The following features are included in every focus group (including free groups)...
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Asynchronous access
All FocusGroupIt focus groups are "asynchnonous," meaning they can occur over the span of many hours, days, weeks or even months (as long as you want). This has many benefits, including higher participation rates, more in-depth responses, participant convenience, easier moderation & more...
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Observer access
Invite anyone to observe what is happening in your focus groups (much like sitting behind the one-way mirror in a focus group room). Observers are never visible to participants and can only interact with other observers and the moderator.
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Observer comments
Observers can comment on any post in the discussion, helping to create a conversation around what you are learning in your focus group. Observer comments will never be seen by the participants - only fellow observers and the moderator can view or reply to observer comments.
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Open discussion questions
By default, all questions are set to "open" mode, which means all participants will be able to view and reply to each others' responses to that question. This is perfect for creating engaging discussions.
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Sequential questions
Participants must answer the moderator's questions in the order in which they were posted. This helps guide the conversation in a logical way, while ensuring participants don't skip questions.
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Unbiased questions
The moderator can choose to set a specific question as "unbiased," which forces the participant to answer before seeing the replies from the rest of the group. This feature eliminates "group think" and bias.
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Private questions
The moderator can choose to set a specific question as "private," which means participants will never see each others' replies to that question. This is ideal for sensitive topics like health or finances.
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Private groups
The moderator can choose to make any group a "private" group, which means participants must be approved one-by-one before they can join the group and participate in the discussion.
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Public groups
Public groups allow anyone with the secure group link to join without having to be approved by the moderator, leading to lower barriers to participation and potentially larger focus groups.
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Mobile & tablet access
All FocusGroupIt focus groups are accessible by any smartphone or tablet, without the inconvenience of having to download any apps. This on-the-go access and convenience leads to higher participation.
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Email activity reports
Moderators, participants and observers are kept in-the-loop about the progress of their focus groups through automated daily or weekly email updates, helping to sustain active participation.
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Messaging/notification system
The built-in messaging/notification system ensures that anyone who receives a comment directly to a reply of theirs will receive an email and a direct link to where the comment was made, making it easy and enjoyable to follow the discussion.
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Moderator file uploads
Moderators can upload files in a variety of formats (.PDF, .XLS, .PPT, .JPG, and more) to have participants evaluate or download content alongside a question. This feature is ideal for concept testing (ads, website mockups, etc.).
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Participant file uploads
Participants can upload files in .PDF, .XLS, .PPT and .JPG formats as a response to a question. This is useful for having participants create and share materials (e.g., collages, diaries) for selected exercises.
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Multi-language support
Focus groups can be run in local languages. The platform currently supports French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Czech, Finnish and Polish translations.
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Private replies
Participants can designate their replies as "private" if they do not feel comfortable sharing their opinion with the rest of the group. If a comment is "private," only the moderator will be able to view it.
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Reply sentiments
Each comment includes a link to "agree," prompting additional interaction between participants and allowing moderators, participants and observers to easily see which opinions are popular and shared among a majority of the group.
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Moderator messaging
Moderators are able to quickly and easily email the entire group at any time from within the focus group, which is useful for custom messages, reminders or general correspondence with the focus group.
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Participant anonymity
During sign-up, participants are able to choose how anonymous they want to be by either using their first name and last initial in the group (by default), or by choosing a pseudonym/handle to use during the discussion. This anonymity encourages participants to be open and honest in their responses.
