Focus Group 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Prompts

Purpose: Focus groups help UX teams collect qualitative insights by facilitating structured group discussions around user attitudes, preferences, and behaviours.

Design Thinking Phase: Empathise

Time: 45–60 min session + 1–2 hours analysis

Difficulty: ⭐⭐

When to use:When you need rapid collective feedback from multiple usersWhen refining early concepts or validating design directionsWhen uncovering social dynamics or behavioural motivations

What it is

A focus group is a moderated discussion with 5–8 participants that helps UX designers explore user perceptions, emotional responses, needs, and shared experiences. It’s not a usability test — it’s exploratory and driven by conversation.

📺 Video by NNgroup. Embedded for educational reference.

Why it matters

Focus groups help product designers understand not just what users do, but how they think and feel. Hearing participants bounce ideas off each other surfaces valuable nuances — themes that surveys often miss. This method supports ideation and early validation, enabling richer empathy and more targeted solutions.

When to use

• Exploring unvalidated problem spaces or user needs
• Gathering qualitative feedback on early concepts or prototypes
• Identifying group-based attitudes toward new or existing systems

Benefits

• Rich Insights: Helps uncover user needs that aren’t visible in metrics.
• Flexibility: Works across various project types and timelines.
• User Empathy: Deepens understanding of behaviours and motivations.

How to use it

1. Define your goal: What decision does this focus group inform? Pinpoint your learning objectives and what success looks like.
2. Recruit participants: Aim for 5–8 users with shared contexts. Include diversity of thought within that niche.
3. Develop a discussion guide: Structure the session around 5–7 open-ended questions. Use themes, not scripts.
4. Choose a facilitator + notetaker: One leads, one observes. This ensures cleaner insights without missed cues.
5. Run your session: Create an open, judgment-free environment. Encourage depth over speed.
6. Debrief internally: Within 24hrs, extract key patterns, quotes, tensions, and surprises.
7. Synthesise into insights: Use affinity mapping to turn raw discussion into usable findings.

Example Output

Session Goal: Explore user trust and behavioural concerns with a new biometric authentication flow.

Finding 1: Participants expressed hesitation about face data being reused for marketing. Three of seven preferred a PIN fallback.

Finding 2: Users were confused by the dual-authentication language. Terms like “secure your face ID” caused concern rather than clarity.

Quote: “If it’s secure, why do I need to do another check?”

Design Implication: Align security language more closely with mental models. Build opt-out control into onboarding.

Common Pitfalls

• Groupthink Bias: Over-agreeing is common. Use private opinion polling to reveal contrasts.
• Overmoderation: Avoid leading questions. Let participants drive the narrative where possible.
• Neglecting Outliers: Minority responses often hold innovative seeds. Don’t discard edge-cases too quickly.

10 Design-Ready AI Prompts for Focus Group – UX/UI Edition

How These Prompts Work (C.S.I.R. Framework)

Each of the templates below follows the C.S.I.R. method — a proven structure for writing clear, effective prompts that get better results from ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or any other LLM.

C.S.I.R. stands for:

• Context: Who you are and the UX situation you're working in
• Specific Info: Key design inputs, tasks, or constraints the AI should consider
• Intent: What you want the AI to help you achieve
• Response Format: The structure or format you want the AI to return (e.g. checklist, table, journey map)

Level up your career with smarter AI prompts.Get templates used by UX leaders — no guesswork, just results.Design faster, research smarter, and ship with confidence.First one’s free. Unlock all 10 by becoming a member.

Prompt Template 1: “Design a Focus Group Discussion Guide:”

Design a Focus Group Discussion Guide:

Context: You are a Senior UX Researcher preparing to conduct a focus group on [user interaction] with a [new product feature or digital experience].  
Specific Info: The target participants are [persona or user type], and the focus is on [usability, trust, motivations, etc.].  
Intent: Create a conversational guide with opening, probing, and wrap-up questions to lead a 60-minute discussion.  
Response Format: Return a numbered list of questions grouped by intro, core, and conclusion. Include one probing technique per section.

If the feature's purpose or audience is unclear, ask clarifying questions before generating questions.  
Then, suggest 1 provocative question to spark unexpected insights.

Prompt Template 2: “Summarise Key Themes from Raw Discussion Notes:”

Summarise Key Themes from Raw Discussion Notes:

Context: You are a UX Designer reviewing notes from a focus group exploring [user experience issue].  
Specific Info: The notes include input from [X participants], with mentions of [repeated behaviours, concerns, or emotions].  
Intent: Identify major themes, contrasts, and recurring language to feed into product decisions.  
Response Format: Provide a table with 3 columns: Theme, Supporting Quotes, and Potential Insight.

