QRCA Views Summer 2023

There is increasing demand for user experience (UX) research, and qualitative researchers’ unique expertise in understanding human behavior can help bring this type of research to the next level. The author focuses on the use of three frameworks that explain the “whys”—and this understanding is equally significant when consumers are interacting with technology as when they interact with other products and services. The author provides examples that have proven to be very useful in her experience exploring customer journeys within shopping apps and streaming platforms. […]

In their provocative exploration of AI’s impact on qualitative research, Simon Chadwick and Kahren Kersten argue that automation is reshaping the researcher’s role from methodological executor to strategic partner. As AI takes over traditional analysis and enables “qual-at-scale,” they contend that human value now lies in empathy, interpretation, facilitation, and cross-functional translation—skills machines cannot replicate. Chadwick and Kersten argue this creates a massive opportunity for qualitative practitioners to become translators and activators. In the age of AI, researchers will no longer be valued for hours worked, but for the strategic impact they create. […]

Reviewed by Alexandru Dincovici, Owner, IziBiz Consulting, Associate Lecturer, University of Bucharest, NSPSPA, Bucharest, Romania, alex@meany.ng […]