Focus Groups
News Broadcasting Company
UK & US | 20 Participants | Focus Groups | Interviews
Research Goals
The client was interested in developing a better understanding of the behaviours, beliefs, experiences, and needs of people when they are consuming political news, with a particular focus around elections.
To do this, the 2022 US midterm elections were used as an opportunity to deploy a number of changes to the news site. This included new graphics, pages, and journeys across the site.
Project Context
Another researcher and I ran the focus groups and interviews.
4 x 90 minute focus groups (2 UK, 2 US) were conducted with 20 participants.
12 x 60 minute follow-up interviews were conducted with 12 participants to further evaluate.
Research Objectives
Research Process
UK & US | 20 Participants |Focus Groups | Interviews
To ensure a well rounded overview of participants’ needs. We decided to run the focus groups prior to the US midterm elections and the interviews after.
Focus Groups
US & UK | 20 Participants | 90 Minutes.
Icebreaker. 15 min.
To put the participants at ease as well as build upon common ground and shared experiences.
Midterms Experience. 45min.
We asked participants to share their experiences of taking in the news during the midterms. The stories they look for, overall impressions of the design, layout, and navigation of the news websites they regularly visit.
Needs Prioritisation. 20 min.
Initially we had the participants privately recorded what their top three needs were. They then posted them onto a Miro board for group discussion.
To conclude the activity, participants voted for their top three needs.
US & UK | 12 Participants | 60 Minutes.
Intro. 10 mins.
To ease participants into the session.
Usability Testing. 40 mins.
We asked participants to explore the prototypes and live news website.
Recap Priorities. 10 mins.
Participant’s revisited their priorities they reported during the focus group.
Interviews
Analysis
The analysis process consisted of thematic analysis. Whereby activities and transcripts were closely examined to identify common themes and patterns.
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Once the data has been coded the themes are then reviewed to explore potential ideas for recommended solutions.
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Using Miro an affinity map was created to assist with organising the data and recommendations.
An insights report was then presented to the client, accompanied by a highlight reel to bring the insights to life.
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Insights
Here are a few of the insights that were presented to the client in the report.
Prioritise Staying Informed
Participants prioritised staying informed as their key motivation.
Staying informed helped them to solidify their voting decision and disseminate information to their friends and family.
Reflections & Challenges
The main challenge to hand was how to facilitate a focused and productive conversation amongst people who hold diametrically opposed ideologies.
Lucky for you, I wrote a blog post outlining the steps we followed to achieve this.