Product Management - How To Benefit From Focus Groups

The purpose of focus groups as used in B2B product management is to understand and validate various product initiatives through interactive feedback such that products meet the needs of target customers.  Focus groups are beneficial in a wide range of product initiatives that span new product innovation to product usability and everything in between.
 

Focus Groups Gone Awry

Many organizations have had less than desirable experiences with focus groups.  While the reasons can run the gamut, four of the most common mistakes are as follows:

1. Not involving any external participants like consultants, customers or prospects
2. Involving only one or two customers and ending up with a custom solution
3. A one-time focus group used only to validate one phase of the product cycle, (i.e., requirements)
4. Not using a trained facilitator to extract

To be successful with focus groups you must involve them at multiple points leading up to market release of a product. 

Involving Focus Groups at Multiple Points 

Strategy & Executive Focus Groups

One of the critical steps in formulating a long term (12-24 months) product strategy is to conduct an executive focus group.  An executive focus group is made of up C-level or SVP level executives from companies that represent your target market segments for the next 12-24 months.  Internally, recruit key executives representing product strategy, sales, marketing, and technology.   Product managers and marketers participate as observers to further their knowledge.  Products are not the focus of this meeting; industry and market issues are.

Release Plans & Project Focus Groups 

A project focus group is the logical follow-on to an executive focus group and its charter is to execute the strategy at an operational level.  A project focus group is ideally comprised of middle management from the same companies represented in the executive focus groups.  They provide a critical element of continuity. 

Feedback from project focus groups includes the following:

• How the top initiatives in each company affect operational areas
• Specific business functions or processes that are most challenging
• The desired remedy or change to each process
• Priority on business problems that are most critical to solve
• Priority on product requirements needed to solve each problem

Visual Design & Prototyping & Usability Focus Groups 

In keeping with the theme of continuity, a usability focus group has the same make-up as a project focus group with one addition, true end-users. 

Feedback from usability focus groups includes the following:

• Correctness of information flow as it relates to business processes
• Cosmetic look and feel of products for both sales appeal and usability
• Hands-on usability and productivity considering real world use
• The extent to which 

Market Validation & Early Adopters

While not a focus group in the purest sense, early adopters validate the market-readiness of the product by using it in real world conditions outside the development lab.  Who better to validate the product than your focus group participants?  They’ve created solutions to their own problems and feel a great deal of ownership in the end product.  The result is great customer testimonials.  Bottom line – choose your focus group participants strategically!

In summary, very few if any successful products are born without multiple validation points from would-be customers and those closest to the customer.  The key is to start high and understand the relationships between market forces, strategic initiatives, operational challenges, and how your products relate to all of them.  It’s truly amazing how simple the product business can be when your entire team has a market and business problem view of the world.  Hence, the number one challenge of every product company.

» Post Comment

Email (will not be published)

Name

Title

Organization

Comments

Post

No Comments