Top Tools: Video Interviews and Focus Groups

By Insight Platforms

• article

• Video Research
• Online Focus Groups and Forums
• Agile Qualitative Research
• Group Discussions/Focus Groups
• Online Focus Group Hosting

Video focus groups have seen a massive boom in the past few years. They offer a layer of flexibility that physical focus groups can’t. Research participants are asked to join a virtual room at a set time, with their webcams. It typically includes a similar number of participants to traditional focus groups (usually somewhere between 6-12) and has a similar format.

This method offers a range of benefits. It allows for more diversity in the group. Participants can live anywhere in the world to take part, provided they have access to a webcam and an internet connection. This also makes it easier to involve people in remote areas, which is often not feasible with face-to-face methodologies.

It also lets you integrate different participant engagement, such as polls, stimulus annotation, and private chats. You can share videos, links, and stimuli easily, and all interactions are automatically recorded.

If you’d like to know more about video research and how to use it, check out our article; What is Video Research?

If you’re now ready to find a platform for your own video focus groups, then you’ve come to the right place. Below we’ve collected the top tools for conducting video focus groups. This is not an exhaustive list – find more solutions by searching the Insight Platforms Directory. There’s also no hierarchy implied.

Solutions for Video Focus Groups

Before we start on the specialist platforms, it is worth covering the free options that are available. There are many different tools that can be used to host video focus groups, like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meets, and other video calling platforms.

These can be a great option if you haven’t got the budget to invest in specialist tools. They often provide features such as screen sharing, polls, and private chats. However, they are limited. They don’t offer observer spaces or provide any analytics tools, which many of the specialist platforms do. The other side of the coin is that most people will have access to them already, meaning research participants won’t have to download additional software.

Without further ado, here are the top tools for video focus groups.

Sago QualMeeting

Sago QualMeeting offers a range of video focus group features. The platform provides access to any respondent anywhere and offers high-definition output for sessions, enabling easy access to recorded content via a secure portal for analysis.

QualMeeting includes engagement features such as a virtual lobby and breakout rooms to divide respondents into smaller groups for focused discussions, brainstorming sessions, and other interactive activities.

Civicom CyberFacility

Civicom’s CyberFacility® is a tool for IDIs and focus groups. The platform integrates our proprietary audio conferencing technology with secure web rooms hosted in our private cloud. It offers a private chat functionality for client interactions, audio masking and video blurring for confidentiality, web room access in multiple languages, transcriptions via email or within the Glide Central platform, and built-in video insights tools for generating machine transcripts, creating video clips, and report generation using the Quillit AI™ reporting tool.

Researchers can also perform thorough technical checks for each respondent pre-session. Stimuli support allows for optimized visual presentations customized to preferences, combining various forms of stimuli into a single format. CyberFacility provides facilitation management support throughout the research sessions, handling project details, scheduling, and deliverables.

Discuss

The Discuss People Experience Platform allows researchers to conduct in-depth qualitative studies at scale, including online video focus groups. The tool’s video-first approach also features an AI assistant (Genie) delivering project-level composite summaries, themes, and instant session summaries.

The platform is also able to centralise video footage, generate auto-generated clips and in-depth insights with sentiment analysis, tagging, and theme finder. Researchers can upload any MP4, whether a Zoom, MS Teams, Go-To-Meeting, or other video recordings.

Indeemo

Indeemo is an in-the-moment resesearch platform that specialises in video research. It allows researchers to design flexible tasks for respondents using a broad range of features. Participants can share video, images or text and screen record, enabling omnichannel journey studies. Additionally, researchers can interact with participants in-the-moment with comments and push notifications, which can be sent from the moderator app.

Indeemo allows researchers to run multiple studies concurrently and is available in 10 languages. It also enables multiple qualitative research methodologies and offers enterprise grade security. For analysis, the platform features a Researcher Dashboard, which aggregates and organises uploads from respondents, using filters and search tools. It offers automated video transcription, keyword analysis and coding tools to save time on analysis. The dashboard can be shared with clients, colleagues, and recruiters.

Qualzy

Qualzy is a comprehensive qualitative research platform to conduct in-depth studies on participant behaviours and experiences. The tool allows researchers to run video focus groups and provides specialized tools like collection, analysis, transcription, translation, and editing into showreels to enhance research results. The platform supports projects in over 25 different languages.

Voxpopme

Voxpopme offers a comprehensive set of video focus group features designed to facilitate live conversations with consumers from anywhere. The platform enables real-time group discussions without geographical limitations.

With Voxpopme, researchers can engage their desired audience, curate questions effectively, and allocate appropriate time for discussions. Additionally, Voxpopme offers extra tools for concept testing, usage and attitude analysis, digital prototyping feedback, in-home usage testing, customer satisfaction evaluations, shopper missions, creative idea validation, win/loss analysis, and more.

Recollective

Recollective is a research tool for conducting online qualitative studies, including online focus groups. The platform’s Video Focus Groups feature lets researchers connect with up to 25 participants on any device and engage in live conversations to uncover insights.

Moderators can prepare content in advance to use as stimulus in the session in the form of text, polls, photos, videos and files. Both moderators and participants are able to share their screens. All Video Focus Groups include a private backroom and separate audio channel for your researchers, translators, and clients. Each group meeting is recorded and automatically transcribed into text (with a separate translator audio file) for rapid analysis or to easily create highlight video clips.

incling

incling is ‘one-stop-shop’ for online qualitative projects. It offers a focus group and interview tool called ‘Live Chat’, alongside a range of other products. Each group has a private observer chatroom that can host an unlimited number of people. Observers can message one another and the moderator during the session. The tool also has a built-in simultaneous translation channel for foreign language groups.

