HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN | DISCOVERY

Focus Group Discussions

60 Min

Focus Group Discussions (FGD) are a format of research where researchers interact with a group (> 4) of respondents. Respondents in a group can be users or they could even be experts. A Focus Group is great to capture the diversity of views, as well as build consensus on themes relevant to the research area. Group discussions provide an opportunity for respondents to build on each other's views, and go deep into a subject.

USE CASES

Build a multi-dimensional understanding of a subject.
Understand differences in opinions and points of consensus.

LIMITATIONS

If not facilitated well, participants in an FGD may not feel comfortable opening up and interacting with each other. Another risk is that for the sake of civility, respondents may avoid disagreements - compromising the quality of discussion.

Focus Groups | Playbook

UNDERSTANDING THE TOOL

The ‘Lines of Questioning’ is the section where the questions to be asked are to be noted.
The ‘Respondents’ section can be used to write down the names and backgrounds of the respondents.
The boxes under each of the respondents can be used to make a note of the discussion. This will help keep track of individual answers.
Group discussions are usually held with 4 or more respondents. Anything more than 8 participants can lead to situations where there is cross talk, and the conversations are difficult to keep track of.

STEP BY STEP

Recruit participants: Make sure participants in the focus group can provide relevant feedback and information on the topic.
Clarify questions: List down lines of enquiry and follow up questions that can be used as a guide for discussion.
Conduct the focus group: Choose a comfortable setting. Open by introducing yourself and ask each respondent to introduce themselves. As you raise questions, give respondents enough time to provide inputs. Keep notes.
Review the discussion: After the session, synthesise and discuss learnings with the team.

HOW TO FOR FACILITATORS

At the start: Explain the activity to teams and discuss how to prepare for a discussion like this.
During the exercise: Help teams frame questions and discussion points for the FGD.
At the close: Have participants share their key questions. Once the group discussion is over, ask them to highlight what they found to be most interesting or surprising.

FACILITATORS QUESTION BANK

Have you identified the right participants for the Focus Group?
Do the participants know each other? How will you build trust between them?
Have you prepared a flow or general direction for the discussions?
Are you covering the same topics in the group discussions as you did in the interview, or are you focusing on different questions?
How will you keep the discussions from going off-track?
How are you documenting the discussions?

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