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Demystifying Semiotics: A Primer on How to Do Semiotic Decoding

In this how-to article, SemioFest co-founder Hamsini Shivakumar demystifies semiotics. She explains: what semiotics is; how it is different from voice-of-the-customer research; and how semiotics-based insights help your customers improve their marketing. Hamsini also provides an introductory how-to on conducting semiotics analyses so that you can consider how you might incorporate semiotics into your practice or business. […]

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Conducting an Experience Investigation: A CX Approach That Adds Depth and Dimensionality to the Discovery Phase of Your Research

Show your clients a vivid picture of what it’s like to be one of their customers by delivering an Experience Investigation. Using a Customer Experience (CX) mindset, go beyond rational and conscious observations to better understand how expectations, emotions, subconscious clues, and behavioral psychology affect how customers feel toward a company. The article is a useful primer on how to pay attention to, capture, and evaluate the signals firsthand that create the emotions that can either attract or repel customers. […]

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Uncorking Their Stories: What I’ve Learned from Interviewing Authors

Moderators and authors have a lot in common, and no one knows this more than Mike Carlon. As the author of eight novels and a professional who has been involved in the qualitative marketing research business for a quarter of a century, Carlon lives these similarities firsthand. These insights were cemented after he started interviewing authors on the Uncorking a Story podcast and his researcher instincts kicked in, and he started documenting them. In this article, he shares insights into the five traits qualitative researchers and moderators share. […]