Questions to Ask in a Focus Group
For moderators and researchers choosing focus group questions to ask participants, whether the session is about a product, a service, a school or a community program. The list follows the order of a session: warm-up, experience, likes and gaps, reactions to a concept, probing questions that also bring in quiet participants, and closing. Where a question says 'it', put in the name of what you are discussing; each note covers wording that does not lead the group, what a useful or worrying answer sounds like, or what to do with it.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Warm-up
To start, would each of you share your first name and one thing you like to do on a free afternoon?
Why ask it
Going around the table once means every person has spoken before the real topic starts, and the second time is easier than the first. Keep it to something nobody can get wrong. Leave out job titles and how long people have been customers, since both tell the group whose opinion counts for more.
What is the first word or picture that comes to mind when you hear the name of this product or program?
Why ask it
Have everyone write their word on a card before anyone speaks, then read the cards out in turn. Written first, the answers show the real spread; spoken first, they drift toward whatever the first person said. Note any word that surprises you and come back to it in the next section.
How did you first come across this product or service?
Why ask it
Everyone has an answer and it takes no courage to give, which is what a second or third question should be. Listen for the route: a friend, a search, a teacher, a referral from another agency. If most of the table names the same route, ask what they had heard before they tried it, because that is the promise it has been measured against ever since.
Before we get to anything specific, how do you deal with this at the moment? Take us through a normal week.
Why ask it
Asking about the routine before the thing you came to discuss shows what it is competing with, including doing nothing at all. A group that describes a week with no gap in it is telling you the need may be smaller than the brief assumes. Report that plainly instead of probing until a problem appears.
What made you say yes to coming today?
Why ask it
The answers sort the table into people with a complaint, fans and those who came for the gift card, and that helps you weigh what each of them says later. Thank the person who admits it was the incentive. The table learns from your reaction that plain answers are welcome here.
What should we understand about people in your position before we go any further?
Why ask it
Suited to a school, nonprofit or neighborhood group, where participants may feel they are being studied by outsiders. It hands them the role of expert on their own lives, and the answers often correct an assumption built into your discussion guide. Skip it in a quick product test where nobody feels that distance.
Experience
Think back to the last time you used it. Where were you, and what were you trying to get done?
Why ask it
One recent occasion brings back detail, where 'how do you usually use it?' gets a tidy average. Let two or three people tell theirs in full before opening it to the table. Someone who cannot remember a last time has told you how much it matters to them, so note it and do not press.
When you are choosing something like this, what do you look for first?
Why ask it
The first thing named is usually the sensible one, such as price or location. Then ask what settled it the last time they really chose, and something else often comes out: a neighbor's word, the one with parking, the only place that answered the phone. Keep both answers, because the first is what they believe matters and the second is what decided it.
What were you using or doing before, and what made you change?
Why ask it
What they left behind is your real competition, and it is often a habit, a spreadsheet or a helpful relative, not a rival brand. Separate the push from the pull: what went wrong with the old way, and what drew them to this one. For a school or a program, ask where the family or the client was before.
In a normal month, how often do you use it, and what usually prompts you?
Why ask it
What prompts them is worth more than the number. People tend to round up when others are listening, so if frequency matters, collect it on the recruitment screener or a slip of paper. A trigger such as 'when the bill arrives' or 'when my daughter asks' tells you when a reminder or a message would land.
Can you walk us through what happens from the moment you decide to use it to the moment you are done?
Why ask it
A step-by-step account turns up the parts the team never sees: the hunt for a password, the form filled in from the parking lot, the call to check opening hours. Have a colleague write the steps on a board as they come. Then ask the table which step they would remove.
Who else has a part in this at your home or your workplace: who chooses, who pays and who uses it?
Why ask it
Few products or programs are used alone: a parent books and a child attends, a manager approves and an assistant orders. If the table keeps naming someone who is not in the room, that person's view is missing from your study. Consider a separate group for them.
Tell us about a time it worked exactly as you hoped.
