online focus groups - how do they work?

Online Focus GroupsHow Do They Work?

Presented by:

Joel Schmaltz – VP, Client Development

Online Focus GroupsHow Do They Work?

What are Online Focus Groups?• Qualitative research engagement

held through computers/mobile devices connected via the internet

• Effective alternative or complement to traditional face to face groups.

• Allow clients to watch the discussion from a “virtual” back room similar to the back room of a physical focus group

What are Online Focus Groups?

Here’s an illustration of what happens in a virtual setting:

• The moderator asks participants questions in the online software

• Clients observe the conversation through the virtual back room


• Similar to physical focus groups, participants provide feedback

• The moderator then probes the participants to get deeper insights


• Clients, watching from the virtual backroom, talk privately together and identify additional questions


• Clients talk privately to the moderator and suggest the new questions for the moderator to ask participants


• The moderator asks the new questions to the participants to probe deeper into participant answers

Traditional and Online Focus Groups

• To illustrate the parallels between online and traditional focus groups, we will show where the main areas of each are located.

• We will demonstrate this through one of the itracks’ online focus group software products, itracks Chat.

Waiting Room

Traditional Focus Group Online Focus Group

Waiting Room Waiting Room

Online Focus Groups – Waiting Room

Main Room


Main Room Main Room

Online Focus Groups – Main Room

Backroom


Backroom Backroom

Online Focus Groups – Back Room

Reporting


Reporting (transcription) Reporting (file download)

Online Focus Groups – Reporting

Steps to Conduct an Online Focus Group

Step 1 – Recruit participants and email invites

Step 2 – Insert discussion guide questions and add stimuli you would like to display

Step 3 – Conduct group – interact with clients & probe for deeper answers

Step 4 – Reporting – download transcript, videos etc. or view in software

Recruitment for Online & Mobile Research

• Questions on:

• Comfort Level

• Device Compatibility

• Project Related Specs

• Setting Expectations:

• Explanations of the process (# Days, Mobile device, Video taping home , Homework)

• Timelines

• Incentives

• Online Screener Programmed and Tested

Screener Development

• Targeted Sample or Client Supplied List (poss. Mult. vendors)

• Daily updates from PM

• Determine additional equipment needs

Screener In-Field

• Send products for testing

• Send additional equipment

Mail Out (if applicable)

• Phone Confirmations

• Rescreening

• Technical Checks on new hardware

• Test Activity

Participant Checks

• Reminder Calls or emails

• Moderator Engagement/ Probing

Study Runs

Types of Online Focus Groups

• There are different types of online focus group software, each with different benefits and features for different scenarios

itracks Chat• Real-time focus group

• Project time frame: 1 -2 hours

• Recommended sample size:

8-12 participants (no technical

limit)

• Discussion type: real-time

(everyone logs in at once)

• Report output: transcript

• Language capabilities offered

• Patented chat backroom

itracks ChatReal-time chat focus groups work great for:• Areas with limited internet

bandwidth• Projects with tight deadlines• Projects that require anonymity• Studies that require multiple

languages• User experience for participants

and moderators is best enjoyed from a desktop and keyboard

• Observers can better enjoy viewing from a mobile device

itracks Board• Fully integrated online discussion and

mobile app

• Project time frame: 1 -7 days


15-20 participants (up to 50)

• Discussion type: asynchronous

(threaded discussion, participants log in at

their own convenience)

• Report output: transcript with embedded

video, highlight reel, tagged videos



Bulletin board focus groups work great for:

• In-home usage testing

• Ethnography and diary studies

• Concept testing with feedback cycles

itracks Board

itracks Community• Interactive channel to communicate with

customers

• Project time frame: 1 month +


30+ participants (up to 400)

• Discussion type: asynchronous (threaded discussion, participants log in at their own convenience)

• Report output: transcript with embedded video, highlight reel, tagged videos

• Language capabilities, backroom

• Leaderboards

• Fully integrated mobile app

Community focus groups work great for:

• Mini communities

• Proprietary panels

• Medium-term feedback engagements

itracks Community

• Turning online focus groups into face to face discussions

• Project time frame: 30 minutes – 2 hours


1-6 participants (up to 8) (1 for IDI’s)

• Discussion type: real-time

(everyone logs in at once)

• Report output: video file



itracks Video Chat

Video focus groups work great for:

• Research where capturing facial expressions is important

• Research with participants in remote locations

• Projects requiring limited budgets (reduce travel costs)

itracks Video Chat

Case Studies

Diaries/Journaling

• Major supplier of beverages

• Objective: Find out how hydration fits into an active lifestyle

• Targeted customer segment in a specific geography

• Week long journal – itracks Mobile

• Videos of beverage experiences, feelings and emotions

• Photos of beverage storage areas

• IDI via itracks Video Chat

In-home Usage Test

• Great Blue Research was asked to conduct research for a large cleaning systems manufacturing company

• Objective: insights into customer flooring and cleaning needs – representative national sample (US)

• Prior to online approach, the study had been conducted with researchers travelling to respondent homes. Client required the same quality of insight with a reduced budget in the current year

• Multiple phases of online quantitative and mobile qualitative. Discussion topics and video activities captured utilization of the product using mobile app.

