Qualitative research
Strategy and planning
Strategy and planning
Qualitative research looks at motivations, doubts and meaning: why people do something. You gather it through depth interviews, conversations or observation, not percentages.
Typical formats are depth interviews, focus groups, think-aloud usability tests and open-ended survey answers. The output is language rather than a number: the words customers use themselves, the objections they raise and the steps where they get stuck.
It is strongest where numbers go quiet. Analytics tells you 70% drop off on the pricing page; five conversations tell you why — because it is unclear what is actually included, for instance.
You need few people. Five to eight good conversations with the right audience usually surface the recurring patterns you can act on.
In practice
Presenting statements from a handful of people as percentages. Qualitative research gives direction and hypotheses, not representative figures.
Related terms
- Quantitative researchQuantitative research is research in numbers: you measure how often something occurs across enough people to support trends, ratios and percentages.
- Customer experienceCustomer experience (CX) is a customer's total experience with your organisation: from ad and website to delivery, invoice and service.
- ConversionA conversion is an action you defined as valuable: an enquiry, purchase, download or phone call. The conversion rate is the share of visitors who take it.