Flag any ambiguities or gaps that need clarifying. Offer 1 idea to validate these findings quantitatively.

Prompt Template 3: “Translate Session Findings into Design Opportunities:”

Translate Session Findings into Design Opportunities:

Context: You’re a UX Lead turning focus group insights into actionable concepts for [service/app/process].  
Specific Info: You captured themes like [pain points, emotional triggers, behavioural gaps].  
Intent: Map each insight to a design implication or concept idea to explore further.  
Response Format: Use a bulleted list categorised by Opportunity Area, Insight, and Suggested Intervention.

Ask for clarification if user goals or business constraints need to be factored in.  
Propose 1 next step for ideation or prototyping.

Prompt Template 4: “Craft Recruitment Criteria for Focus Group Participants:”

Craft Recruitment Criteria for Focus Group Participants:

Context: You are designing a screener survey to recruit participants for a focus group on [specific experience or industry].  
Specific Info: The ideal users are [demographics, behaviours, attitudes]. Key concerns include [availability, articulation, relevance].  
Intent: Create a 4–6 item screener with inclusive but targeted questions.  
Response Format: Return a numbered screener list plus do's/don'ts for recruitment.

Highlight questions that may exclude important edge-cases.

Prompt Template 5: “Generate Post-Session Debrief Questions for Teams:”

Generate Post-Session Debrief Questions for Teams:

Context: After a focus group on [topic], the design team is meeting to reflect and plan a response.  
Specific Info: Trends included positive feedback on [X], mixed reactions to [Y], and concerns about [Z].  
Intent: Stimulate cross-functional thinking using guided reflection prompts.  
Response Format: Provide 5 questions for debriefing, plus one framing statement.

Invite diverse perspectives (e.g. design, research, product, engineering).

Prompt Template 6: “Create Consent and Ethics Notes for Focus Group Sessions:”

Create Consent and Ethics Notes for Focus Group Sessions:

Context: You are a UX Researcher preparing session materials in compliance with data ethics and user consent.  
Specific Info: You will be recording audio, retaining quotes, and storing anonymised data.  
Intent: Draft concise participant briefing points and a participant consent checklist.  
Response Format: Provide 2 sections — ‘What Participants Should Know’ and ‘Consent Checklist’.

Add any reminder about psychological safety or opt-out guidance if missing.

Prompt Template 7: “Compare Focus Groups vs 1:1 Interviews for a Specific Study Goal:”

Compare Focus Groups vs 1:1 Interviews for a Specific Study Goal:

Context: You're evaluating research methods for exploring [type of user behaviour or emotional experience].  
Specific Info: The product is at [exploratory/validation] stage with limited access to end users.  
Intent: Decide whether a focus group or 1:1 interviews best suit this situation.  
Response Format: Return a pros/cons matrix with a tailored recommendation.

Suggest 1 hybrid approach if neither method alone is ideal.

Prompt Template 8: “Reframe Research Questions for More Conversational Discussion:”

Reframe Research Questions for More Conversational Discussion:

Context: You are moderating a focus group and want to avoid leading, technical, or abstract questions.  
Specific Info: The current guide includes prompts like [insert examples].  
Intent: Reword them to encourage storytelling and participant-led input.  
Response Format: Provide a table with Original Question, Reworded Version, and Why It Works.

Highlight language that may bias user responses.

Prompt Template 9: “Extract Emotional Archetypes from Group Feedback:”

Extract Emotional Archetypes from Group Feedback:

Context: You’ve captured a range of emotional expressions in a focus group about [service/feature/problem space].  
Specific Info: Some participants expressed [emotions or behaviours].  
Intent: Identify emotional archetypes that reflect distinct engagement styles.  
Response Format: Describe 3–4 archetypes with names, traits, and design considerations.

Ask follow-up if participant motivations are ambiguous.

Prompt Template 10: “Summarise Focus Group Outcomes for Exec Stakeholders:”

Summarise Focus Group Outcomes for Exec Stakeholders:

Context: You need to deliver a short insights brief from a focus group about [strategic UX topic] to non-research leaders.  
Specific Info: Key insights affect [roadmap decision, customer experience goal, retention bottleneck].  
Intent: Translate qualitative data into concise, high-impact talking points.  
Response Format: Return a one-page executive summary with 3 insights, 3 quotes, and 3 design implications.

Avoid jargon. Highlight business value clearly.

Recommended Tools

• Dovetail – Analyse focus group transcripts and find patterns faster
• Lookback – Record, stream and moderate live user conversations
• Maze – Combine qualitative and quantitative insights post-session
• Otter – Auto-transcription with solid accuracy for moderated sessions

Learn More

• NNGroup: UX Research & Design Articles
• Interaction Design Foundation – Topics
• Google Design Sprint Kit