Guide
Five alternatives to focus groups
Five research methods teams use instead of focus groups: AI-moderated one-to-one interviews, asynchronous interviews, online communities and panels, human-moderated depth interviews and diary studies. Each comes with its main strength and its main limit, so you can match one to your question, budget and timeline. Koji runs the first option, with voice or text interviews that ask follow-up questions.
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What's in this guide
- AI-moderated one-to-one interviews: Each person answers alone, so there is no groupthink. The AI asks follow-ups and pulls out the themes for you.
- Asynchronous interviews: People record answers to set questions in their own time. Works across time zones, but there is no live follow-up.
- Online research communities and panels: Good for tracking the same people over months. Members tend to be your keenest customers, so expect selection bias.
- Human-moderated depth interviews: People speak freely without a group, but sessions are slow and costly and usually need a research team.
- Diary studies: Participants log what they do over one to two weeks, which captures habits in context. Keeping them going is hard.
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<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/focus-group-alternatives-five-methods">Five alternatives to focus groups</a>, Koji</p>
