The Blank Canvas Problem in Qual Research — and How to Solve It

This session explores how Recollective’s Conversation task solves that problem across four common research scenarios: consumer exploration, concept and messaging testing, shop-along and path-to-purchase research, and innovation co-creation.

Amy Mullen, Strategic Customer Success Manager at Recollective, walks through how guided AI-moderated conversation draws out richer responses in each context — turning a format that typically frustrates participants into one that genuinely engages them.The session covers real study design considerations for each scenario, with practical guidance on when the Conversation task outperforms traditional async activities and how to fit it into a broader multi-method study.

What You’ll Learn

• Why open-ended questions underperform — and how conversational AI changes participant engagement across study types
• How to use the Conversation task as a warm-up or standalone exploratory activity that primes participants for the rest of the study
• How piping and response mode features support concept testing across multiple stimuli without fatiguing participants
• Why AI-moderated async interviews are particularly well-suited to in-context research like shop-alongs and path-to-purchase studies
• How guided conversation unlocks richer responses in blue-sky and co-creation scenarios — turning a one-way answer into a dialogue