Shima, I've conducted a number of remote focus groups over the last year. Here are a few things that worked for me:
Put in lots of advance preparation. With so many folks on the phone, and with their attention already at risk, it's important not to waste any time rummaging for mockups or verbally explaining a change you should have made in your prototype. I had good success with building meeting-specific websites that laid out all topics for discussion in an annotated table, with links to specific images or topics. Ultra-organized sessions also increase the rate of repeat participation. Make it clear when participants should talk, ask probing questions, and prompt specific people for feedback. This isn't the time to let shy participants "sit one out." If you need feedback on specific points, ask for it. The more specific you are, the more likely you'll get non-vague answers. Keep the focus groups as small as you can. I found 3-5 participants to be a good number; more than that, and there were too many voices to keep track of. It helps to establish a relationship with your participants, to figure out ahead of time who's interested in what. I also think that the participants will be more frank with you if they know who you are and how their responses will be used. Have several backup technologies ready. I typically used LiveMeeting to share my desktop. I've also used ConceptShare and OptimalSort for specific needs. But on more than one occasion, technical difficulties required that I move everybody to GoToMeeting, Google Docs, or just mail out screenshots every few minutes. The more people on the line, the more likely that someone is not going to be able to log into whatever tool you use, and people will notice how graceful your transition to the backup solution is. Keep it short. In my experience, it's better to run two 30-minute sessions than one hour-long session. Forget about anything longer. Attention spans wane on the phone/internet. I also found that folks were more relaxed and talkative during the second session; I suppose because they knew what to expect. Good luck, and let me know if you'd like to talk more about this. I've run nearly 100(!) remote focus/design sessions and usability tests over the last year and would be happy to help. -Sarah -----Original Message----- We are planning to conduct a remote focus group with a limited number of participants and I was wondering if anyone has done that before. Did you use any specific tools or applications? Are there ways to make it more efficient and get the most out of the remote focus groups? ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
