Using the ideas of participatory design workshops, combine with IDEO’s focus on the more extreme and less typical users, Unfocus Groups bring people together to express their needs through construction and participation rather than through words.

So often these days one hears people say that one should not use groups, but there are occasions where the interaction of a group reveals user needs that no one-on-one observation could reveal.

Just as it is possible to do design research observations badly, so it is possible to use groups to good effect. 

In an Unfocus Group, it is important that everyone understand that the goal is not to focus on a good concept, but to generate and reflect on divergent options.

One common practice in focus group research is to have a group of participants from one market segment (even just one gender perhaps), whereas an Unfocus Group looks for the collisions of ideas from people with differing backgrounds and experiences.

Similarly, in many groups one or two individuals dominate the discussions and can set the group direction – but this isn’t inevitable. A good Unfocus Group  will be designed to give everyone a chance to speak (or act, or draw, or write) and to be attended to.