Module 6: Lab 3 Focus Groups

In this lab, I will design the audience personas I made with the appropriate visual vernacular, and also take my personas and make them into cards. The second step, I will interview my participants, run a focus group session, and collect data for analysis.

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Personas

I used a mesh graphic element of dots and lines to connect pictures of people with pictures of pets to symbolize the relationship between pet owners and pets, while the two figures on the outermost spectrum of the audience were not associated with pictures of pets to representThere is no connection between them and the pet.

Audience Statement

Primary Audience

In this lab, I designed eight prototypes to create characters through the demographic, defining characteristics, and lifestyle stages. Based on the different positioning of these eight prototypes in the spectrum, I determined that my main audience is the people planning to own pets, and the age range is between 20-45 years old.

Stakeholders

This project is about helping pet owners live with their pets better, so any product, organization, business or individual that is related to pet life and pet-pet owner relationship may become a stakeholder. They may be pet hospitals/veterinarians, pet breeders, pet health products, pet medical insurance, pet food, pet training schools.

Interview

My focus group session consisted of three participants, Lexi (four-year pet owner), Yao (novice pet owner), and Ming (potential pet owner). The session lasted fifty-two minutes. At the beginning of the meeting, the participants were asked to sign the informed consent form, and after a brief self-introduction of the three participants, they entered the question-and-answer session, involving a total of six questions.

Questions:

1: Can you describe your attitude towards pets or your experience with pets? (Do you have any memorable stories?)

2: What preparations do you do before getting a pet?

3: Do you think it is important for pet owners to have a better life with their pets?

4: What do you think is the most important thing you need to do to live better with your pets?

5: Are there any tools that will help you learn about pets while you are raising or preparing to raise pets?

6: What do you think is the biggest difficulty or frustration in living with pets?

Timeline:

Gathering ( 13:00 -13:06 )

> Writing name tages

> Signing inform consent form

Introduction ( 13:06- 13:15 )

> Topic brief

> Self introduction

Question 1: Can you describe your attitude towards pets or your experience with pets? Or do you have any memorable stories? ( 13:15 - 13:19 )

> Lexi: I have had a ragdoll cat for four years, and I think my cat and I are in an equal relationship, she is free.She also accompanied me.

> Yao: I have only had pets for a few months and I consider pets to be human companions.But there are also many problems in the process of getting along with them, my pet always scratches my sofa.

> Ming: I have a lot of friends who have pets and I think their pets are cute, so this inspired me to have pets.

> Insight: People perceive pets as cute and want to have pets because of the good side of pets displayed by other pet owners.

Question 2: What preparations do you do before getting a pet? ( 13:19-13: 28)

> Ming: I scoured the web for pictures of pets, the pros and cons of each breed and their prices. Also, I checked my apartment's pet policy.

> Yao: I searched on Zhihu (a comprehensive Chinese forum) on how to deal with pets, searched YouTube for comparisons of pet food, and went to pet stores to buy toys.

> Lexi: I first learned about the pros and cons of this breed from friends who also have Ragdolls, because I think the information I get from people who have raised this breed is the most authentic.As a second step, I followed bloggers and breeders of Ragdoll cats on YouTube.In the third step, I finally chose a trustworthy breeder according to the breeding environment of different breeders, pedigree certificate and pet physical examination.

> Me: How did you determine if the breeder was trustworthy?

> Lexi: I not only check the various certificates they provide, such as pedigree, physical examination, etc., I also communicate with each breeder to understand their philosophy and attitude towards pets.

> Insight: People with years of pet ownership have more comprehensive preparation and a better understanding of how to be adequately prepared. For example, about the diseases and feeding practices of specific breeds of pets, as well as the correct selection of breeders and pet behaviors. However, new pet owner and potential pet owner rely on social media as a tool for information on what they need to prepare.

Question 3: Do you think it is important for pet owners to have a better life with their pets? ( 13:28-13:35)

> Ming: I think it's important.Because pets bring me company and happiness.This feeling will be stronger if you have a better life with your pet.Yao: I also think this is important.Because at the moment my pet and I are living, we are constantly adapting and changing to each other.

> Me: Can you give an example?Yao: For example, I am adapting to my pet's schedule, because it is still young and always wakes up early and wakes me up, hoping I can play with it.The sofa in my house has also been changed from a leather sofa to a cloth sofa.

> Lexi: I think it is very necessary.Like I mentioned before, I think the relationship between people and pets is equal.If we live better with our pets, pets will be happier, and pet owners will be happier as a result. A better life with pets, in other words, I think is a more balanced relationship between people and pets..

> Insight: Everyone agrees that this is important. Potential pet owner thinks this is important because he can get more pleasure and company. Experienced pet owner starts from the perspective of mutual relationship, on the other hand, she believes that a better life with pets can make the relationship between people and pets more equal and balanced.

Question 4: What do you think is the most important thing you need to do to live better with your pets? (13: 35- 44)

> Ming: I don't have pets yet, so I don't know what's the most important thing.

> Yao: I think the most important thing is to learn and understand the behavior of pets, we have to learn how to give proper instructions.

> Lexi: I think the most important thing as pet owners is that we need to have the right mindset that pets are just pets.For example, when we see other people's pets on the Internet being very human, it does not mean that every pet is like this, and every pet has different personalities and characteristics.Pet owners should not have unrealistic fantasies about their pets.

> Insight: Potential pet owners don't know what's most important to living a better life with their pets.Experienced pet owners believe that the most important thing is not to have fantasies about pets, but to understand their pet's personality and characteristics.

Question 5: Are there any tools that will help you learn about pets while you are raising or preparing to raise pets? (13: 44- 13:52)

> Ming: I mostly get information on YouTube.

> Yao: I use pet forums and YouTube.

> Me: How did you determine that the information in these social media was accurate?> Ming: I determine it based on the number of likes. I think the more likes, the more trustworthy it is.

> Yao: Me too. And I will also refer to the number of followers and subscriptions of the blogger.

> Lexi: I get information through frequent exchanges with veterinarians.Because pet health is a very important issue, pet sickness means that pet owners need to spend more energy and expenses.By communicating with veterinarians more, I can learn a lot of health concepts and knowledge and avoid some potential diseases.

> Insight: Both potential pet owners and novice pet owners rely on social media and forums.They use the blogger's subscriptions and likes to determine if the information is accurate.Experienced pet owners will obtain information directly from professional pet industry professionals.

Question 6: What do you think is the biggest difficulty or frustration in living with pets? (13:52-14:02)

> Ming: My parents' prejudice against pets is my biggest difficulty. Their thinking is outdated.

> Me: Can you give an example?

> Ming: For example, they think pets are dirty and they will mess up the house. Pets are expensive.

> Me: So what do you think about these issues?

> Ming: I think there is a solution to this.

> Yao: I think the biggest difficulty is that my pet and my routine are different.

> Me: So do you think this is a solvable problem?

> Yao: I think my routine is very difficult to change. As for my pet, it is still young and very active, so it cannot be changed for the time being. But I think a lot of automatic devices can help alleviate this, like automatic feeders so I don't have to get up early to feed.

> Lexi: I think the hardest part is not understanding the needs and thinking of pets. Sometimes I feel like there is no way to communicate with them. We need to learn more about pet behavior and understand the signals they send.

> Insight: Modern technology can help pet owners solve many problems. However, the concept of treating pets needs to be continuously improved. Even years old pet owners still don't understand pet behavior.

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