Dan Prince

Conducting online Bulletin Board Focus Groups (BBFGs) may be just the solution.

This relatively new way of conducting qualitative research has proven successful in garnering useful input from notoriously hard-to-reach audiences, including doctors and patient populations.

 Benefits of using BBFGs for Product & Service Concept Testing include:

• CONVENIENCE: BBFGs offer research participants the convenience to log on and off anytime they choose during a designated 2-3 day period, from home or work, increasing participation rates and more thoughtful answers.
• MARKET REACH: BBFGs take place online, maximizing the number of participants that can engage in the discussion and eliminating physical limitations.  Now you can gather individuals from across the globe, if desired.  And with no need for a focus group facility or travel, project costs and timeline shrink.
• ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY: BBFGS offer innovative tools for displaying and reacting to visual materials – whether a sketch, video, or even a live website.  And now, people can even respond from their mobile device, as well as any computer with an internet connection.
• CONTROL OF GROUP DYNAMICS: BBFGs create an atmosphere where every voice counts.  A moderator closely follows the discussion and can redirect or refocus attention if a participant gets off track, or probe for further response from more reserved participants.  Domination by one or two voices is uncommon, since every participant has unlimited access to the discussion and can post responses when they choose.
• ANONYMITY: BBFGs provide a degree of privacy that is not possible in conventional in-person focus groups.  If desired, participants can work under an alias with freedom from revealing their name or their organization’s name to other participants, and sometimes the client.  This anonymity leads to a level of candor that is very powerful when discussing sensitive, personal, or proprietary issues.

Figure 1 above: Mark-up tools allow participants to highlight what they like and dislike about an image and leave comments for the moderator via a pop-up box.

Figure 2 above: At the conclusion of the BBFG, researchers generate heat maps showing where participants focused most of their attention.

Let’s look at a few examples of how these benefits create a favorable setting for Product & Service Concept Testing:

To learn more, download our free eBook on the many benefits of using online Bulletin Board Focus Groups for your qualitative research endeavors.

Perhaps you’ll decide that your next concept test should be done online, the BBFG way.

Dan Prince

I’ve reached the point in my life where it seems to be harder and harder to trim the extra pounds I carry around. Oh, I know I should lose weight. And I do exercise, via a morning walk with the dog every day plus a visit to the gym once or twice a week. But eating properly – that’s a tougher challenge. Simply put, I like to eat! So it’s a struggle for me. How about you?

Medically, I’m in the “overweight” category… at about 195 pounds when I’d like to be around 185 or so, for my 6′ height.

And by being “overweight,” I’m part of a huge group of Americans. The most recent statistic I’ve seen is that about 66% of Americans are either overweight or obese. To me, that’s scary – particularly when I think about the personal impact on my health status and possibly on my lifespan. And on the broader scale, what is the potential impact on our country’s character and national competitiveness?

I think about this issue when I see a policeman with a sagging belly. Could he really run after and catch a fleeing felon like the cops on TV shows do? I reflect on this issue when I see an obese executive try to squeeze himself into the confines of a typical airplane seat. And I wonder about the future when I see an overweight nurse’s aide try and hoist an overweight patient.

As a nation, we spend more per capita on healthcare than any other nation in the world (http://ucatlas.ucsc.edu/spend.php). Isn’t obesity a big reason for this? Obesity has been linked conclusively to a higher incidence of diabetes and heart disease, two deadly issues for us as a nation.

I’d prefer to be part of the minority, the one-third of Americans who are not overweight. But getting there is tough.

If you’re also overweight, are you having any success? What helps? And what holds you back? I’d really like to know.