Why ask it
A good story before the complaints keeps the session from turning into a grievance meeting. The details show what 'working' means to them, which is often narrower than the brochure. Follow with 'what made that time different?'
Tell us about a time it let you down. What happened next?
Why ask it
The second half is the one to listen to: whether they called, gave up, found a way around it or told a friend. One vivid bad story can pull a whole table into agreeing. Afterward, ask who has had nothing like it happen.
What do you do when it is not available or not working?
Why ask it
The backup plan shows how replaceable it is. A shrug and 'I just wait' means the stakes are low. An elaborate plan B means they depend on it and do not quite trust it. Ask how long they have kept that backup going.
How would you describe it to a friend who had never heard of it?
Why ask it
You get their words in place of your marketing's. Write down the exact nouns and verbs, because that is the language the next leaflet or landing page should use. If the descriptions around the table do not match one another, the offer is unclear, however much people say they like it.
When you need to find something out about it, where do you look or who do you ask?
Why ask it
What comes back is a map of how news about you really travels: a group chat, the front desk, a search, one well-informed neighbor. If nobody mentions your newsletter or website, do not ask whether they read it, since the prompt only collects polite yeses. A school or a program can follow with how people would want to be told about a change.
How does it compare with what you pictured before you started?
Why ask it
The gap points back at what the sign-up page, the open day or the referral promised. Pleasant surprises count as much as bad ones here, since they are strengths nobody is advertising yet.
Likes and gaps
What do you like most about it?
Why ask it
The standard question, and worth asking plainly. The first answer is usually the polite one, such as friendly staff or ease of use, so follow with 'what does that let you do?' to reach the benefit. Take one answer from each person before any discussion.
What do you like least about it?
Why ask it
Ask it in the same flat tone as the question before and give it the same amount of time. A moderator who lingers on praise and hurries past complaints teaches the group which one is wanted. If you did not build the thing, say so, and say that nothing they tell you will hurt your feelings.
Suppose you were running it for a day. What is the first thing you would change?
Why ask it
Asking for the first thing forces a ranking that a wish list hides. Go around so each person names theirs, and listen for the same change described in different words. Treat the tally as a pointer to what to look into, not as a vote, since eight people cannot speak for everyone you serve.
What is harder than it should be?
Why ask it
This asks about friction, not dislike, so people who would never criticize a school or a charity will still say that the form is long. If the form, the app or the front desk is at hand, ask them to show you where it happens.
What do you wish it did that it does not do today?
Why ask it
Unmet needs usually arrive dressed as feature requests. Treat each request as a clue and ask what it would let them do. That answer is the need, and there may be a cheaper way to meet it than the feature they named.
Which part of it could disappear without you missing it?
Why ask it
The answers point at what you are paying to maintain that nobody values. Disagreement is the useful result: if half the table would drop what the other half came for, you are serving two audiences, and an average of the two describes neither.
What else have you tried for this, and how did it compare?
Why ask it
Let them name the alternatives. Reading out a list of competitors tells the group who you think you are up against and leaves out the ones you have not heard of. For a public service the alternative may be going without, and that is worth hearing described too.
What nearly stopped you from signing up or coming back?
Why ask it
Everyone in the room got past the barrier, and this asks them to remember it. Their answers stand in only partly for the people who never made it. If barriers are the main question, recruit lapsed users and non-users for a group of their own.
What does it cost you in money, time or effort, and does that feel fair?
Why ask it
Group talk about price is weak evidence of what anyone would pay and good evidence of what feels fair and why. Listen for what they compare it with. Do not treat a figure spoken aloud at the table as a price test.
When you have recommended it to someone, or warned them off, what did you say?
Why ask it
A recommendation already made is easier to trust than one they say they would make. The wording they chose for a friend is often blunter than anything said so far. If nobody has ever mentioned it to anyone, that is a finding about how much it matters, however warm the room has been.
What is the one thing about it we should be careful not to break?
