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--We won't spend 10 to 20% of our precious time with moderators and respondents introducing themselves to each other so they can feel "comfortable" answering questions honestly. Come on--in this era of "consumers in charge," focus group respondents are not the least bit hesitant to tell us what they think and will be even less so in the future. Painful as it can be, the people we pay to talk about our products or ideas aren't generally looking to tell us what we want to hear. Cocktail party pleasantries are a thing of the past--these people are telling us what they think. In fact, just as an experiment, have the moderator introduce his/herself (the "his" is just a PC throwaway--focus group moderators are mostly from the pink ghetto) as the CEO of the company you represent. I'd bet my ranch that the respondents will answer as honestly, or perhaps even more honestly, than when they hear the same "I'm a completely objective observer" spiel delivered by 90% of focus group moderators across the country for the last 20 years. Just for fun, check out the respondents during that familiar 5-minute monologue and watch their lips move along to each word from the moderator's mouth. Save yourself time by skipping this step. Instead, start by asking respondents a specific question to which you'd like an answer. Promise that they'll be able to play along.

--We won't have 7-10 respondents for 90 to 120 minutes (I swear, some people are STILL doing 2-hour focus groups) anymore. In too many cases, the meaning of "focus" has been lost in our focus groups. Instead they've become a catch all for every wild hare that the extended marketing team may have--a faster (though not cheaper or better) way to answer important questions that can and should be addressed quantitatively. Respondents don't want to focus on the things we care about for 120 minutes and we shouldn't try to make them. In fact, if we can't hone our questions to be answered in 60 minutes, the problem is likely on our side. Wasn't it Einstein that said a problem well defined is half solved? He was no dummy. The focus groups of the future will have fewer people for shorter amounts of time.
Parenthetically, with wide-spread internet access, it's the back room that is really hurting for focus lately. The time and expense tenured marketing execs incur to attend focus groups in person, only to be immersed in work at the home front and respond with "what was that, again?" when respondents address key questions on the table, continues to amaze.
I don't mean to be pointing the finger here--most of us suffer from Back Room ADD. It's dark, fun people are gathered in a small space and candy is abundant. It's basically entrapment. No news here--it was always tough to focus in the back room.
But the new variable is Internet access. As a key amenity, focus group facilities of the future should tout the absence of conductivity. It's a scary premise to agree to, but we should hold hands and take the jump. We'll learn more from the people who matter most and generate a better ROR (that's return on research, in case you were wondering).

--We'll elevate the position of "moderator" to Consumer Scientist (lab coat optional). This person (though a betting person would say he/she is still more likely to be a female, because we really do listen better, don't we ;-)?) will be trained in psychology to analyze not only what respondents say, but what they mean. This trained professional will know how to understand what our participants say, and be able to read their silences and their expressions and their interaction with information and the other respondents, resulting in an equation that equals insight not otherwise gleaned from the verbal answers. If we are just looking for an unanalyzed response from an appropriately screened respondent, we can easily get the answer online for a fraction of the time and cost, never ever requiring a middle seat on the redeye. Our Consumer Scientist of the future will share true insights based on their superior understanding of things like neuroplasticity and stress created by the delta between ideals and reality and other aspects of psychology that aren't taught in top business schools. But we'll be the ones on the hook to translate those insights into motivating messaging, innovation and product improvement, arguably the hard part.

What's the timeline of the more focused focus group? I hope it's tomorrow, generously giving ourselves a full day to soak up all these pearls. Some marketers are making great strides already (you know who you are--so please take a moment to feel appropriately self satisfied). The optimist in me says five years, paying no attention to where we are now versus two decades ago. If I'm right, I'll be richly rewarded with "free" M&Ms and unbearable self satisfaction.

Kathleen Kusek is a consumer researcher and the principal of Firehouse Marketing Services (www.firehousemarketingsf.com). She can be reached at FirehouseMarketingServices@gmail.com.