Questions, videos, and images can be pre-loaded, and both the moderator and participants can share their screens during the session. Notifications remind participants of the session with a link to join. The chat is hosted on a private and secure platform and is web-based, so it does not require any downloads. It can be accessed through both desktop and mobile device.

After the group, video recordings, automatic transcriptions and translations are available. The platform offers built-in text analytics that gives researchers the ability to explore key themes within a particular group or across your pre-tasks and focus groups.

FlexMR

FlexMR is an insight hub with a range of qualitative and quantitative research tools available, including small video focus groups.

Groups offer a variety of interactive features such as images, audio, video, smart boards, and quick polls. Both video and text chats are available. Stakeholders and decision-makers can watch sessions from a virtual observation room that includes a private chat facility. Hosts can liaise between moderators and observing stakeholders to actively facilitate engagement.

Visual stimuli and interactive tasks can be set up prior to each session. Topic guides, images, and videos can be uploaded for use throughout, while polls, and interactive tasks. After a focus group has ended, video recordings, text chat transcripts, and task results are available immediately through a one-click export.

QualSights

QualSights is a platform for remote video observation, interviews and focus groups. It can also be used to enhance face-to-face projects and to enable customers or field staff to broadcast live.

The software can capture video from any camera, and uses machine learning to transcribe audio; generate keywords and topics; apply sentiment and emotion analysis; and recognise objects and scenes in videos. The software also features a drag-and-drop video editor to create clips and showreels.

FOCUS by MarketResponse

FOCUS is a software platform that offers a range of solutions for market research, including video focus groups.  The tool offers features such as whiteboards for visual aids, polls to get instant opinions, and share images, videos, and chat for more interactivity. Clients can observe and interact in the backroom chat. Recordings and transcriptions are available after the session finishes, as well as overall sentiment.

Marks can be set to highlight interesting moments during an online session, and these clips can be downloaded separately or compiled into a single clip and shared with a single click. The platform is fully integrated so that you can run groups alongside other projects, so participants can start with a short survey and be invited for follow-up IDIs after the focus group session without leaving the platform.

Forsta InterVu

FocusVision InterVu is Forta’s full-service online focus group product. The tool offers a virtual backroom, breakout rooms, simultaneous translation, stimulus presentation, screen sharing, whiteboard / mark-up, card sorting, and polls.

Observers can also interact and watch live groups without being seen by participants. Forsta InterVu works on all the big browsers without the need to download or install any software.

itracks

itracks is a qualitative research platform with a range of features including live chat, discussion boards, community, video chat and markup tools. The video focus groups allow you to upload media stimuli that can be used to gather feedback alongside polls. Videos are recorded in high-resolution and with dual channel audio.

Communication to participants prior to the group is automated, and there are other project management tools to streamline the process. Participants don’t need to download additional software or plugins. All video recordings and transcripts are available after the group session.

aha!

Aha! is a qualitative research platform, that include a focus group and IDI product; Live Conversations™. Aha! was the first-ever integrated partner with Zoom’s cloud-based platform for video, voice, content sharing and chat technology. The proprietary platform enables live webcam and mobile video conversations.

The tool allows for scheduled or ad hoc conversations that are recorded and accompanied by automated machine learning or human transcription of the discussion. Focus group and IDI sessions include a custom client backroom, a scheduling system with alerts and tech checks. Training and tech support is also provided for the research platform, alongside optional research & consulting services to help with study design, project management, recruiting and analysis.

Quallie Collabito

Quallie Collabito is online qualitative research software that includes chat-based focus groups, blogs, diaries, and bulletin boards. Up to 16 participants can join video focus groups through a web browser without the need to download or install anything.

Focus groups can include whiteboards to display media, additional text chats, drawing on pictures, annotations, and card sorting. Moderators, clients, and observers can interact in a virtual observation room.

VisionsLive

VisionLive provides a suite of tools for qualitative market research, including online focus groups, bulletin boards, and communities. The V+ Online Focus Group tool enables moderators to interact with respondents via chat or full webcam/audio.

The tool includes stimulus uploads, heatmaps, annotation, interactive whiteboards, polls, and survey questions. Participants can join across devices, and there are no limits to the number of participants.

Curator Video Research

Curator offers a comprehensive set of features for video focus groups through their CURATORonline platform. Individual or group interviews are immediately accessible in Curator Canvas for analysis and editing.

The tool provides a secure, private virtual backroom for live viewing, tagging, and chat, allowing clients and teams to watch the live interview remotely while making highlights and notes. Users can organize insights in a built-in research library, search and edit tags and transcriptions, and create highlight reels using MovieMaker editing tools. The platform also offers features such as word search functionality, device security, legacy research data compatibility, data management, meeting invitations, role management, and is equipped with data security measures.

Vocal Views

Vocal Views is an online qualitative research marketplace, that connects brands with moderators, translators and consumers. The platform offers video focus groups alongside other products. The platform has a range of features, such as hosting up to 20 research participants, alongside a separate observer room.

Researchers can share screens with participants and use interactive whiteboards to gather feedback and engage them. Participants can also have tech checks before joining and be welcomed into a waiting room. The platform offers high levels of security with a new dedicated end-to-end encrypted server for each group. The platform also includes a simultaneous translation audio channel for groups in other markets. Groups are automatically recorded and transcribed.

There’s heaps of blog articles, webinars, demos and platforms to browse on our Video Research page.

Take the time to explore each option and choose the one that aligns best with your research goals.

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