Focus groups are ridiculous, so try an “unfocus” group instead.
Nikki Anderson is a UX experience researcher. If you need to convince anyone not to invest in, nor rely on, conventional focus groups, she’s written the argument.
Better, she’s got an alternative. “The goal of the unfocus group is to get a broader range of opinions and feedback about a product. During this time, the participants are told they will be having an open-ended conversation about a very loose objective, such as the intersection between communication, medical information and technology (or whatever your company is trying to understand). You bring in participants who are on the tails of the normal distribution curve, in order to gather more diverse feedback.
"The combination of this more “unusual” group and the ability to have a real, open-ended conversation with little agenda, there is a higher potential for more creativity and true insights to emerge.”
Article: I’ll Say It: Focus Groups Suck.