• Two online qualitative studies during the usage testing period over 30 days

• Product was shipped to respondents and returned to client with return shipping labels

In-home Usage Test

“The client fell in love with the technology, and the participants had a blast cleaning their floors (imagine that!), with the video and picture posting, and providing their opinions on the product being tested.

What our client loves about this technology is first and foremost, the deeper dive they receive with the online participants…determining the “whys” behind the “whats”. Our client enjoys interacting with the bulletin board and has marketing team meetings huddled with the bulletin board sessions displayed on a projector screen. How great is that!

Lastly, our client has been able to save tens of thousands of dollars in travel and focus group facility expenses. The economic impact is huge for them being a global provider of their products…”

Mark DeNicolo VP Operations, GreatBlue

Mobile Ethnography and Video IDI’s

• Kinemedica Market Solutions did a study looking at medical injection devices to understand how current alternatives were being used by patients and Nurse practitioners

• Required a research data collection solution which would allow the capture of quantitative responses for segmentation as well as qualitative responses in the form of video, device demonstration and media assessment

• Conducted quantitative exercises and qualitative exercises with in itracks Board

• Respondents were able to utilize their mobile devices to record their feedback and submit videos

• Time-challenged nurses were able to participate at anytime and from anywhere maximizing participation rates

Mobile Ethnography and Video IDI’s

“The ability to derive both quantitative results and explore the reasons for patient and nurse perceptions and preferences was invaluable to the success of this project.

The technical support provided by the itracks’ team was excellent and always responsive, even in the middle of the holiday season.

The respondents actually ENJOYED the interviews, and the visual output had great impact on the decisions our client needed to make. The client got to observe the results in real time, and they asked additional questions throughout the course of the study, either to groups or individuals. It wasn’t just “voice of the customer”, it was non-intrusive ethnography, collected from dozens of geographically diverse respondents, in three days. Supplemented by quantitative output. That provides tremendous market research value.”

Rebekkah Carney, MIM, Principal, Kinemedica Market Solutions.

In-store/ In-home – Star Produce

• A major produce supplier to grocery chains needed consumer feedback for a product launch prior to an upcoming holiday – a new type of tomato

• Using itracks’ board, we asked a group of consumers to purchase two types of tomatoes, record their experience in-store, record themselves preparing the meal, and test the planned packaging

• They were able to turn around this project that they otherwise would not have been able to organize, and to test the in-store/home environments at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods

In-store / In-home – Star Produce

General Benefits of Online Focus Groups

• Allows for more in-depth conversations

• Cost effective

• Great solution for fast turnaround projects

• Accessible

• Available in any language

• Virtual is the new way of communication• especially with younger populations

Tips for Getting Started

• Educate yourself• Free training, comprehensive training programs

• Depending on your needs, hire an experienced moderator to conduct group or co-moderate with you

• Select a high-quality platform supplier • Consider security, breadth of offering, ability to maintain project

• Develop your online communication techniques• Online/text communication is expressive, but in a different way

Resources• Visit our resources area for free

webinars, product demos, articles, case studies on online qualitative research and software at www.itracks.com/resources

• Recommended case study:Webinar recording from a first time online focus group user/researcher, Mindy Miraglia, “Making the Leap to Mobile and

Online”

http://www.itracks.com/resources

Questions?

Contact Us

www.itracks.com

www.facebook.com/itracks

www.twitter.com/itracks

www.linkedin.com/company/itracks

www.youtube.com/user/itracksonline

Joel SchmaltzVP, Client Development

itracks, inc.

[email protected]

Phone: 1-306-665-5026 ext. 239

Mobile: 1-306-260-3079

www.itracks.com

http://www.itracks.com/

http://www.facebook.com/itracks

http://www.twitter.com/itracks

http://www.linkedin.com/company/itracks

http://www.youtube.com/user/itracksonline

online focus groups - how do they work?

Technology

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traditional focus groups

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participants questions

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