by Scaling Qualitative Research Without Scaling Teams: Conde Nast
Qual360: Without giving too much away – what is the core message of your talk and what would you like delegates to remember?
Anna & Lisa: At its core, this talk is about how a small UX research team scaled its impact by fundamentally
changing how we worked, not by adding headcount, tools, or process for the sake of it.
2025 was a genuinely transformative year for us. It forced us to be honest about where we were spread too thin, where we were reacting instead of leading, and where good intentions weren’t translating into the level of impact we wanted. We’ll share both what worked and what didn’t, including the lessons and mistakes that helped us mature as a research function.
Scaling isn’t about doing more research or gaining more headcount. It’s about being intentional: focusing on the decisions that really matter, designing smarter ways of working with the people around you, and making the most of what you already have rather than waiting for perfect conditions.
The constraint provided our team the necessary focus to change our ways of working to ensure we’re doing the right research, the most impactful research, at the right time.
Qual360: What motivates you to join the Qual360 Europe conference and what are your expectations?
Anna & Lisa: Qual360 has always felt like a safe, open space where thoughtful, honest conversations about the craft and impact of qualitative research are encouraged, and that’s what motivates us to come back. It’s one of the few conferences where we can be candid about the realities of the work, the trade-offs, constraints, and constant evolution of our roles as researchers, without needing to oversimplify or oversell.
We’re drawn to the like-minded people Qual360 brings together, curious, generous with their thinking, and willing to challenge one another in constructive ways. The conversations consistently push our thinking further, and there’s never a dull moment when you put a group of researchers in a room together (especially with a glass of wine or two).
Above all, we value the sense of community Qual360 creates: a place to learn, challenge assumptions, and connect with people who genuinely care about doing research well. A place where ideas are explored deeply, perspectives are stretched, and qualitative research is taken seriously.
Our expectation isn’t to present a finished blueprint, but to contribute to a practical, open conversation with peers who are facing similar constraints and pressures. We’re looking forward to sharing lessons from a transformative year, learning from how other teams are approaching scale, influence, and maturity, and leaving with new perspectives we can take back into our own work.
Qual360: How are you effectively landing qualitative insights in the business decision making ecosystem?
Anna & Lisa: As a team, we’ve become much more deliberate about anchoring qualitative insights to decisions rather than deliverables. That means starting research with a clear understanding of what decision needs to be made, by whom, and when, and shaping our work around that context rather than treating insight as an output in its own right.
Practically, this has involved working much more closely with product, design, and leadership teams earlier in the process, so insight lands upstream while there’s still room to influence direction. We focus on synthesising patterns across studies, not just reporting findings in isolation, and framing insights in ways that connect directly to strategic priorities, trade-offs, and risk.
We’ve also invested in creating better pathways for insight to travel beyond a single project through shared repositories, forums, and regular touchpoints so learning compounds over time rather than getting lost in slide decks.
The result is that qualitative insight is increasingly part of ongoing conversations, shaping thinking as decisions evolve, rather than appearing too late as validation.
Qual360: As the research landscape evolves, as does the role of the researcher, what are two new skills qualitative researchers should be adding to their arsenal and why?
Anna & Lisa: The first is research efficiency and AI-augmented sense-making. As demand for insight continues to grow, researchers need to be thoughtful about how they use emerging tools to work smarter, whether that’s accelerating analysis, spotting patterns across larger datasets, or reducing time spent on low-value tasks. The skill isn’t about replacing judgment with AI, but about knowing where automation can support synthesis and where human interpretation, context, and empathy remain essential. Researchers who can navigate this balance will be far better positioned to operate effectively in the new landscape.
The second is systems thinking and enablement. Researchers now work within complex ecosystems where insight needs to scale beyond individual projects. This requires designing ways of working, from self-serve models and repositories to governance and collaboration frameworks that allow research to travel, compound, and influence multiple teams over time. It’s about understanding how research fits into the wider organisation and shaping systems that amplify its impact.
Qual360: How are you responding to the availability of big data and the proliferation of AI tools when managing your qualitative consumer research?
Anna & Lisa: We see big data and AI as complementary to qualitative research, not as replacements for it. As data availability increases, our focus has been on being intentional about how and where these tools add value, rather than adopting them wholesale.
Practically, we use quantitative data and behavioural signals to help us identify patterns, prioritise questions, and understand scale, but we rely on qualitative research to explain why those patterns exist and what they mean for people and decisions. AI tools have been particularly useful in supporting efficiency, such as accelerating early-stage analysis, synthesising large volumes of material, and helping us spot connections across studies. That frees up more time for the work that requires human judgment: interpretation, sense-making, and framing insight in context.
Crucially, we’re very careful about governance and quality. We’re clear about where AI supports the work and where it shouldn’t replace researchers’ expertise, ethics, or critical thinking. Our role as qualitative researchers has increasingly become one of orchestration, bringing together data, tools, and human insight in a way that strengthens decision-making rather than overwhelming it.
Qual360: Apart from work, what should delegates talk to you about at Qual360 Europe– do you have any particular personal interests, hobbies or extracurricular activities and engagements?
Lisa: Come and talk to me about all things reno! Ask me how I survived living in a static caravan on my driveway for 11 months with three kids, a husband, and a dog. The last time I attended Qual360, I’d just moved into the caravan — now the renovation is complete, and we’ve finally moved back in.
Anna: I’m a new(ish) mother still learning how to find the right work/life balance in a big city. If you’re a new parent also trying to figure it out, let’s chat/commiserate!
Qual360: Favourite recommendations to make to industry colleagues for inspiration, innovation, guidance and leadership:
● In your ears – Podcast: The Artificial Human.
● Must read – Book: Research that Scales – The Research Operations Handbook by Kate Towsey.
Qual360: Thank you so much, Anna and Lisa! We look forward to hearing more from you at the event.
🌍 Global Reach – Local Flavour: Qual360 Europe 2026 | January 28-28, 2026 | Berlin, Germany
Join the world’s leading qualitative researchers — from international brands, leading agencies, and independent industry experts— at Qual360 Europe.
Qual360 is all about networking, learning and creating new opportunities. Industry leaders join to discuss innovative research approaches, learn about the latest methodologies and how to leverage new types of insight.
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