Debunking Myth #1: IDIs & in-person are the only routes to depth

We love a good myth. More than that, we enjoy exploring, questioning, and debunking widely-held beliefs and misconceptions. We hope you enjoy our new series as we bust myths about our industry, spark curiosity and drive us - and you, hopefully - to dig deeper, question the status quo, and intuit a bit more. 

As professionals in marketing or market research, it may be tempting to trust the familiar - especially when so many new promises (like social listening) fail us. The intimate setting of IDIs or focus groups has long been the gold standard for uncovering the richness of human emotion. We, too, were once cynical about the possibility of replicating the depth and nuance of those face-to-face conversations in a different format. 

But then, something surprising happened. We noticed that when people are free from the constraints of a traditional interview environment, they open up more quickly - even when that environment is ‘digital’. In fact, the absence of physical presence doesn’t inhibit their expression, it liberates it. They dive into the personal, the profound, and the deeply introspective, much earlier than we ever expected. The responses we receive are not only more candid but also substantially longer than those we used to gather in IDIs or groups. 

This realization led us to rethink our approach. What if the entire conversation revolved around digging deeper? What if we could structure our interactions so that 90% of them focused on follow-ups- the “why” behind every thought, every feeling, every statement? Instead of wondering whether we could probe further, we reimagined our conversations to be an ongoing excavation into the layers we’re all made of. Every question became an invitation to explore more, to peel back these layers.

A fascinating thing happened when we combined this depth-oriented approach with the sheer scale of our participant base. In traditional settings, we might stumble upon a few illuminating moments—a spark of insight that opens a new pathway for exploration. But here, we found dozens of new threads, each leading to long, thoughtful answers, creating an infinitely richer treasure trove of new ideas and insights. 

The outcome? We no longer doubt our ability to achieve depth and nuance outside of IDIs or focus groups. It makes sense, really—the chat messaging environment is a natural home for qual because it's where so many of us spend our lives these days. Our clients now expect—and receive—richness and authenticity beyond what traditional IDIs offer. Not through the old ways of working, but through a new approach that embraces the potential of every conversation, every interaction, every opportunity to ask, "Why?"

In a world that often moves too fast, where speed and efficiency are prized above all, we've found that slowness, creativity, and relentless curiosity are our greatest tools. We believe that every individual is weird, fascinating, and full of surprises. And with the right conditions, any one of us can tap into our creativity, unearthing insights that are as unexpected as they are enlightening.