by When Access Is Limited: Lessons in Qualitative Insight from Restricted Industries
QUAL360: Without giving too much away – what is the core message of your talk and what would you like delegates to remember?
Leelan: While the issue of privacy can be limiting, especially in specific industries, it is not an impossible hurdle to overcome.
You can still glean rich, valuable insights for product and market-fit – even when methods or recruitment are limiting.
Take it from a user researcher from one of the most taboo industries out there – adult entertainment.
QUAL360: What motivates you to join the Qual360 North America conference, and what are your expectations?
Leelan: Having attended the last two consecutive years,
I continue to show up to Qual360 because of the calibre of both speakers and attendees.
The intimate setting yields conversations that are always timely, deep, and thoughtful.
I leave the conference each year renewed with my love for research and with a notebook full of innovative ideas and new connections.
This year, I am grateful to be a speaker and hope to add, even if just a little bit, to the rich discourse around current qualitative methods and insights.
QUAL360: How are you effectively landing qualitative insights in the business decision-making ecosystem?
Leelan: Like many qualitative researchers, this has been an ongoing challenge that requires constant iteration. That being said, the ways in which I have found success are cliché but true:
- Build and maintain relationships with your stakeholders and speak their language.
- Tell a story by leading with the most compelling insight. Give them a hook, something memorable that will ground the rest of the insights.
- If they are quantitatively-focused, always tie your qual insights back to the numbers – KPI, other data analytics, etc. Show stakeholders what qualitative insights illuminate that numbers keep in the shadows.
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?
Leelan: AI is speeding up our research capabilities. You can run a study in no time. The skillset that I believe we need to hone is not so much conducting research, but tracking its impact and taking ownership of the way research is used.
- Owning our impact.
It is no longer sufficient, especially for an established, in-house researcher, to just ‘do’ the research and hope for the best.
Who is quoting our research? How is it being used – or not used? If you are embedded in an organisation, like I am, it is our responsibility to track the impact of our work and correct any misinterpretation of insights.
This also includes naming the risks of a research practice – product inaction, hallucinations (AI), harmful applications.
- Lifecycle awareness and clean-up.
Practicing a forecast mindset, interpreting insights and findings in terms of how they will evolve, scale, or degrade over time is essential and related to owning our impact.
Which insights will need follow-up in the future? What is a durable, stable insight and what is a momentary signal that needs immediate action?
Developing both of these skills help position research as an indispensable strategic arm of an organisation, rather than simply a vehicle for data and insight collection (something that orgs could argue is AI-replacable).
QUAL360: How are you responding to the availability of big data and the proliferation of AI tools when managing your qualitative consumer research?
Leelan: There’s a time and place for AI tools; however, you don’t need all of them. The way I am approaching this ‘proliferation’ is by being mindful of where inefficiencies are for myself and my team.
I ask myself, ‘will this tool improve my research efficiency without sacrificing the quality and reliability of my insights?”
If the answer is yes, then it is a tool worth exploring. Some of my favourites have been: AI-powered research repositories, AI-summarizing of research results or insights, and AI-suggested research plans based on previous research. As you can probably tell from my answer, I have yet to be impressed by completely AI-moderated research. It has its applications, but I have not seen quality that is equal to or better than a human moderator.
In short,
there is a lot of AI and big data noise – take what is useful, leave what is fleeting and trendy.
QUAL360: Apart from work, what should delegates talk to you about at Qual360 North America– do you have any particular personal interests, hobbies or extracurricular activities and engagements?
Leelan: I am an avid reader and work at my local independent bookstore on Sundays. When not knee-deep in the research world, I am working on my first short story collection or embroidering. I love being active in my community, providing services as a workshop facilitator for community programming. I am always interested in chats about social justice and designing for good.
Favourite recommendations to make to industry colleagues for inspiration, innovation, guidance and leadership:
- In your ears – Podcast: Freakonomics
- Must read – Book: Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need by Sasha Costanza-Chock
- Working mode or inspiring song recommendation – Song: Rosalia’s new album, LUX, has been on repeat while working.
QUAL360: Thank you so much, Leelan. We look forward to hearing more from you at the event.
The Leading Qualitative Research Gathering is Just Around the Corner!
📅 Qual360 North America 2026 | March 11–12 | Washington, D.C., USA
Join qualitative leaders from top-tier companies to explore innovative research approaches, discover the latest methodologies, and learn how to leverage new types of insights.
Connect with industry peers and experts—this year’s attendees include qualitative leaders from Mondelez International, Amtrak, Warner Bros. Discovery, Marriott International, Nestlé, Adobe, Amazon, and more. Explore the line-up here.
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