Interactive Focus Group Assistant

Focus Group Assistant

Project: [Insert Project Name]

00:00

I. Introduction & Warm-up (10-15 minutes)

"Hello everyone, and thank you for coming today. My name is [Your Name], and I'll be guiding our discussion."
"We're here today on behalf of [Your Company/Client] to talk about [General Topic, e.g., 'your experiences with mobile banking apps']."

"Our main goal is to get your honest feedback. There are no right or wrong answers."
"Your opinions are incredibly valuable and will help [Your Company] improve its services/products."
"Please don't worry about my feelings or the company's; we want to hear exactly what you think, both positive and negative."

"This is a confidential discussion. What's said in this room, stays in this room. Please respect everyone's privacy."
"We are audio/video recording the session. This is only for our research team to take notes later. You will not be identified personally."
"Please speak one at a time so our recorder can capture everything."
"Be Honest: As I said, your honest feedback is the most important thing. Don't be afraid to disagree with each other—we want to hear all the different points of view."
"Logistics: The session will last about [e.g., 90 minutes]. Please silence your phones. The restrooms are [Location]."

"Let's go around the room. Please tell us your first name and [Insert simple icebreaker question, e.g., 'what's your favorite app on your phone right now, and why?']."

Start broad before narrowing in on your specific product/concept.

"Great. Now, let's talk more broadly about [General Topic, e.g., 'managing your personal finances']."
"When you think about [General Topic], what’s the first thing that comes to mind?"
"What do you find most frustrating about [Task/Activity, e.g., 'tracking your monthly budget']?"
"What works well? What do you like about your current solution?"
"Tell me about the last time you [Action, e.g., 'had to send money to a friend']. How did you do it?"

This is the core of the focus group. Introduce your specific concepts here.

"Now I'd like to show you [a new concept / a prototype of an app]."
[Moderator shows/distributes Concept A. Give participants a moment to look at it.]

"What, if anything, do you *like* about this idea? (Probe: What stands out? What seems useful?)"
"What, if anything, do you *dislike* about this idea? (Probe: What seems confusing? What's missing?)"
"How does this make you feel? (e.g., 'relieved,' 'anxious,' 'excited,' 'confused')."

[Go through specific features one by one.]
"Let's look at this [Specific Feature, e.g., 'the 'Quick-Save' button']. What do you think this does?"
"How valuable would this feature be to you? (e.g., 'Very valuable,' 'Nice to have,' 'Not useful')."
"How would you improve this feature to make it better for you?"

Understand how your concept fits into their existing lives and the competition.

"Thinking about the [Product/Service] you use today, how would you compare this new concept to it?"
"What would make you *switch* from your current solution to this one?"
"What would *prevent* you from using this?"
"If you were to describe this [New Concept] to a friend, what would you say?"

End the session by getting final thoughts and thanking the participants.

"We've discussed a lot today. If you had to give the team one piece of advice about this [New Concept], what would it be?"
"Is there anything we didn't cover that you think is important for us to know?"

"If you had a magic wand and could create the *perfect* solution for [The Problem], what would it look like? What would it do?"

"That's all the time we have. Your feedback has been incredibly helpful today."
"Thank you so much for your time and your honest opinions."
"As a thank you, [Explain incentive, e.g., 'my colleague outside will have the $100 gift card for you']."