Abstract

In a scenario where technologies are centered in the everyday life, there is a need to use design methods to understand interactions and behaviors in daily activities. With this in mind, it is important to research how those methods are really employed in practice, for example, during the problem exploration step of the design process to understand what can potentially be improved and which quality of information one can expect. Aiming at that goal, this work investigates the technique of “Focus Group,” in the problem exploration phase of the design process. The methodology of analysis was based on the strategy of the “Sequential Analysis and Thematic Analysis Techniques” to understand how Focus Group is applied by designers and which quality of that data can come from those applications. The results showed several points in the pre-application, application and post-application phases of the technique, which can improve significantly the quality of the information obtained. Several suggestions on best practices, when using Focus Groups are proposed, based on the results of the experiments.