🎧 Podcast

👩‍🔬 Speaker: Cori Widen, User Research Lead at Photoroom

📢 Hosted by: Hannah Clark on The Product Manager Podcast

📺 Listen on Spotify: Episode Link

⏱️ Full Talk Length: ~24 minutes

⏱️ Summary Reading Time: ~4 minutes

🧠 Key Concepts

1. Embracing AI in Qualitative Research

• Initial Skepticism: Cori was initially hesitant to use AI for qualitative research due to trust issues and a preference for manual analysis.
• Gradual Adoption: She began by comparing AI-generated results with her traditional methods to assess accuracy.
• Current Tools: Utilizes Dovetail for storing interview transcripts and Dust for querying AI to extract relevant quotes, replacing manual tagging.
• Hybrid Approach: Combines AI tools with manual methods like creating affinity diagrams to derive insights.

2. Cultural Shift at Photoroom

• Supportive Environment: Photoroom's enthusiastic and innovative AI culture encouraged Cori to integrate AI into her research practices.
• Mindset Change: The company's culture made AI adoption feel exciting rather than obligatory, transforming it into a fun and interesting part of her job.

3. Development of AI Assistants

• Mining User Interviews: An AI assistant that analyzes interview transcripts stored in Dovetail via API queries, helping researchers and stakeholders find relevant quotes without manual tagging.
• Interview Guide Generator: Creates interview guides based on user input (goals, audience, etc.), ensuring guides follow best practices.The Product Manager

4. Enhancing Research Quality and Efficiency