I took a usability course as part of my graduate degree. It's one of those courses that has served…read moreme well as a technical communicator in the software industry, documenting how to use software for end users. CRC Toronto is a research company that runs a number of focus groups on various topics. They conduct sessions with core usability fundamentals. It was cool being a participant rather than someone who has conducted usability studies. My focus group session was at noon on a Monday. CRC Toronto is located on Bloor Street East. I went with parking at Victoria Park station and taking the line 2 train to Bloor station. I then walked over here. It's on the south side of Bloor. It was a windy day. Sadly, I was facing a headwind walking over. Burned more calories? Perhaps. I'd have rather been blown over there. I walked into the building and took the elevator up to the second floor. I got a cheerful woman at the reception. She asked if I had signed a confidentiality agreement. I hadn't. I looked at my inbox and couldn't find it. Luckily, she had a printed one. I signed it. Yay! I waited in the lounge. I like that this place had water and cups. I like hydration. I drank some as I waited. Our focus group consisted of six participants. We got Daniel leading our 1.5-hour discussion. We moved into a room that also had a jug of water. So nice! The setup looked like a usability study, but much nicer. We were recorded. It had a one-way mirror. The only other time that I have seen one is at Mercer University, the institution where I got my master's degree. It was cool. We may or may not have been observed during this session and it didn't matter. I did sign a confidentiality agreement. Daniel asked questions and made us all feel comfortable. I had a wonderful experience. The highlight for me was answering one specific question. We were all encouraged to speak freely. My answer was praised by the group because it was different. I was so proud of myself. It was nice that as participants, we were all encouraging and nice folks. We were paid for this study. We got a generous sum of money for our time and opinions. I had to use the washroom before I headed back on the train and then home. The men's washroom was steps away from reception. The women's required walking practically the entire second floor to get there. Plan ahead! The washroom had three stalls. The one that I used was clean. The best part was that the women's washroom was by the staircase. I walked down and headed out. I had a positive experience as a first-time participant of a focus group. It was an added bonus to get paid. I'm the type that does surveys because I like them. It's the statistical aspect that I like. It's the same thing as someone who has studied usability and conducted tests, but loved that I had the tables flipped and was an active participant. (35)