BoardSnap is an iOS app that reads whiteboard photos and produces clean summaries and action items in about ten seconds. This focus group agenda template structures a 60–90 minute group discussion — agenda, discussion topics, participant capture grid, and key findings — on a whiteboard the facilitator works from and then snaps.
Use this when you need to understand group dynamics, shared perceptions, or how people influence each other's opinions — not when you need deep individual narratives (use user interviews for that). Focus groups work well for: concept testing with a group, exploring reactions to marketing messages, or understanding community-level norms around a behavior.
Budget 90 minutes for the session. Run no more than eight participants — more than eight and the facilitator loses control of the conversation.
Write the session flow on the board before participants arrive: welcome (5 min), introductions (5 min), warm-up exercise (10 min), core discussion topics (45–60 min), wrap-up and next steps (10 min). Time-box every segment. The facilitator should be able to glance at the board and know where the session is in the schedule.
Write three to four discussion topics in order. Each topic is a prompt, not a question — broader than an interview question to invite multiple perspectives. 'Tell me about how you currently handle [task]' is a discussion topic. For each topic: write two to three follow-on questions the facilitator can use to deepen the discussion if it stalls.
Write the group norms on the board where participants can see them: all perspectives welcome, no right or wrong answers, one person speaks at a time, what's shared here stays here. Read these aloud at the start of the session. The working agreements are especially important for sensitive topics.
A grid with participant codes (P1–P8) as rows and key topics as columns. The note-taker marks each participant's position on each topic as the discussion progresses. This allows post-session analysis of whether opinions were convergent or divergent — which is often the most important finding.
A section the facilitator and note-taker fill during the session: patterns, surprises, and quotes that stand out. These are captured in real time — not reconstructed from memory or a recording. The emerging themes section is the raw material for the post-session synthesis.
All five sections should be on the board when people walk in. The working agreements should be visible from the participant seats. The agenda shows participants that the session has a structure — and signals that their time will be used well.
Before the core discussion: a quick exercise that gets everyone talking without the pressure of the main topic. 'In two words, describe how you currently feel about [topic area]' is a warm-up. It's not analytical — it's warming up the vocal cords and the comfort level.
Move through topics in order. Don't skip or reorder based on conversation flow — the order is deliberate. If a topic generates rich discussion, give it more time, but don't abandon topics 3 and 4 entirely. Partial coverage of all topics is usually more valuable than complete coverage of two topics.
When one participant dominates: direct questions to quieter participants explicitly. 'I'd love to hear from someone we haven't heard from yet.' Write the technique on the board as a facilitator reminder — it's easy to forget when you're managing the conversation and the clock.
The note-taker writes themes on the board as they emerge — not complete sentences, just key words and phrases. The facilitator can reference these to deepen the discussion: 'Someone mentioned [theme]. Does that resonate with others?'
After the session: snap the board. BoardSnap reads the agenda, discussion topics, working agreements, participant grid, and emerging themes. The output is a structured focus group summary — themes identified, participant positions captured.
Focus group notes taken on a laptop during the session are filtered by the note-taker's interpretation. Notes taken on a whiteboard — visible to the facilitator, note-taker, and sometimes participants — are verified in real time. The emerging themes section on the board is the rawest, least interpreted data you'll have.
BoardSnap captures it before the session ends. The structured summary is available before the participants have left the building.
A user interview is one-on-one and produces deep individual narratives. A focus group is a group discussion and produces insights about shared perceptions, group dynamics, and how opinions form and shift under social influence. User interviews are generally more reliable for understanding individual behavior; focus groups are useful for understanding communal attitudes and testing messages or concepts that will be experienced in a social context.
Six to eight participants. Fewer than five and the group dynamic doesn't develop. More than eight and the facilitator can't give everyone enough air time, and quieter participants become observers rather than contributors. For highly sensitive topics, smaller groups (four to five) allow more trust to develop.
It depends on the goal. Participants who know each other have established social dynamics that may suppress honest responses. Strangers with shared characteristics (same role, same industry) often produce more candid discussion. For most product research, recruit participants who don't know each other but share the relevant user characteristic.
The free tier includes one project and 30 boards. Pro is $9.99/month or $69.99/year for unlimited boards and AI chat.
The individual alternative to the focus group — for deeper individual narratives.
The broader research planning framework that the focus group sits within.
Get structured feedback on a design — an internal version of feedback collection.
No exporting, no transcription. Snap the board, get the action plan.