Best practice groups have been created and crafted by a skilled moderator. The best groups become a self-sustaining world in which 7 or 8 people - probably strangers - collaborate, create and debate as equals to help solve someone else's very specific brief. Skilled moderators turn a collection of disparate individuals into a group with a shared purpose.
We shouldn't forget how amazing the best groups can be! At the time it feels like weaving with silk - and the best indepth interviews work similarly.
Best practice research goes beyond questions.
To discover the things that consumers do not know about themselves - the things they cannot tell you - requires, of course, the full range of questioning techniques: visual, verbal, aural, stimulus-driven and imaginary. Leaving it there though means the job is only half done; analysis is the crucial step between describing the experience and interpretation. Our mantra is "you should end up with less". You can't achieve less without analysis.
Best practice reporting means converting consumer 'talk' into effective management decisions.
This means the researcher working with clients, as much as everyone's time permits, before, during and after the project. It means the researcher being there in the 'back room' before, during and after the group to make sure the project stays on track - and inviting clients to share in the interviewing process as much as possible. If our client can't make the right decision efficiently and with confidence, then we have not delivered the best that we can do.
