20
Can we talk about using local focus groups for early beta testing?
I was working on this Toronto based app for connecting small restaurants with local farms and figured we'd just throw a survey online. But then a buddy who runs a food co-op suggested we run a small focus group at the St. Lawrence Market on a Saturday. We got 12 people to sit down for 20 minutes each and the feedback completely changed our user flow. Has anyone else had a similar experience where talking face to face revealed stuff no online survey ever could?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
ross.jason7d ago
Yeah, that reminds me of the time we tested a board game at a pub and found out nobody actually read the instructions...
8
ellis.diana7d ago
Oh come on, focus groups are just groupthink in action. You had 12 people who probably all knew each other from the market circuit, so of course they agreed on everything. Online surveys at least get random folks who aren't influenced by the guy nodding along next to them. I once ran a focus group for a garden tool app and got unanimous feedback about color schemes, then launched it and nobody cared. Turns out people just wanted to be polite to the person buying them coffee.
5