When we say "focus group," we mean a professionally
moderated discussion among a group (four or more participants) of
individuals whose opinions are thought to reflect those of the product's
intended purchasers. The discussion will normally follow a script
drawn up by the moderator in conjunction with the creators of the
product under study. The purpose of the script will be to elucidate
and create discussion about the questions which the focus group
was convened to address. The information generated will be qualitative,
not quantitative, in nature. Focus groups are good for finding out
what people want in a product and why they think they react differently
to different ways of presenting the product.
Focus groups are not a good way to measure
the usability of a product, because they generate no quantitative
measurements. They are also not the best means for gauging people's
subjective responses to a product. You can quantify subjective
reactions through formal methods that use rating scales to elicit
quantifiable participant responses.
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