Questions determine the quality of research insights. But not all questions are created equal. We were reminded of the importance of better questions in research by listening to author Charles Duhigg talk, while the CMB team attended the Market Research Event (TMRE).
Charles demonstrated how transformative questions establish genuine connections and uncover deeper insights. By asking unexpected yet meaningful questions – researchers break through superficial barriers and access authentic human experiences.
He argues that whenever we speak, we are actually participating in one of three conversations: practical (What’s this really about?), emotional (How do we feel?), and social (Who are we?). Skilled interviewers know the importance of recognizing — and then matching — each kind of conversation, and how to hear the complex emotions, subtle negotiations, and hidden beliefs that color so much of what we say and how we listen.
Making that kind of connection changes everything. When we shift from functional questions to ones that create real empathy, we get entirely different levels of insight.
Poorly designed satisfaction surveys and basic discussion guides miss the depth of human experience that drives real business impact.
At this same conference, several CMB clients spoke about their key priorities for 2025. “We make sure that we’re having the most impact,” said Amy Hearon, Head of Research and CX Insights, US Consumer Bank at Citi. “And to me, that starts with making sure you’re doing the right work. And the right work is what the business cares about.”
Effective question design follows clear progression. Start with questions that are easier to answer to establish comfort before moving to deeper inquiries. Frame questions evoke genuine reflection rather than quick reactions. Instead of asking, “How do you feel about this product?” consider, “Tell me about a time this product made a difference in your day.”
The way we ask questions fundamentally shapes the insights we receive. When we create an environment where people feel comfortable sharing their true thoughts and experiences, we get insights that spark inspiration and drive meaningful change.
Charles demonstrated how shifting from clinical survey questions to meaningful conversation unlocks deeper insights. By helping researchers move beyond superficial exchanges, he showed how intentionally crafted questions create real connections.
Strategic use of questions that invite personal disclosure yields breakthrough insights. However, timing and context matter – vulnerability must feel natural within the conversation flow. Leaning on expertise from qualitative insights, researchers need to build trust before diving into deeper territory. It’s important to consider how the interview experience may impact the responses – as the industry evolves, we should evolve our best practices around expectation setting, rapport building and emotional & experiential engagement.
The psychology of better questions goes beyond simple phrasing. Questions that resonate tap into universal human experiences while remaining relevant to research objectives. They create space for storytelling and reflection rather than just data collection.
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Modern research technology enables us to move from surveying to more natural conversation flows while maintaining research rigor. AI probing within traditional survey open ends is one efficient way of enabling better questions. AI-powered conversational surveys also offer an opportunity for researchers to leverage strategically crafted questions to improve engagement and insight quality.
Technology that enables natural conversation flows through AI, but requires human oversight of question crafting, quality and appropriateness. It is also important for researchers to track response quality and depth and to monitor engagement levels to assess impact. Regular calibration ensures questions remain effective as needs evolve.
At TMRE our team saw reinforcement of our belief that conversational approaches can transform traditional research methods. A conversational approach can separate good from great qual and gleans deeper understanding from quant. In one compelling session, researchers shared results from a trade-off exercise comparing standard checkbox surveys to a conversational format.
While the conversational interviews took longer and cost more than traditional surveys, they produced stronger results. Instead of quickly clicking through options, respondents took time to consider their choices more realistically. The difference was clear – when we create space for real conversation and show in real time that the conversational tool was listening, people actually stop to think about their responses. “Conversational surveys and AI-led methods expand our research toolkit, providing us new meaningful ways to engage with our audiences. The merging of qualitative and quantitative give us new ways to structure our surveys that can be incredibly effective at unlocking deep insights at speed and scale.” said Richard Scionti, CMB’s VP of Product & Innovation.
The shift toward conversational approaches allows us an expanded toolkit including techniques for deeper questioning, capturing unstructured feedback from larger samples while maintaining quality standards.
It also addresses a 2025 challenge mentioned by one of the CMB client panelists:
“We’re always seeking and wanting to try out new solutions and tools that let us hear what people are talking about in real time, or as close to real time as possible,” said Kate James, Vice President, Strategic Research Team Leader at Fidelity. “And that would allow us to surface trends that our stakeholders may not be aware of yet or even talking about yet.”
When you pair conversational surveys with AI analysis and reporting, you get much closer to scalable real-time insights than has previously been possible.
In many cases, AI-led methods alone aren’t sufficient to get at all of the nuanced objectives of a research study. In this case, we often find a mix of AI moderation and human moderation can help gain the right mix of depth and scale.
When deploying AI-led methods it’s especially important to audit questions to evaluate depth and engagement potential. Consider how easy or difficult a question may be to answer and review each question for clarity. While AI-led methods can probe on key areas of interest, they lack the situational awareness and emotional intelligence humans bring to conversation. These methods are most successful with a smaller set of focused questions compared to a traditional qualitative discussion guide, and are more rigid than human to human conversation.
Question transformation requires human evaluation of current practices. What questions and framing consistently yield superficial responses? Where do respondents disengage? Which questions spark deeper reflection and richer insights?
It’s not just about asking better questions – it’s about understanding when and how to ask them. That’s especially crucial with the emerging field of AI moderation, conversational surveying, and the expanding use of open-ended questions in survey design.
To ask better questions is both art and science. Conversation psychology, active listening, and developing instincts for follow-up opportunities all contribute to stronger question and conversation design skills. But it also includes understanding how conversation comes to life on digital platforms.
Question quality becomes increasingly critical as organizations seek deeper customer understanding. Better questions lead to deeper participant engagement, more authentic responses, and richer insights for decision-making.
The integration of AI and human intelligence presents new opportunities for understanding. Conversational AI can help scale better questioning practices while maintaining meaningful connections. This hybrid approach, when designed intentionally, combines human empathy with technological capabilities delivering optimal results.
The return appears in stronger insights that drive better business decisions.
Success comes from creating an environment where authentic sharing feels natural and valuable. Building this environment requires careful attention to sequence, timing, and context of research. The goal isn’t just gathering data – it’s understanding human experience in ways that inform better decisions. To accomplish this, teams often need to look across the organization’s needs and objectives to define the questions that need to be answered. That holistic lens can lead to better questions and ultimately better activation of insights.
“Our insights organization sits inside of the marketing organization, but we do work for all the business units as well, and we try to funnel everything through the insights group,” said LeAnn Helmrich, Associate Dir – B2B Customer Insights at Verizon. “It’s just more efficient that way, and there are often people throughout the organization that are looking at a similar topic. And if everybody in the organization wide is going off and doing all of their own insights that’s a waste of our money.
Organizations that master the art of asking better questions gain competitive advantage through deeper customer understanding. They move beyond surface-level feedback to uncover true motivations, emotions, and unmet needs that drive innovation and growth.
The transformation of research through better questions continues evolving. As technology advances and human understanding deepens, new opportunities emerge for a meaningful conversation. The key lies in maintaining focus on human connection while leveraging tools that enable scale, speed and consistency.
At the end of the day, our work at CMB bridges our audiences and business decisions. Asking better questions helps us explore research objectives in new impactful ways, and empowers us to put research at the center of strategic decisions.