25-02-2016, 03:10 PM
What does this technique do?
G roup discussions help to summarise the ideas and information that a group of informants may come to hold as a group, rather than the i n f o rmation held by the individual members. The general idea is that each participant can act to stimulate ideas in the other people present ,and that by a process of discussion the collective view becomes greater than the sum of the individual parts.
When to use them
G roup discussions can be used to serve a variety of purposes, and may be used to assist in problem identification, in clarifying the issues relevant to a particular topic, and in the evaluation of products. Group discussions form a part of such techniques as Brainstorming and Focus groups, and these will be discussed in turn. Group discussions are very common in the “User requirement” stage of product development.
Brainstorming
B r a i n s t o rming is an essentially creative exercise, where groups of p a rticipants are brought together to explore a common issue and to look for possible solutions. The idea of a brainstorm exercise is that each participant is allowed to be creative in their ideas, and that other participants are not allowed to criticise others contributions. The idea is that such loose ideas may spark some association in the minds of other participants and that as a result some creative solutions to ap roblem may be identified. Brainstorming is commonly used at the early stages of design in order to explore possible development o p p o rtunities (see the specific section on Brainstorming ) .
Focus Groups
Focus groups bring together participants to discuss a particular topic, and differ from brainstorming sessions in that the objective of the meeting in not necessarily to be creative, but rather to come to some a g reement re g a rding a particular topic or issue. For example, focus g roups have been used in the assistive technology field to identify the i m p o rtant features that a product should have, and to evaluate how successful a particular product is likely to be. A variation on the use of focus groups is to combines the characteristics of individual i n t e rviews with group based techniques. A re s e a rcher might first interview a number of participants on a particular topic, to then summarise those personal interviews, and then use the results as a basis for further interviews or a group discussion with the original participants. The idea behind this is that the individual interviews allow each participant to contribute to the ensuing discussion, where the collective opinions can be explored in more detail.
Who can use them
T h e re are no specific requirements for the participants, apart from them having some knowledge of the discussion area. For complex issues it can be useful to have discussion groups which are multidisciplinary, so that d i ff e rent perspectives and viewpoints can be aired, whilst for other purposes relatively homogenous groups might be pre f e rred. Whatever their composition group discussions need to be carefully led, and need a facilitator or leader who ensures that the group continue discussing the topic of interest and that all participants contribute. The quality of the discussions depend on how the group is led and it is important for the leader to have participated in similar groups. However this should not p revent an organisation from arranging its first group discussion.
What re s o u rces are needed
G roup discussions are commonly arranged to last for two or three hours, extending up to a couple of days for complex issues. Shorter meetings can often be more effective than longer ones as many people have d i fficulty in finding the time or maintaining concentration for more than two or three hours. This is true for the fully able participant, and for certain disability groups even shorter sessions will be required, and a number of short discussions rather than a single large one might need to be considered. The preparation for a group discussion can also take time, particularly if a number of people have to be consulted re g a rding their availability to take part. A discussion group commonly needs a couple of person days for preparation, and similar re s o u rces are needed for summarising the results of the discussion and producing a report .