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Product usability testing and outcomes
Published in Alex Mihailidis, Roger Smith, Rehabilitation Engineering, 2023
Focus groups are carefully planned discussions, designed to obtain perceptions of a group of individuals on a defined area of interest (Langford and McDonagh 2003). Focus groups are a qualitative research tool that is useful in identifying potential interface issues, understanding end user needs and abilities as well as the target market (which may not be the end users), informing design decision making and generating new concepts. They work best when group participants can react to an actual product that they can hold, manipulate and use. It is useful for gaining an understanding and insights about existing products and proposed products that are at the prototype stage. The more realistic the prototype, the more usability feedback will be produced. As such, paper or physical mockups would be the minimal levels of a new product that would be useful in a focus group discussion. For example, watching a demonstration video of a product is fundamentally different than actually using a product (Nielsen 1997). As a result, it may be effective in producing data on the potential usefulness of the product (i.e., utility), but it cannot produce actual usability information. In contrast, a paper mockup will mostly produce feedback about cognitive usability. Similarly, a physical mockup will produce cognitive data and, depending on how realistic the prototype is, physical and sensory usability data. In contrast, a working prototype will provide feedback about product usability across the broadest range of needs and abilities.
Corporate Culture
Published in Frances Alston, Brian K. Perkins, Strategic Environmental Performance, 2020
Frances Alston, Brian K. Perkins
Conducting focus groups and individual interviews is another effective way of gathering data to support a comprehensive and effective culture evaluation. A focus group should consist of 6–12 participants. The reason for keeping the group small is to facilitate free flow of information exchanges. When utilized appropriately, focus group discussions are a valuable tool used to discover more about the opinions of employees. Guidelines to consider when conducting focus group discussions include: Keep the list of questions short to no more than 15 questions.Use terms that are familiar to the participants.Use open-ended conversation-type questions.Do not use leading questions.Each question should focus on a single element or activity.Select participants randomly from a group that has knowledge of the topic.Select a meeting location that would ensure privacy for the group.
The involvement of local stakeholders
Published in Gianluca Ferraro, The Politics of Radioactive Waste Management, 2018
Focus groups are a research technique that collects data through group interaction: several participants are interviewed simultaneously on a topic (i.e. the “focus”) decided by the researcher (Morgan 1997). Group interviewing capitalises on the interactions and dynamics that take place within a group, thus proving rich experiential data and insights (Frey & Fontana 1991). The dynamics of the group discussion and interactions (along a list of questions) stimulate the contribution of each individual participant and, thus, allow us to examine a specific topic (or research question) from the point of view of the participants (Asbury 1995; Krueger 1994). The focus group develops as organised discussion that unveils ideas, opinions and perceptions of a homogenous group of participants (often the affected population) about a sensitive topic or policy problem (Kahan 2001; Frey & Fontana 1991).
Diving deep into numeracy, cross-curricular professional development
Published in International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 2023
Cornelia Connolly, Enda Carr, Seamus Knox
The NDD teacher focus groups were conducted at the last meeting, meeting 5, of the NDD project. Powell and Single (1996) define a focus group as ‘a group of individuals selected and assembled by researchers to discuss and comment on, from personal experience, the topic that is the subject of the research’ (p. 499). This qualitative method of data collection was conducted by the University teacher educator with participant teachers in a semi-structured discussion designed to generate a rich understanding of a topic. The experiences of the NDD teachers were explored in relation to a set of predetermined questions, the content unique to the study. Focus groups are an applied research method intended to gain in-depth information into the feelings, attitudes, and perspectives of participants, providing insights into why participants believe as they do and how they arrived at these beliefs.
Addressing community needs through a participatory food security assessment
Published in Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 2022
Michelle Berger, Courtney Sartain, Ann Carroll Klassen
A total of 1,218 surveys were collected across 23 participating sites, with 8 to 270 surveys per site. Twenty surveys had ≥5 unanswered items, leaving 1198 surveys for analysis. A total of 18 focus groups were conducted; locations included food pantries (n = 5), low-income and senior housing sites (n = 4), school-based organizations (n = 4), health clinics (n = 3), and other community organizations (n = 2), with 5 Spanish language groups. Focus groups included 4–12 participants, and lasted 45–120 minutes, with larger focus groups typically lasting longer. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 food pantry staff and 26 stakeholders. Research Question 1: What are the characteristics of pantry users in a wealthy suburban county?
Customer Experience in Social Commerce: Thematic and Intellectual Structure Mapping Using Bibliometric Analysis
Published in International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 2022
Soma Amol Dhaigude, Bijuna C. Mohan
We noted that surveys, experiments, simulations, heuristics, and mathematical modelling were used in empirical articles to determine CX levels, identify antecedents & consequences, and conduct experimentations to measure the effects of these factors in SC settings. Further, it may be noted herein that using a survey method, it is possible to conduct interviews with a predetermined group of people to gather information for a project. The experimental investigation, employing a scientific method, is used to explore the cause-and-effect relationship. Notably, the term “mixed methods” refers to using both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies within the same research. Furthermore, in multi-criteria decision attributes/methods, researchers need to make choices while ranking or selecting among options, which in turn, necessitates taking into account numerous criteria (or objectives) at once. The aim of qualitative research, on the other hand, is to gain complete knowledge of social phenomena within their natural settings. Hereby, researchers do have the possibility to access previously collected study data, known as secondary data. Further, an analytical model is a quantitative tool that helps with decision-making and provides an answer to a specific query. Focus groups are a type of qualitative study where participants are questioned about their perceptions, opinions, and attitudes relating to a concept, service, advertisement etc. Clearly, the literature skewed toward the survey method, and the field requires a different approach like experimental, multicriteria decision making, mixed method or analytical to gain more customer experience insights.