Business Analysis Technique #11 – Focus Groups

Focus Groups – the 11th Technique listed in the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge employ a skilled facilitator(s) and a small group of

Listen to your focus group and learn!

prospective or current customers to seek out and understand what the customer or user wants and/or how they use a product or service.  The information gathered from a focus group is powerful.  It can reorient a product’s direction or change how a product is presented.

Typically a focus group meets in person with a facilitator guiding a customer or user through a set of open-ended questions about a product or service.  The use of web panels has become an increasingly popular method and allows an organization to understand and trace a customer’s perception over time.

Focus groups are often combined with several other business analysis techniques such as brainstorming, user scenarios, nominal-group technique and usability testing.

I’ve witness the power of focus groups to alter a software’s design and even halt a new product introduction.

Related articles

• 34 Business Analysis Techniques from The IIBA (tapuniversity.com)
• Focus Group (mesyeda.wordpress.com)
• Business Analysis Technique #32 SWOT Analysis (tapuniversity.com)
• On Focus Groups: Anyone can convene a group, ask questions, and write up the answers (iterativepath.wordpress.com)
• Business Analysis Technique #3 – Brainstorming (tapuniversity.com)
• Online Focus Groups – Washington DC, DistrictofColumbia (travelpod.com)
• Business Analysis Technique #26 – Scenarios and Use Cases (tapuniversity.com)
• David Kohrell: Brainstorming – Facilitated Workshops for Project Selection & Scope (pmhub.net)
• Example of a Voice of the Customer (VOC) Survey (brighthub.com)
• Business Analysis Technique #31 Surveys and Questionnaires. (tapuniversity.com)