mario garcia

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Listening to focus groupsNewspaper editors often ask what we think of focus groups and

their effectiveness in providing answers to the many dilemmas that

plague newsrooms. As one who has been involved in more behind-

the-mirror focus groups than I care to remember, I always have

one standard answer: focus groups will keep us from making at

least one embarrassing mistake.

To that effect, I am a fan of them. That said, I also review focus

groups without taking them too seriously. From each group, some

consistent themes appear, and the redesigned product is better

because of the conclusions reached.

Some things are almost universal in focus groups, as outlined here:

The quality of the moderator determines the usefulness of the

information gathered. It is important that the moderator be an

objective, engaging, flexible person who will lead the discussion

and drive it according to the conversation taking place in the

room—rather than attempting to follow a prescribed set of pre-

pared items that may not be of consequence to the participants.

When it comes to testing a prototype for a redesigned product,

approach the session with a few well targeted segments to test, as

opposed to an impossibly long list. For example: perhaps you

pure design

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wish to know about the look and feel of page one, the legibility of

body text, and the navigational system of a certain section(s). That

should be enough for an intelligent conversation.

For newspapers going from all black and white to color, it never

fails that most readers will like the color but will also try to express

how the color "takes away from the serious look" of their newspa-

per. This is to be expected, as well as the fact that the same readers

will not even remember the black and white former style three

weeks after the new color is introduced!

Even when one tries to test purely graphic elements, readers are

more interested in discussing content. This, I think, is good, even

if it frustrates us when we want to know if a certain color screen

works behind a column, but the readers concentrate totally on the

content of the column.

Finally, all redesigned projects should include a focus group before

final changes are made. It informs us about reactions. It guides us in

perfecting details. Again, it keeps us from making that one embar-

rassing mistake that nobody in the redesign committee even thought

about, but that one smart soccer mom spotted instantly, echoing

feelings of perhaps hundreds of other readers.