The Use of Focus Groups for User Requirements Analysis

Past research has established that human factors guidelines following traditional formats for presenting information are not useful and are often ignored by designers. Within the human factors community, there is considerable uncertainty and concern regarding the nature and utility of human factors handbooks and guidelines materials. Indeed, many existing human factors reference materials have been criticized by designers for being “too wordy”, “too general,” and “too hard to understand.” The development of clear, relevant, and useful human factors guidelines requires a judicious mix of science and art to overcome such criticisms. This paper describes an on going effort to develop clear, relevant, and easy-to-use guidelines for the design of Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) and Commercial Vehicle Operations (CVO). It focuses on the methods and results of a user requirements analysis conducted to identify the appropriate content, organization, and format of the ATIS/CVO guidelines.

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Integrated Multi-Dimensional User Requirements Analysis: Transit Information Application

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193120404802103 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 48 (21) ◽

pp. 2456-2460

Author(s):

Joel B. Richman ◽

Chris Cluett ◽

Susan M. Bregman ◽

Alvah C. Bittner

Keyword(s):

Requirements Analysis ◽

User Requirements

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A disassembly user requirements analysis method, tools and validated examples

Conference Record 2002 IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment (Cat. No.02CH37273) ◽

10.1109/isee.2002.1003253 ◽

2003 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

P.G. Ranky ◽

R.J. Caudill ◽

K. Limaye ◽

N. Alli ◽

S. ChamyVelumani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Requirements Analysis ◽

User Requirements ◽

Analysis Method

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Robot–human rescue teams: a user requirements analysis

Advanced Robotics ◽

10.1163/1568553055011519 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 19 (8) ◽

pp. 819-838 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Frauke Driewer ◽

Herbert Baier ◽

Klaus Schilling

Keyword(s):

Requirements Analysis ◽

User Requirements

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Acceptability of a Plasticity-Focused Serious Game Intervention for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: User Requirements Analysis (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.11909 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Matthew Jones ◽

Alena Denisova ◽

Stephen Mitchell ◽

Tom Owen

Keyword(s):

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ◽

Focus Group ◽

Mobile Phone ◽

Posttraumatic Stress ◽

Stress Disorder ◽

Psychological Trauma ◽

Requirements Analysis ◽

Serious Game ◽

User Requirements ◽

Service Users

BACKGROUND Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) is a first-line treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite a solid evidence base, TF-CBT response and attrition rates vary considerably. Plasticity-focused interventions, including the use of serious games, have the potential to improve TF-CBT response and treatment retention. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to assess the acceptability of a mobile phone–delivered plasticity-focused serious game to improve response to TF-CBT for PTSD, and carry out a user requirements analysis should the development of a prototype be warranted. METHODS We conducted 2 one-to-one interviews (n=2), one focus group involving service users who had received a diagnosis of PTSD (n=3) and one focus group involving psychological trauma service clinicians (n=4). RESULTS We found that the concept of a plasticity-focused mobile phone intervention for PTSD is acceptable to patients and clinicians. Service users and clinicians both believed that the usage should be guided by a therapist, and both contributed useful inputs regarding the audiovisual aspects of the proposed serious game. It was accepted that the game would not be suitable for all patients and that clinicians would need to appropriately prescribe the usage of the game. CONCLUSIONS The findings highlight the acceptability of the proposed serious game and clarify the user requirements for such an intervention. It is the intention of the authors to carry out a user experience evaluation using a prototype serious game in a clinical population.

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