Introduction

This document serves as a starter kit for Software Focus Groups. The purpose of this document is to provide some definitive guidelines for someone starting a new Focus Group.

Choose a Topic

• Choose a topic that you and the potential members will be interested in working on.
• Narrow your topic into something manageable in the timeframe.
• It is recommended to choose a very specific topic than a broad one.
• For example, "Current Best Practices in UI/UX Design for Data Analytics," "Development workflow in Kubernetes," etc.

Decide Goals and Deliverables

• Brainstorm and decide on the goals and deliverables beforehand.
• Decide on the meeting schedule (in-person / virtual / hybrid) and a tentative agenda for each meeting.
• It is recommended to showcase the achievements and deliverables to the broader NCSA group (maybe in the monthly SD meeting).
• An example of goals and deliverables:
  • Goals:
    • Identify the best practices in choosing color schemes, data presentation, and interactive elements for data exploration - for "Current Best Practices in UI/UX Design for Data Analysis Web Applications."
    • Document the best practices through a report.
  • Deliverables:
    • A report describing the best practices with relevant screenshots or sketches.
    • A presentation of the findings to the Software Directorate or to the entire NCSA through a Software Seminar.

Decide the timeline

• The recommended maximum timeframe for a focus group is three months.
• Some Focus Groups may be able to achieve their goals before this timeframe
• If not all the goals have been completed in the recommended timeframe, the lead can start a follow-up focus group focusing on the specific sub-topics and deliverables.

Create the Focus Group Page

• Once you have the topic, tentative goals, and deliverables, please create a Focus Group page under the Active Focus Groups page.
• This page can be the one-stop place for all documentation, meeting notes, reports, etc.

Advertise

• It will be good to advertise the focus group within the Software Directorate or sometimes at the NCSA level, depending on the scope of the Focus Group topic.
  • It is recommended to announce the start of the focus group in at least #announce , #ncsa-discussion, and #sd-general Slack channels.
• If any help is needed, please reach out to Lisa Yanello or the Focus Groups Activity Leads.

Get Members

• Find people interested in the topic.
  • The more interested people, the merrier (hopefully).
• Members can be invited based on their interest in the topic.

Focus Group Activities

• It is recommended to have a Slack channel or some other dedicated communication platform for the Focus Group.
• The Focus Group members need to communicate with each other to make decisions and share updates within the group.
• Many tasks may be completed offline and wouldn't require a meeting.
• Having meeting notes/action items documented and followed up as appropriate will be good.
• At some point during the lifespan of the Focus Group, the team members need to start work on the deliverables.

Conclusion and Follow-Up Activities

• The Focus Group needs to plan to wrap up the group activities and complete the planned deliverables within the recommended timeframe.
• This is to ensure the proper completion of tasks and generate a productive outcome for the rest of the NCSA members.
• Even if not all the goals and deliverables are met within the recommended timeframe, the Focus Group needs to wrap up its activities. The lead or the group can plan for follow-up focus groups by selecting one or more specific remaining goals in such situations.
• It is recommended for the Focus Group to present their work/findings in a relevant platform like Software Directorate lightning talks or Software Seminar. 

Examples

Some examples of previous focus groups can be found in the Active or Archived sections here.