“It’s all about speed now, getting accurate knowledge faster. We’re not perfectionists. We don’t need to spend three weeks finding the perfect sample, nor do we need to spend time and money traveling.”
Verrett went on to say that many tech companies “never relied (on live qualitative research),” reasoning that B2B targets are simply “too busy” to attend research that would require an investment of time to travel to and from research facilities.Tom Johnson, is head of research at Del Taco. Despite being in a very different business than Salesforce, he concurs with Verrett’s view of live qualitative.
“I agree that a lot of (live) qualitative work will likely decline as people pivot to online focus groups and see similar quality of insights at a fraction of the cost and increased client viewing convenience.”
Johnson sees some of the shortcomings of digital work overcome by apps like FaceTime, which allows moderator interaction for ethnographic research in out-of-home situations, or tools like LivingLens, a plug-in that allows respondents to use their cell phones to take and submit selfie videos or laptop/desktop webcam videos in the middle of traditional online surveys.He further states that with “the advent of 5G…quant and qual might be able to be done simultaneously with larger sample sizes.”I never like to get into “better” or “worse” arguments rooted in nostalgia. Better to think that things are and will be different and unique in their own ways. And maybe, I hope, I’m wrong. Perhaps the need to pent up desire to get out and socialize will be so strong by the time a vaccine comes around that live qualitative will experience a major revival. Though I tend to think that while bars and restaurants benefit from a true reopening, the allure of saving time and money, especially with so many businesses playing catch up from the pandemic, practices such as work at home and digital research will be so ingrained in the corporate world to the point that that live alternatives will be no more than niche.Clearly, I am late to the party here. I’ve done quite a bit of digital qualitative, but only in response to client requests. I’ve never tried to sell it until now. Yes, the pivot is rooted in need. I am out pushing online work more because I have to, but because I want to. It would not be a good business decision to dig in on principle and refuse to accept the inevitable.So, for those of us, like me, who fought the onset of digital qualitative, it’s time to finally embrace the method with open arms. That’s not to say that I won’t continue to sing the praises of in-person work. With an emphasis on in-depth interviews and small groups, technology that allows us to be digitally “in the moment,” that will only get better with 5G and other digital tools, we will continue to deliver meaningful work.
