The Meetup for this week will include a focus group session. This type of session is a tool to gather data in a structured multi-person setting. Focus groups are usually small and moderated by one or two people who keep the group on topic, take notes, and ask questions. The sessions are short and focused on a specific topic.
One of the members is designing a smartphone healthcare app and will use the focus group format to gather ideas about organizing information within the app. Patients and healthcare providers each have different information needs. The session will be used to explore ways to transition the software between views of data important for patients and those important for healthcare providers, without disrupting normal communication during a face-to-face interaction. If you have ideas and want to help out, please join us this Thursday.