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November 1, 2021
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Wonderful ways to conduct UX research focus group
Focus group is very useful for the market researcher when people, and consumers, explain a product or service in their language and its advantages and disadvantages. This method is widely used in product development. Market research activists consider this method to be synonymous with qualitative research.
As a product designer in today’s digital world, it is important to understand how customers use the product as one of the main principles of UX design. With the development and expansion of the team and thus globalization to get feedback from customers and create opportunities to create new ideas, you should not neglect your customers. The use of surveys and questionnaires allows the researcher to collect answers from a higher number of users.
Using analytics as a type of consumer research is very different from interviewing and surveying. Instead of focusing on what the customer wants, or says they need, focus on what the customer is doing. This is a kind of observational research in which the goal is to measure the actual behavior of the customer. It’s good to know what the customer wants, but sometimes they don’t know what they want and why. That’s why following their behavior can lead you to real results.
The focus group is a structured and planned interview that is usually done quickly and sparingly and is one of the qualitative methods. Focus groups determine the attitude and desires of a group of users or the target community and are usually groups of 3 to 6 people. A moderator (moderator/facilitator) leads the group, guides the participants, guides the discussion on specific topics, and ultimately provides a written analysis of collective feedback. The main argument that a focus group is guided by UX design lenses and user testing is a digital product. The group includes product developers, which includes stakeholders, users, prospective users, and attendees.
Why is UX Focus my first choice? Let me describe how with the help of this focus group, I can further develop my team’s through the customer’s feedbacks taken. By asking such relevant and basic questions, you can get a lot of information about users. When and to what extent are users more responsive? We need to understand in detail the change in user behavior and their verbal and nonverbal responses.
There are several techniques for getting customer feedback techniques, one of which is product demonstration so that they can see the product in action. We also enabled the usability test for users to be able to use the product during the discussion. On the other hand, we put interviews and group surveys, and design critics on our agenda. But the truth is that combining all or some of these techniques is a great way to achieve great results. And that’s how we used different feedback techniques to make it more successful.
To get the appropriate and basic feedbacks one needs to state the right and hypotheses-based questions. UX focus group research studies the users and examines their behaviors in a real-life environment. This method starts with a standard questionnaire or series of questions.
This method is used in the early stages of product formation and design process and can give us very useful and rich information about the needs and features that the user needs to use a product. These needs and features are categorized and sit as basic needs and secondary needs in the product roadmap and design. What I would like to point out is the applied literature of our target users or “persona” in this study, which is a detailed category and part of the design process that we know as “UX Writing”.
One of the main goals of building an MVP is to build a prototype, grow and expand the features and characteristics of that product in the future. Other MVP goals include time savings in areas that are not targeted by the customer. Providing faster product delivery to customers, increasing the speed of learning, the ability to review various product hypotheses, using the least resources, and depicting the capabilities of the expansion team informing and creating a product tailored to the needs, are other goals
You should also be careful when choosing the type of questions, for example, you should avoid open-ended questions as much as possible. For example, asking some questions is not appropriate such as what do you think about this product? What caught your eye? In this type of survey, users are asked open-end questions, they are asked to explain their suggestions, feedback, experience, and so on. For example: “What do you think is missing on this page, product, or site …?”
These questions inadvertently put pressure on customers and force them to comment without being willing. Instead, ask more detailed questions, such as what other features would you like to add to this product? It makes the customer think and they will follow a scenario in their mind. So After setting the general questions, it’s time to break the main questions into sub-questions. Sub-questions are more detailed and clear. For each general question, a maximum of 5 sub-questions can be asked.
There are four categories of typical questions that can be proposed through the focus group including:
Content Understanding: This test helps the researcher test an idea, feature, or even a product on the actual user to see if the user needs the service or product and wants it.
Usability & Performance: In this test, the developed product or prototype (prototype) of a product is used by representatives of users, and the researcher records all movements, conversations, and interactions of the user with the product.
Interaction Design: Understand what kind of interactions will lead to what results
Visual Design: Find out if a product is comprehensible and pleasing to a customer or not.
One of the interesting things that can be done in the focus group meetings is to determine the members’ opinions throughout the five-finger survey. I usually spend about ten minutes at the end of my one-hour sessions. After the group members ‘opinions have been shared, a five-finger survey is a good way to get a summary of all members’ thoughts and feelings. In this way, you can get fast and clear feedback from your audience and allow everyone to comment. In such a survey, participants show and express their statements about services and products using five fingers.
During the five-finger survey, you can not only get quick and clear feedback from members but also as a focus group leader, you can gain deeper insights by looking at feedback patterns. For example, ask them what is the reason for their reaction.
Interestingly, when you look for the reasons and go deeper, you may find a story that is in the background of their feedback and find interesting and valuable tips to promote your market. The main advantage of this study is that they gain experience that may or may not affect the number of their lower fingers. You may find that their experience with other products has influenced their opinion. And you can ask smart questions like, “Did you use another product that you felt was not doing well enough? If you did, I’d love to hear more about it.”
You need to know that before starting this survey, you should explain the process and be sure your audience will understand the process. Be sure to take notes and record the experiences and opinions of members.
The collection of data and notes at the end of the session should not be forgotten. By identifying this data, you can identify your priorities and understand people’s goals, aspirations, and challenges. With deep-thinking feedback, you can help improve your products in the long run and master the art of leading a focused UX research team.
please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions