Report:
The Forrester Wave™: Experience Research Platforms, Q1 2026
How does Forrester define the Experience Research Platforms market in 2026?
Experience Research Platforms (XRPs) provide companies with quick, direct access to their target audience and accelerate the collection and analysis of qualitative data. Previously offering specialized capabilities like usability studies or live interviews for professional researchers, XRPs now support continuous research for a broader range of roles including researchers, designers, CX professionals, marketers, and product managers. As research has become more cross-functional and collaborative, spanning multiple altitudes from tactical to strategic, XRPs struggle to meet all these needs within a single platform. To address these challenges and improve efficiency, vendors are turning to AI, and how well a platform uses it to support planning, execution, and analysis is a key differentiator.
Key Facts for The Forrester Wave™: Experience Research Platforms, Q1 2026 in 2026
- Publication Date: 28-Jan-2026
- Document ID: 001a000001AFG2SAAX | 13d4f34b
- Summary: In our evaluation of experience research platform (XRP) providers, we identified the most significant ones and researched, analyzed, and scored them. This report shows how each provider measures up and helps you select the right one for your needs.
- Authors: Senem Guler Biyikli, PhD
How did the Experience Research Platforms market evolve in 2026?
- XRPs provide companies with quick, direct access to their target audience and accelerate the collection and analysis of qualitative data
- XRPs now support continuous research for a broader range of roles, including researchers, designers, CX professionals, marketers, and product managers
- Research has become more cross-functional and collaborative, spanning multiple altitudes from tactical to strategic
- XRPs struggle to meet all diverse needs within a single platform
- Vendors are turning to AI to address challenges and improve efficiency
- How well a platform uses AI to support planning, execution, and analysis is a key differentiator
- Eight providers were evaluated in this Forrester Wave
- Vendors approach recruitment differently - some focus on research within communities, others prioritize panel recruitment
- Platforms vary in how they incorporate AI, from AI-powered research methods to AI embedded throughout the research process
What product features are required to be included in this year's evaluation?
- A minimum revenue of $10 million yearly product revenue
- An end-to-end research platform that supports collection of qualitative data and supports a wide range of moderated and unmoderated qualitative research methods to guide decision-making when building products and services
- Mindshare among Forrester clients - frequently mentioned in the context of inquiries, briefings, advisory engagements, and research interviews
What are the common features of top products in the Experience Research Platforms space?
No common features specified.
Scope Exclusions
- Vendors with less than $10 million yearly product revenue
- Platforms that do not support end-to-end qualitative research
- Tools offering only specialized capabilities without broad research method support
- Vendors without significant mindshare among Forrester clients
- Platforms focused exclusively on quantitative research
- Tools that do not support both moderated and unmoderated research methods
Inclusion Criteria
Vendors must, among other requirements:
- Minimum revenue of $10 million yearly product revenue
- End-to-end research platform supporting collection of qualitative data
- Support for wide range of moderated and unmoderated qualitative research methods
- Mindshare among Forrester clients through inquiries, briefings, advisory engagements, and research interviews
Offering Strengths — Relative Weighting
- Participant recruitment — 6%
- Participant management — 6%
- Participant quality — 6%
- Multimethod research — 4%
- Usability studies — 7%
- Field studies — 7%
- Live interviews — 7%
- AI-powered research methods — 7%
- Guidance for study creation — 2%
- Study optimization and recovery — 2%
- Data analysis — 5%
- Data visualization — 5%
- Sharing findings — 3%
- Collaboration on research activities — 3%
- Manage access — 3%
- Learning and education — 4%
- Support for demonstrating ROI of research — 3%
- Integrations — 3%
- Multiple languages — 3%
- Platform usability — 3%
- Platform accessibility — 3%
- Customer support — 4%
- Privacy — 2%
- Security — 2%
Strategy Strength — Relative Weighting
- Vision — 20%
- Innovation — 20%
- Roadmap — 20%
- Partner ecosystem — 10%
- Pricing flexibility and transparency — 10%
- Community — 10%
- Supporting services and offerings — 10%
FAQs
Q: What does this research cover?
A: This research evaluates the eight most significant experience research platform (XRP) providers based on their current offerings, strategy, and customer feedback. The evaluation covers platform capabilities for participant recruitment and management, multimethod research (usability studies, field studies, live interviews), AI-powered research methods, data analysis and visualization, collaboration features, integrations, and vendor vision and innovation roadmap.
Q: Who should use this research?
A: This research should be used by organizations evaluating experience research platforms to inform their purchase decisions. Buyers should consider which research methods they use most often, whether they conduct research within communities or recruit from panels, their organization's research maturity level, and their comfort with AI capabilities. The report helps match organizational needs with vendor strengths across the Leaders, Strong Performers, and Contenders categories.
Q: What are the mandatory features of vendors included in this market?
A: Minimum yearly product revenue of $10 million to demonstrate market viability and scale,End-to-end research platform capability supporting collection of qualitative data,Support for wide range of both moderated and unmoderated qualitative research methods,Ability to guide decision-making when building products and services through research insights,Demonstrated mindshare among Forrester clients through frequent mentions in inquiries, briefings, advisory engagements, and research interviews
Q: What are some reasons for not being included in this report?
A:
- Yearly product revenue below $10 million threshold
- Platform does not support end-to-end qualitative research workflows
- Limited research method support - only specialized capabilities rather than broad method coverage
- Insufficient mindshare among Forrester's enterprise client base
- Focus exclusively on quantitative research without qualitative capabilities
- Lack of support for both moderated and unmoderated research methods
- Platform does not meet threshold for guiding product and service decision-making
Q: What should buyers consider when evaluating products in this market?
A:
- The research methods they use most often - identify which research methods are core for your organization to choose a platform that excels in them while remaining flexible enough to support others
- Whether to conduct research within communities or recruit participants from a panel - vendors approach recruitment differently, some focusing on research within communities of customers while others focus on panel recruitment
- That the best overall vendors may not be the ones for you - consider organization's research maturity and comfort level with using AI, as platforms vary in how they incorporate AI capabilities
- Organization size and research practice maturity - some platforms are better suited for large-scale organizations with mature research practices
- Primary research types - whether primarily conducting unmoderated research (like usability studies) or moderated research (like live interviews and focus groups)
- Participant recruitment flexibility - whether you need to expand participant pool or can easily find target audience in external panels
- AI readiness - comfort level with AI-powered research methods versus traditional approaches
Q: How has the Experience Research Platforms market evolved in 2026?
A:
- XRPs expanding from specialized capabilities to support continuous research across multiple roles
- Research becoming more cross-functional and collaborative, spanning tactical to strategic altitudes
- AI adoption as key differentiator for supporting planning, execution, and analysis
- Shift from professional researcher-only tools to platforms supporting designers, CX professionals, marketers, and product managers
- Blurring boundaries among market research, UX research, and CX research
- Growing expectations for AI-assisted research and broader customer insight capabilities
- Movement toward embedding customer insights into everyday workflows
Q: What differentiates Strength of Offering vs. Strength of Strategy?
A: Strength of Offering (vertical axis) evaluates the current capabilities and features of the vendor's platform, including research methods, participant management, AI features, analysis tools, collaboration capabilities, usability, security, and customer support. Strength of Strategy (horizontal axis) assesses the vendor's future direction and market position, including vision, innovation pace, product roadmap, partner ecosystem, pricing approach, community building, and supporting services.
Reference
- Forrester, The Forrester Wave™: Experience Research Platforms, Q1 2026, 28-Jan-2026, ID 001a000001AFG2SAAX | 13d4f34b
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