Focus Groups Vs Usability Testing – What, When and Why?
User research is a crucial component of any website or product development process. It will help you to identify the needs of your users and demonstrate how your website, intranet or application can be improved. Focus groups and usability testing are two very useful but very different user research disciplines. This article will look at the difference between focus groups and usability testing, the pros and cons of each and when in the development process you should use them. What are focus groups and usability testing? We’ve written articles about running focus groups and conducting usability testing, so we won’t repeat everything here. Focus groups gather approximately 6-8 representatives of your target market together with a moderator and have them discuss their feelings, attitudes and ideas on topics. They attempt to gather many people’s thoughts and attitudes on ideas and/or designs. Usability testing involves using a 1-on-1 (1 person and 1 facilitator) interaction with a system o