Why ask it
Improvement projects collect complaints and then remove something people loved by accident. Put these answers at the top of the report, ahead of the list of fixes.
The concept
Before anyone speaks, would you take a minute and write down your first reaction to what you have just seen?
Why ask it
The first opinion spoken about a new idea pulls the others toward it, so get reactions on paper while they are still private. Ask each person to read theirs exactly as written. Show the concept with the same words in every group, or you will not be able to compare them.
In your own words, what is this, and what is it meant to do?
Why ask it
Check understanding before opinion. If the table cannot say what it is, their likes and dislikes are about something they imagined, and the first thing to fix is the explanation. Do not correct them; ask what gave them that impression.
What stands out to you, good or bad?
Why ask it
'Good or bad' keeps you from signaling which you hope for, where 'what do you like about it?' assumes they like something. Note the order things are mentioned in. What comes up first, unprompted, is what the concept is really communicating.
What is unclear, or leaves you with a question?
Why ask it
Resist answering as the questions come. Write them on the board and ask 'what would you guess?', because the guess shows what the materials imply today. Give the real answers at the end if people still want them.
Where would this fit into your week, if it fits at all?
Why ask it
'If at all' gives permission to say nowhere. A real answer names a day, a place and something it would replace. 'I am sure I would find a use for it' is politeness, and should be written up as that.
What would you have to stop doing or give up to make room for this?
Why ask it
Every new thing displaces money, time or a habit. When the thing displaced is a routine they trust, expect take-up to be slower than the warmth in the room suggests. If nobody can name anything, ask whether it is solving a problem they have.
What would make you hesitate?
Why ask it
Softer than asking what is wrong with it, so it gets answers from people who do not like to criticize. The usual themes are trust, cost, effort and what others would think. Probe the first one named with 'what would you need to see to feel sure?'
Who do you picture this being right for, if not you?
Why ask it
It lets someone who is not interested say so politely. One or two people pointing elsewhere is normal. When the whole table says 'my mother would like it' or 'younger people', nobody in the room wants it.
Now that you have seen each version, which would you choose, and what tipped it?
Why ask it
Show the versions in a different order in each group, so that being first or last does not decide the result. The reason matters more than the count. A split of five to three among eight people is not a finding, but 'the second one looked like it was for someone richer than me' is.
What would have to be true for you to try this in the next month?
Why ask it
It turns 'I would probably use it' into conditions you can check: a price, a location, a friend who goes too. Interest stated in a friendly room tends to run ahead of what people later do. Report the conditions, not the number of yeses.
If this replaced what you have now, what would you miss?
Why ask it
For a concept that changes something existing: a new timetable, a redesigned app, two programs merged into one. What they would miss tells you which parts to carry over, and how the change should be announced to the people who were not asked.
Probing
Can you say more about that?
Why ask it
The plainest probe, and the one you will use most. Ask it and then wait, counting to five in your head if you have to. Do not fill the pause with a suggested answer, because the group will take the suggestion.
When you say it is 'convenient', what does that look like on an ordinary day?
Why ask it
Convenient, quality, supportive and expensive mean something different to each person at the table. Repeat their word back exactly and ask for the picture behind it. Doing this early shows the group that a vague answer gets a follow-up, and answers sharpen without being asked.
Can you give us an example of the last time that happened?
Why ask it
An example turns an opinion into an incident you can write down. When none comes, the view may have been picked up from the table or from something they read. Mark it as weaker in your notes and move on without making the person feel caught.
Who has had a different experience?
Why ask it
Use it the moment the table starts nodding along. It treats disagreement as a contribution you are waiting for. 'Does everyone agree?' does the opposite, since it asks the one person who differs to break ranks alone.
We have heard a lot from this side of the table. How does it look from where you are sitting?
Why ask it
A way to bring in quiet people without singling one out: gesture toward two or three of them together. Turn your shoulders away from whoever has been talking most as you ask. If the same person answers anyway, thank them and put the question to the other side by name.
You nodded when that was said. What were you thinking?
