Qualitative interviews

This method is used for deep analysis and uncovering the specific characteristics of the research object. Its focus is on words that express the unique experience, emotions, thoughts, and perspectives of the informants.

This allows for obtaining answers to the key questions "Why?" and "How exactly?".

In-depth interviews are characterized by the flexibility of questions addressed to the research participants. The researcher literally «follows the thought» of the informant: they can pick up on a randomly mentioned word, ask to clarify a detail, or explore a topic more deeply.

Since each participant has their own personal experience and vision, a series of such interviews allows for reaching valuable conclusions and unexpected insights.

While quantitative research focuses on numbers, distribution shares, and percentages, qualitative research prioritizes words as expressions of the informant's experience, feelings, and opinions. 

What qualitative interviews allow you to achieve

• Find deep insights: immerse yourself in the consumer's world to understand their true motives, drivers and barriers, pains and fears.
• Uncover "Jobs to Be Done" (JTBD): understand what «job» your product performs in a person's life, and identify the rational and emotional reasons for their choice.
• See the context: gain a holistic understanding of the target audience's lifestyle, habits, and behavioral patterns.
• Identify "black swans": collect atypical, unique, and unexpected opinions that can become a source of breakthrough ideas.
• Test ideas "live": obtain honest and deep feedback on a new product, idea, creative ad, or packaging.
• Create an effective questionnaire: develop and adapt tools for quantitative surveys to ask people the right and clear questions.
• "Enliven" the numbers: explain and deepen the results of quantitative surveys by filling statistics with real human experience and context.

We conduct in-depth interviews with representatives of various categories

• Various population groups (for detailed study of personal experience, values, life scenarios, and hidden motives of behavior).
• Niche target audiences (for a deep understanding of the customer journey and barriers, e.g., young parents, organic product buyers, beer connoisseurs, consumers of a specific brand, users of a certain service).
• Business representatives and experts (e.g., company owners, top managers, entrepreneurs, HR directors, accountants, procurement managers).
• Representatives of organizations and institutions (e.g., employees of government agencies, public associations, and professional organizations).
• Narrowly focused specialists (professionals in a specific field, such as: doctors, farmers, engineers, IT specialists).

Interviewing methods

• Online interviews (Zoom, Google Meet, messengers).
• Telephone interviews.
• Offline interviews.

Types of qualitative interviews

Classic interviews

This is the most common type of interview, focusing on the targeted study of personal experience and the participant's attitude towards specific aspects of the research object. The format allows for capturing "live" narratives of respondents, revealing real scenarios of their daily interaction with a brand, service, or social phenomenon.
Standard timing: 30–45 minutes.

In-depth interviews (IDI)

Maximum immersion into the context and individual history of a person. A flexible script allows the interviewer to adapt to the logic of the respondent, which helps to capture hidden connections and the finest nuances of experience.
Standard timing: 1–3 hours.

Expert interviews

Focused communication with holders of unique expertise to collect deep specialized information. Through the prism of the experts' long-term experience, the method helps to look "behind the scenes" of processes and obtain professional insights unavailable to the general public.
Standard timing: 30–60 minutes.

Dyadic interviews

Conducted with two informants simultaneously in the form of a dialogue in response to questions posed by a moderator. There are two strategies for such interviews:

• "Discussion with like-minded people". Informants are invited who share similar views on the object being studied, or have common interests, practices (leisure or consumption), and lifestyle. These can be members of the same family, employees of one company, or representatives of any industry, or people unfamiliar with each other but similar in a significant parameter. During the interview, one informant complements the other, resulting in complete information about the interview topic.
• "Discussion with antagonists". People with opposing views on the interview topic are invited (for example, supporters of competing brands). This allows for seeing the clash of arguments and identifying the true reasons for loyalty and the weak points of products through the prism of criticism.