Re: setting up a focus group

From: Kim Brooks <kbrooks_at_bardo-brooks.com>
Date: Fri 25 Aug 2000 16:32:16 -0700

JENN WOOD <jenn_at_brandx.com> WROTE:
> We will be testing an online product's UI
> & usability on an existing customer group.

TO WHICH JOHN WALKER <jcfwalker_at_home.com> REPLIED:
> I went through this with a recent site redesign,
> trying to mediate differences between our IT and
> marketing sides; always interesting :-/ .
> Talked it over with a friend who runs a market
> research company. He has stopped doing focus
> groups on Web sites, feeling the results are not
> valid. Instead, he does one-on-one interviews with
> a selection of users, focusing in on specifics. He
> points out that Web use is very individual, and that
> putting a group onto a site is not a normal viewing
> environment. Email me directly if you want his
> contact information.

If you are testing UI strictly, then definitely do
one-on-one observation & interview. If you are doing
more of a marketing/impression/whatdya-think analysis,
then a combination of a one user testing at a time,
followed by discussion, can be useful.

We recently completed a combo user observation and
group followup for ArmyHQ.com, and the results from
both types were quite different but equally useful.
The user observations focused on where they clicked,
how long they stayed on each page, what questions they
asked, where they got lost, what they looked at first,
what they didn't look at. The group followup covered
what ads they liked and didn't like, why, what sections
were most useful, what services they use now, which
they would choose, what features they want to see in
the future, etc.

Some think that focus groups & usability tests are a
little old-fashioned and not at all web-oriented, but I
have always found them enlightening and even downright
fun. I suggest both approaches.

Kim Brooks





Received on Fri Aug 25 2000 - 18:32:16 CDT