for-you.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/04/2015-04-17-focus-groups-are-they-right-for-you.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/04/2015-04-17-focus-groups-are-they-right-for-you.md","slug" : "focus-groups-are-they-right-for-you","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/04/17/focus-groups-are-they-right-for-you/","content" :"\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/03/600-x-400-DOD-DIA-focus-group-1.jpg\"\n    alt=\"A DOD focus group.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe short answer is: it depends on your goals. If you Google “focus group,” you will have a host of positive and negative feedback, but the truth is that it depends on what your needs are.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"what-is-a-focus-group\"\u003eWhat Is a Focus Group?\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFocus groups are an inexpensive way to identify people’s preferences, motivations, thoughts, feelings and attitude towards a product or service. In a typical focus group, approximately 6 to 10 people spend 60 to 90 minutes voicing their opinions about your website or application. They differ from usability studies in that they show participants’ attitudes towards a particular item, whereas usability studies reveal how things are used.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"0\"\u003e\n  \u003ctr\u003e\n    \u003cth style=\"text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 50%\"\u003e\n      What they’re good for\n    \u003c/th\u003e\n\u003cpre\u003e\u003ccode\u003e\u0026lt;th style=\u0026quot;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 50%\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\n  What they are not\n\u0026lt;/th\u0026gt;\n\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\n  \u003c/tr\u003e\n  \u003ctr\u003e\n    \u003ctd style=\"text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 50%\"\u003e\n      \u003cul\u003e\n        \u003cli\u003e\n          Getting a lot of feedback quickly, early in a project, and possibly to determine if the project is viable\n        \u003c/li\u003e\n        \u003cli\u003e\n          Revealing attitudes\n        \u003c/li\u003e\n        \u003cli\u003e\n          Producing qualitative results\n        \u003c/li\u003e\n        \u003cli\u003e\n          When you want to find out what you don’t know\n        \u003c/li\u003e\n      \u003c/ul\u003e\n    \u003c/td\u003e\n\u003cpre\u003e\u003ccode\u003e\u0026lt;td style=\u0026quot;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 50%\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\n  \u0026lt;ul\u0026gt;\n    \u0026lt;li\u0026gt;\n      They are not usability studies and will not reveal problems with your website or application\n    \u0026lt;/li\u0026gt;\n    \u0026lt;li\u0026gt;\n      The last word on how users feel about your product (This is because one participant can influence the entire group.)\n    \u0026lt;/li\u0026gt;\n  \u0026lt;/ul\u0026gt;\n\u0026lt;/td\u0026gt;\n\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\n  \u003c/tr\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"0\"\u003e\n  \u003ctr\u003e\n    \u003cth style=\"text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 50%\"\u003e\n      \u003cstrong id=\"docs-internal-guid-82ff4f8b-097e-f9fe-8bfd-4a3996a1019a\"\u003eAdvantages\u003c/strong\u003e\n    \u003c/th\u003e\n\u003cpre\u003e\u003ccode\u003e\u0026lt;th style=\u0026quot;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 50%\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\n  \u0026lt;strong id=\u0026quot;docs-internal-guid-82ff4f8b-097f-1580-88d9-4f890cc884f2\u0026quot;\u0026gt;Disadvantages\u0026lt;/strong\u0026gt;\n\u0026lt;/th\u0026gt;\n\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\n  \u003c/tr\u003e\n  \u003ctr\u003e\n    \u003ctd style=\"text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 50%\"\u003e\n      \u003cul\u003e\n        \u003cli\u003e\n          Inexpensive and easy\n        \u003c/li\u003e\n        \u003cli\u003e\n          Great for getting firsthand perspectives\n        \u003c/li\u003e\n        \u003cli\u003e\n          Reveals information that otherwise may have gone undiscovered\n        \u003c/li\u003e\n        \u003cli\u003e\n          People often build on each other’s thoughts, creating a rich understanding and new ideas\n        \u003c/li\u003e\n        \u003cli\u003e\n          Clarifies misunderstandings\n        \u003c/li\u003e\n        \u003cli\u003e\n          Appropriate for exploring unknown territory\n        \u003c/li\u003e\n      \u003c/ul\u003e\n    \u003c/td\u003e\n\u003cpre\u003e\u003ccode\u003e\u0026lt;td style=\u0026quot;text-align: left;vertical-align: top;width: 50%\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\n  \u0026lt;ul\u0026gt;\n    \u0026lt;li\u0026gt;\n      A few strong personalities may influence the entire group\n    \u0026lt;/li\u0026gt;\n    \u0026lt;li\u0026gt;\n      Statistically, may not always represent an entire community\n    \u0026lt;/li\u0026gt;\n    \u0026lt;li\u0026gt;\n      May be difficult to find participants (recruitment)\n    \u0026lt;/li\u0026gt;\n  \u0026lt;/ul\u0026gt;\n\u0026lt;/td\u0026gt;\n\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\n  \u003c/tr\u003e\n\u003c/table\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"when-to-use\"\u003eWhen to Use\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConducting a focus group early in a project is a way to get a sample of opinions. It is also helpful to conduct a focus group towards the end of a project, when you want to check in about meeting your goals.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"after-conducting-your-focus-group\"\u003eAfter Conducting Your Focus Group\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnce you have completed your focus group, validate and explore results with users one-on-one by conducting user research interviews and usability studies. Focus groups are considered a good start to triangulation, which is the practice of combining different methods of research to develop a complete picture of your user and the challenges they have using your product.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIf you have decided that conducting a focus group is a good idea for your project, the following resources will make you a focus group expert:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/04/ManualFocusGroupHowtoGetStarted.pdf\"\u003eFocus Group Manual\u003c/a\u003e (PDF, 4.8 MB, 35 pages): A step-by-step guide to conducting a focus group.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/04/ScreenerTemplate.pdf\"\u003eScreener\u003c/a\u003e (PDF, 64.6 KB, 2 pages): A template designed to aid you through the recruitment process.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/04/FocusGroupCheckList.pdf\"\u003eCheckList\u003c/a\u003e (PDF, 149.2 KB, 1 page): A printable Word document to use on the day of your focus group, to make sure you don’t forget anything.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/04/QuizTestYourKnowledge.pdf\"\u003eQuiz\u003c/a\u003e (PDF, 150.2 KB, 3 pages): A fun way to test your knowledge.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFinally, in our \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/resources/digitalgov-user-experience-resources/digitalgov-user-experience-program-usability-starter-kit/\"\u003eUsability Starter Kit\u003c/a\u003e, you can find a script to use for your focus group and a presentation on focus groups.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eStacey Sarris is a UX consultant and adjunct professor at Pace University, doctoral candidate at University of Baltimore’s Information and Interaction Design program, and was a UX intern at GSA.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}