Transcript FOCUS GROUPS & INTERVIEWS

FOCUS GROUPS &
INTERVIEWS
2/6/15
Overview
• Interview types
• Designing interview questions
• Focus groups (Customer research)
• Overview of guidelines for project stage 2: Customer
research
Interviews
• Unstructured
– Are not directed by a script – exploratory
– But… plan main topics to be covered
– Uses open questions
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• e.g. What are the advantages of touchscreens?
Pro: interviewees may mention issues interviewer
hasn’t considered
Cons: data heavy, not consistent across participants,
time consuming and difficult to analyze
Rich but not replicable
Not appropriate for your purposes
Interviews
• Structured
• Are tightly scripted, often like a questionnaire
• Questions are short and clearly worded
• Closed questions
• e.g. How often do you visit the HCI class website:
everyday, once a week, once a month, less than once a
month?
• Closed questions are good when range of possible
answers is known
• Standardized across participants
• Worded exactly the same for each participant
• Always asked in the same order
• Appropriate for your purposes
Interviews
• Semi-structured
• Combo of structured and unstructured
• Guided by a script but interesting issues can be
explored in more depth
• Plan main topics – so same topics are covered with
each participant
• Start with open question followed by closed question
• OPEN: Tell me about the layout of the site <difficult to
use>
• CLOSED: what would make it easier to use?
• **Must be careful that the question phrasing doesn’t
lead participant to a particular answer**
• e.g. You seemed to like the use of color
• Very appropriate for your purposes
Interview questions
• Two types:
− closed questions have a predetermined answer
format, e.g., ‘yes’ or ‘no’, ‘everyday’ or ‘once a week’
− open questions do not have a predetermined format
• Closed questions are easier to analyze
Interview questions
• Guidelines for developing questions (Robson 2002)
• Avoid:
• Long questions
• Compound sentences - split them into two
• e.g. How do you like this cell phone compared with previous
ones you’ve had?
1.
2.
3.
How do you like this phone?
Have you owned others?
If so, how did you like it/them?
• Easier for interviewee to respond and easier for interviewer to
take notes
• Jargon and language that the interviewee may not
understand
• Leading questions that make assumptions e.g., why do you
like …?
• Assumes person does like it – can discourage reporting true
feelings
• Unconscious biases e.g., gender stereotypes
Running the interview
• Introduction
– Introduce yourself
– Clearly explain the goals of the interview
• e.g., the goal is to determine a set of user requirements
for this application/interface
– Reassure about the ethical issues
– Ask for their permission to take notes
• Warm-up
– Make first questions easy and non-threatening
• e.g., What is your major? What year are you?
Running the interview
• Main body
– Present questions in a logical order
• A cool-off period
– Include a few easy questions to defuse tension at the
end
• Closure
– Thank interviewee, signal the end, e.g, put notebooks
away
Focus groups
• Normally 3 – 10 people
• Discussion / interview led by 1 person
• It’s the PM in your case
• Other team members must be present to take notes
• A preset agenda is used to guide the discussion
• Pros:
• Allows diverse issues to be raised that might otherwise be
missed
• Individuals develop opinions by talking to others
• Cons:
• One person may dominate discussion
• Discourages others from speaking up
Enriching the interview process
• Props - devices for prompting interviewee, e.g., a
prototype, scenario
Project 2: Customer research
• Develop your focus group/interview agenda
• Be sure to cover all the important points for procedure
• Main topics to cover during the focus group
• Determine clients’ impressions of the problem you are trying
to address
• Determine improvements the clients want
• Determine clients’ solutions to the interface
Resources
• https://assessment.trinity.duke.edu/documents/How_t
o_Conduct_a_Focus_Group.pdf
•8 questions ideal
•A focus group is not:
•A debate
Group therapy
A conflict resolution session
A problem solving session
An opportunity to collaborate A promotional
opportunity
An educational session
Role Play
• Groups of 4
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Choose the conductor
Choose participant A
Choose participant B
Choose participant C
Participant A
The shy one:
you don’t speak
unless spoken
to.
Participant B
The dominator:
you are speak
your opinions
as fact
Participant C
The rambler: you
talk a lot and
jump in when
others are talking
Question
Overall goal: UF has asked you to solve the problem: they want to
have students eat more at campus restaurants for dinner
1. (Open ended) Describe about your typical dinner plans for a
week.
2. (Open ended) Describe how you get to campus and around
campus.
3. (Close ended) On a scale of 1-5 where 5 is highest, how important
is price to your dinner plans?
4. (Close ended) On a scale of 1-5 where 5 is highest, how important
is quality of food to your dinner plans?