Spotlight

Report:

The Forrester Wave™: Experience Research Platforms, Q2 2023

How does Forrester define the Experience Research Platforms market in 2023?

Experience Research Platforms (XRPs) enable organizations to collect qualitative customer insights at scale by facilitating access to research participants, offering flexible moderated and unmoderated study types, and accelerating data synthesis through analysis capabilities. The new breed of XRPs helps research teams scale their reach and capacity while enabling novice/nonresearchers through education and clear research processes. XRPs cannot replace research expertise but help more companies operate at the innovative pace customers expect by enabling qualitative rigor in creating customer-driven solutions. This evaluation assessed seven significant XRP providers across 25 criteria to help research professionals select the right platform for their needs.

Key Facts for The Forrester Wave™: Experience Research Platforms, Q2 2023 in 2023

How did the Experience Research Platforms market evolve in 2023?

What product features are required to be included in this year's evaluation?

What are the common features of top products in the Experience Research Platforms space?

No common features specified.

Scope Exclusions

Inclusion Criteria

Vendors must, among other requirements:

Offering Strengths — Relative Weighting

Strategy Strength — Relative Weighting

FAQs

Q: What does this research cover?

A: This research covers the evaluation of seven experience research platform (XRP) providers based on 25 criteria. It assesses vendors' capabilities in managing participants, creating and executing studies, analyzing data, collaboration features, platform functionality, market strategy, and innovation. The evaluation focuses on providers offering both moderated and unmoderated video recording interview capabilities with minimum $5 million revenue.

Q: Who should use this research?

A: This research should be used by research professionals, designers, customer experience practitioners, and product development teams who need to select an experience research platform. It's particularly valuable for organizations looking to scale their research capabilities, enable non-researchers to conduct studies, accelerate time-to-insight, and make more customer-driven decisions. The Excel-based comparison tool allows buyers to customize criteria weightings based on their specific needs.

Q: What are the mandatory features of vendors included in this market?

A: All vendors included in this evaluation must have moderated and unmoderated video recording interview capabilities as part of their core platform offering (not third-party integrations), generate minimum yearly revenue of $5 million, and have garnered significant mindshare among Forrester clients through frequent mentions in inquiries, briefings, and consulting engagements for Experience Research Platforms.

Q: What are some reasons for not being included in this report?

A:

  • Lack of core moderated or unmoderated video recording interview capabilities
  • Revenue below $5 million threshold
  • Insufficient mindshare or recognition among Forrester clients
  • Declined to participate or contributed only partially to the evaluation
  • Did not provide required materials by March 8, 2023 cutoff date
  • Offerings focused on quantitative rather than qualitative research
  • Point solutions rather than comprehensive platform capabilities

Q: What should buyers consider when evaluating products in this market?

A:

  • Seamlessly enable access to research participants through platform-provided proprietary pools, third-party recruiting firms, or customer databases
  • Offer flexible study types in both moderated and unmoderated formats for varying research depths (generative, definitive, evaluative, monitoring)
  • Accelerate data synthesis with thoughtful analysis capabilities including data visualization, path analysis, and curated video highlight reels
  • Provide easy-to-navigate, feature-rich platform design for participants, moderators, and observers
  • Enable variety, modularity, and flexibility in study construction and modification
  • Deliver timely, synthesized insights helpful to teams making product and service decisions

Q: How has the Experience Research Platforms market evolved in 2023?

A:

  • Brands face a rapid pace of change creating acute need for customer insights at every organizational level
  • Traditional excuses for skipping customer insights ('no time', 'no budget') are becoming obsolete with new XRP capabilities
  • XRPs help research teams scale reach and capacity while facilitating education and enablement of novice/nonresearchers
  • Organizations need to move away from dated decision-making practices based on guesses instead of real data
  • Analysis capabilities are nascent in the XRP space due to immaturity of technology powering unstructured data analysis (e.g., AI like ChatGPT for thematic synthesis)

Q: What differentiates Strength of Offering vs. Strength of Strategy?

A: Current Offering (vertical axis) measures the strength of a vendor's platform capabilities across participant management, study creation/execution/analysis, data management, collaboration, and platform features. Strategy (horizontal axis) evaluates the vendor's market approach, product roadmap, supporting services, partner ecosystem, innovation capacity, and community engagement. Offering focuses on what the platform can do today, while Strategy assesses the vendor's vision and ability to evolve in the market.

Reference

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