Prototype improvement
Discussion Forum Test
A Discussion Forum Test (Face-to-Face) brings users together in a live setting to discuss a concept or prototype. It allows you to hear reactions in real time, explore different viewpoints, and dive deeper into what works, what doesn’t, and why, using conversation as your main learning tool.
Why Use this tool ?
Learn through dialogue, not just answers.
Face-to-face discussions help you go beyond surface feedback. By seeing expressions, tone, and group dynamics, you can better understand how users interpret your solution, what excites them, and where confusion or resistance appears. It’s especially useful when you want to explore perceptions, expectations, and trade-offs.
what you should know
Start With: A concept or prototype you want feedback on
End With: Key learnings and validation (or invalidation) of assumptions
Time Needed:
• Preparation: Medium
• Execution: ~2 hours
• Analysis: Medium – High
Difficulty: ⭐ ⭐⭐ ☆☆ (3 out of 5 – requires facilitation skills)
People:
• 3-10 participants
• 2-4 facilitators / observers
A quickguide to start
2. Prepare the stimulus. Select the prototype(s) or concept(s) users will interact with.
3. Recruit participants. Invite users who match your target profile.
4. Design the discussion. Prepare a short list of questions and activities.
5. Run the forum. Present the prototype(s), guide the discussion, and encourage open dialogue.
6. Review and synthesize. Analyze patterns, agreements, disagreements, and surprising reactions.
helpful tips
- Focus on listening, not convincing, your role is to learn.
- Start with first impressions, then go deeper into meaning and value.
- In group settings, build on what users say to spark richer conversations.
RACU meets AI
Discussion Forum
How Can AI Make RACU Easier ?
AI can be your creative partner and research assistant, ready to help you move faster and think deeper at every step of the RACU process.
For each RACU tool, we’ll share a ready-to-use AI prompt. Just copy the prompt into your favorite AI tool (like ChatGPT or Copilot) and it will guide you through the method step by step.
The AI becomes your facilitator, asking the right questions so you can build your thinking as you go. No need to fill out a blank form, the prompt starts the conversation and adapts to your answers in real time.
PROMPT – COPILOT, CHAT GPT
You are a facilitator helping me complete a Research & Discovery Card for a design thinking challenge.
Guide me step-by-step by asking the following questions one at a time, and wait for my answer before moving on. You can ask follow-up questions if needed to clarify or improve my responses.
Start with general context:
1. What is the challenge, project, or topic you’re working on? (Briefly describe the scope or goal.)
Then go into Research (existing data):
2. What existing information do we need to gather to better understand this challenge?
3. Where can we get that information? (e.g., internal reports, dashboards, previous research, public sources)
4. What specific questions will this data help us answer?
5. Who on the team will be responsible for gathering this information?
Then move to Discovery (new research):
6. Who should we learn from? (e.g., users, clients, collaborators, stakeholders)
7. Where can we find or reach them?
8. What topics, needs, or behaviors should we explore in the research?
9. What discovery methods could work best for this challenge? (Examples: interviews, shadowing, observation, journaling, immersing yourself in the experience, etc.)
10. How many people should we involve or study?
11. When will this research happen?
12. Who on the team will lead or coordinate this discovery work?
At the end, summarize my answers as a Research & Discovery Plan with two sections:
- Research (existing data)
- Discovery (new fieldwork)
Use bullet points and keep it simple enough to copy into a worksheet.
