Focus Group Script

Welcome
Thank you for making your time available to attend our Focus Group. What we want to do. How the participants can help us to achieve our goal(s). Why the participants are suitable for the task. Example Some systems on the web recommend movies to people; we are interested in how to explain these movie recommendations. We would like to understand what kind of interfaces users prefer and why. We would like your feedback on a number of interfaces. Your help is very valuable, because you can tell us what kind of things are important for the average user of recommender systems Youve probably seen a lot of movies, but are not a professional critic or movie expert, and can explain your preferences in plain English. Explain the means to record the session We will record the discussion in print for post-analysis. All recorded information is confidential and anonymised, and will be used only for the purpose of the research. Explain that the participants have the right to withdraw from the session at any time. Introduce and ask the participants to sign the consent form Make sure all participants have access and understand the consent form (e.g. should we have participants with impaired vision, you must read out the consent form). Ask the participants to sign and return the consent form. Introduce yourself and the co-facilitator, if used. Your name and role At most two sentences about what you think is important in a movie Example: My name is ____; I am a ____ at the ____. Usually, the first thing I check about a movie is its plot to see if it original enough, and if the subject matter is going to interest me. Other times I just feel like a comedy, doesnt really matter what.. Participants introduce themselves Ask all participants to introduce themselves in few sentences in the way that we introduced ourselves earlier. This is to break the ice and make the participants feel less isolated.

Discussion
Carefully word each question before that question is addressed by the group. Then, facilitate discussion around the answers to each question, one at a time.

Carefully reflect back a summary of what you heard (the note taker may do this), but not after each question. Ensure even participation. If one or two people are dominating the meeting, then call on others. Consider using a round-table approach, including going in one direction around the table, giving each person a minute to answer the question. If the domination persists, note it to the group and ask for ideas about how the participation can be increased.

Closing the session

After 20 minutes summarize the findings, and ask if there is an interface idea that we have not discussed so far. The focus group should take 30 minutes at most. Thank the participants for their time, and adjourn the meeting.