Focus Group: Requirements Gathering for Fitness Tracking App

Date: [Insert Date]
Duration: 2 hours
Facilitator: [Your Name]
Participants:

1. Fitness enthusiasts (3 people)
2. Personal trainers (2 people)
3. Health and wellness coaches (2 people)
   Location: [Specify Location or “Virtual Meeting Platform”]

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Objective

1. Understand the needs and expectations of potential users for the fitness tracking app.
2. Identify key features that would make the app appealing and useful.
3. Collect feedback on user preferences for tracking workouts, nutrition, and overall health.

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Preparation

1. Prepare a discussion guide with key topics and questions.
2. Set up the room with comfortable seating, refreshments (if in-person), and a whiteboard or screen for notes and visuals.
3. Ensure all participants have a general idea of the app concept beforehand.

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Agenda

1. Introduction (15 minutes)
   • Welcome participants and introduce yourself and the research team.
   • Explain the purpose of the focus group and outline the agenda.
   • Set ground rules for the discussion (e.g., respect each other’s opinions, everyone gets a chance to speak).
2. Warm-Up Exercise (5 minutes)
   • Go around the room and ask each participant to introduce themselves and briefly describe their fitness routines.
   • Purpose: To get everyone comfortable and engaged.
3. Discussion Topics (90 minutes)Topic 1: Current Fitness Tracking Habits (15 minutes)
   • Questions:
     • “How do you currently track your fitness activities? Do you use any apps or tools?”
     • “What do you like or dislike about the current tools you use?”
   • Follow-Up: “What features do you wish they had?”
   Topic 2: Workout Tracking Features (20 minutes)
   • Questions:
     • “What are the most important features you would like in a workout tracking app?”
     • “Would you prefer to manually enter workouts or have an automatic tracking feature?”
   • Activity: Participants vote on their top three desired workout tracking features using sticky notes or a digital voting tool.
   Topic 3: Nutrition and Diet Tracking (20 minutes)
   • Questions:
     • “How do you track your meals and nutrition? What challenges do you face?”
     • “Would you find meal planning or nutrition tips valuable in the app?”
   • Follow-Up: “How important is integration with other health apps (e.g., MyFitnessPal)?”
   Topic 4: Health Metrics and Progress Tracking (15 minutes)
   • Questions:
     • “Which health metrics (e.g., weight, heart rate, sleep) are most important for you to track?”
     • “Would you like to see visual progress reports, and if so, in what format?”
   • Activity: Participants share ideas for how they would like progress to be visualized.
   Topic 5: Community and Social Features (20 minutes)
   • Questions:
     • “How important is it for you to share your fitness progress or participate in challenges with friends?”
     • “Would you use a community feature, like joining groups or challenges within the app?”
   • Follow-Up: “What kind of privacy settings would you want?”
4. Wrap-Up and Open Discussion (10 minutes)
   • Ask if anyone has additional thoughts or features they’d like to suggest.
   • Thank participants for their time and input.
   • Explain the next steps and how their feedback will be used.

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Key Insights from the Focus Group

1. Workout Tracking: Participants emphasized the need for both manual entry and automatic tracking options, especially for activities like running and weightlifting.
2. Nutrition Tracking: Users are interested in meal planning features, but want it to be simple and not overwhelming. Integration with other nutrition apps is a must.
3. Health Metrics: Sleep tracking and heart rate monitoring were highly requested, along with customizable progress reports.
4. Community Features: The idea of social challenges was appealing, but participants stressed the importance of strong privacy settings and controls.

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Follow-Up Actions

1. Document and analyze the feedback to prioritize features for the app.
2. Discuss the feasibility of key requests with the development team.
3. Plan for a prototype development based on the top-rated features and schedule a follow-up focus group or user testing session.