Why ask it
A direct invitation to a quiet person goes better when it is tied to something they already did, such as a nod, a frown or a note they wrote. Keep your voice light. Accept 'nothing much' with a smile and try again later with an easier question.
Would you take two minutes on this one with the person beside you, and then each pair tell us where you landed?
Why ask it
For a session that one or two voices are carrying. Most people will say to one neighbor what they would not say to eight, and the pair's spokesperson can pass on a doubt without owning it. Ask each pair where they differed as well as where they agreed, and seat the most talkative person with someone who will not simply defer.
How much does that matter to you: a small annoyance, or a reason to leave?
Why ask it
A transcript makes every complaint look the same size. Naming both ends of the scale lets the person place it without your favoring either end. Swap 'a reason to leave' for whatever the serious end is in your setting, such as moving a child to another school.
Who would see this differently from the people in this room, and what would they say?
Why ask it
For the group that agrees on everything. Either someone voices a doubt they had kept back, safely pinned on an absent person, or the group names who is missing from your sample, which is a list of who to recruit next.
Earlier I heard one thing, and now something a little different. How do the two fit together?
Why ask it
Most contradictions are two true things in different circumstances: fine on weekdays, impossible on weekends. Ask it as someone puzzled, not as someone who has caught them out. If the person simply changed their mind while listening, ask what did it.
What makes that important to you?
Why ask it
A stand-in for 'why?', which can sound like a demand to justify yourself and often gets a tidy reason made up on the spot. Save it for the two or three points the project turns on. Asked after every remark, it wears the group out.
Closing
Of everything we have talked about today, what matters most to you?
Why ask it
Go around the table, one sentence each, so everyone gets a last word and you get each person's own summary to check your notes against. If what they choose was barely discussed, the guide spent its time in the wrong place. Change it before the next group.
Let me say back what I think I heard today. What did I get wrong or leave out?
Why ask it
Keep the summary to two minutes, use their words where you can, and include the disagreements instead of smoothing them into one view. Watch faces while you speak, because a frown at one line is where to stop and ask. A correction made now saves you guessing later from the transcript what the group meant.
If you had one minute with the person in charge, what would you tell them?
Why ask it
This tends to produce the direct, quotable version of things people softened earlier in the session. In a school or community setting, be honest about whether their words will reach that person and in what form.
Have we missed anything? What should we have talked about today and did not?
Why ask it
In the first group of a series, this is how the discussion guide gets repaired. If two groups raise the same missing topic, add it for the rest. Keep a record of which sessions never got the new question, so nobody later reads their silence on it as a no.
Has anything you heard from the others today changed how you see it?
Why ask it
The answers show how much of the opinion in the room was formed in the room. Views that shifted during the session are softer than the ones people arrived with, and the write-up should keep the two apart. What changed a mind is also a clue to what would persuade people outside the room.
Is there anything you would rather write down or tell us privately afterward?
Why ask it
Some things will not be said in front of neighbors, coworkers or other parents. Hand out a card or stay behind for ten minutes. Whatever arrives this way gets the same confidentiality you promised at the start.
What would you like to know about what happens with what you told us?
Why ask it
Have a true answer ready: who will read the notes, whether names are attached, whether they will hear back. People who gave up an evening want to know if anything will come of it. If you do not know, say so, and say when you will.
How to plan and moderate a focus group
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the session
Start from the decision
Write down what someone will decide with the findings: whether to launch, which version to build, what to change about a program next term. Every question in the guide should feed that decision. One that does not is taking minutes from one that does.
Pick far fewer questions than are on this page
Divide the minutes by the people. Ninety minutes with eight participants is about eleven minutes of talking time each, before you have said a word yourself. Most sessions have room for a round of warm-up, a handful of main questions and a close, with the probes used as needed. Choose two or three from each group here and mark which ones you would drop if time runs short.
Go from easy to hard, and from general to specific
Open with questions anyone can answer, move to what people have done, then to what they think of it, and only then show a concept. A group that sees the new idea first will spend the rest of the session talking about it, and you will lose their account of how things are today.
