Typical planning steps for defining research objectives for a focus group activity are:
- Determine who will participate in the research. The target audience should be capable of providing the relevant answers to the research; otherwise, they are not likely to provide a meaningful feedback.
- Based on the project's overall timeline, determine when is the best time to schedule the focus group activity, and how many sessions might be needed.
- Consider possible venues to hold the session. In marketing and other types of settings, it is also common to use a research facility that is equipped with an observation room that enables designers and stakeholders to watch the sessions through a two-way mirror. In any case, the session needs to be held in a location that is easily accessible to participants, often in downtown areas.
- Determine the compensation for participants. Because this method is quite popular, many potential participants know that a monetary reward is typical. Depending on the audience, the reward might be relatively high, because participants might be too busy to attend, and a small reward might not be worth their time.
- Based on the decisions made in the preceding steps, design the diary. The more structured inputs are, the faster and easier it is to fill, and more importantly, make it easy to aggregate all responses.
- Based on all the preceding points, determine the best way to use the diary--use an online survey tool, create a special app, distribute a physical paper diary, and so on. For example, for a company that develops specialized equipment for use in remote harsh conditions, electronic forms of data capture may not be possible.
- Analyze and present the results, and come to an agreement on the approach.