Put similar people in the same room
People speak more freely among others in the same position. Managers with their own staff, teachers with parents, or long-time members with first-timers tend to produce one group deferring to the other. If you need both views, hold a group for each.
Settle consent, recording and incentives first
Rules on recording, consent, working with children and paying participants differ by country, sector and institution. Ask your organization, your client or your ethics board how it works there before you recruit. At the start of the session, tell participants who is listening, what is being recorded and what will be kept.
Wording that does not lead the group
Take the answer out of the question
'How much do you love the new layout?' has already decided that they love it. 'What do you make of the new layout?' has not. Read each question in your guide and ask whether a participant could tell from it what you hope to hear. If they could, rewrite it.
Ask one thing at a time
'Was it easy to find and good value?' is two questions, and the group will answer whichever is easier. Split it. The pairs on this page, such as 'which would you choose, and what tipped it?', work because the second half follows from the first.
Offer both ends or neither
'Good or bad', 'if at all' and 'a small annoyance, or a reason to leave' leave the participant free to land anywhere. Naming only one end, as in 'what problems have you had?', tells them a problem is expected, and most people will find one to be helpful.
Keep your own reactions level
'Great point' after one answer and silence after the next is a signal, and the group reads it within minutes. Use the same 'thank you' for praise and for criticism. If observers are in the room, ask them beforehand to keep their faces still too.
Do not explain or defend
When a participant gets the product or the program wrong, the misunderstanding is the finding. Correcting it, or explaining why a decision was made, turns the session into a presentation. Ask what gave them that impression and write the answer down.
Running the room
Write first, then talk
For any question where you want each person's own view, such as a first reaction, the one change they would make or a choice between versions, hand out cards and give a minute of silence. Then go around. It is the simplest protection against the table adopting the first opinion it hears.
When one voice takes over
Thank them, then turn your body and your question elsewhere: 'Who has had a different experience?' Seating helps too. A talkative participant placed next to the moderator is out of the moderator's eye line and gets less encouragement than one sitting opposite.
Bringing in quiet participants
Quiet is not the same as having nothing to say. Use the go-around, invite a side of the table instead of one person, or tie the invitation to a nod or a note. An easy factual question is a kinder way in than 'you have been quiet, what do you think?'
Let silence work
After a question, wait. Five seconds feels long to the moderator and short to someone still forming an answer. The second wave of answers, after the quick ones have been given, is often the more considered one.
Share the note-taking
A moderator who is writing is not watching the table. Bring a second person to take notes, mark who said what and write lists on the board. Even with a recording, their notes on nods, laughter and who went silent are things the audio does not hold.
If the group meets on video
The same questions work, but the tools change. A card becomes a chat message that everyone types and sends on your count, so nobody reads an answer before giving their own. A gesture toward one side of the table becomes calling on two people by name. Only one person can be heard at a time on a call, so consider inviting fewer people than you would seat in a room, and ask them to keep cameras on if they are comfortable doing so.
Making sense of what you heard
Do not count heads
A focus group shows the range of views and the reasons behind them. It cannot tell you how common each view is among everyone you serve. 'Several people raised the cost of parking, and here is why it mattered' is a fair report. 'Six in eight' invites the reader to treat it as a survey.
Keep what people did apart from what they predict
Accounts of last week are sturdier than promises about next month. In the write-up, separate the stories of real use from the reactions to a concept, and say plainly that interest stated in a group is a reason to test further, not a forecast.
Debrief the same day
Sit down with the note-taker and any observers straight afterward and agree on the three or four things that stood out, and on anything that surprised you. Do it before reading the transcript. First impressions fade quickly, and they are a useful check on what the transcript seems to say later.
Run more than one group
One session is one conversation, shaped by whoever happened to speak first. If time and budget allow, hold at least two with each kind of participant and compare them. When a new group stops telling you anything new, you have probably heard enough.