Reimagining User Interviews for the Modern Product Workflow

When we planned our product roadmap for 2025 we talked to our users to understand their biggest pain points and one thing came up time and time again: conducting and analyzing user interviews, while still one of the most important aspects of user research, was still incredibly painful and time consuming.

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So we went away, and we tried to envision the perfect workflow for user interviews for product, design and research terms and what we came up with looked a little something like this:

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1. Upload a video, and within minutes, key insights surface automatically
2. Ask questions and get back evidence with video citations
3. Create video highlight reals faster than ever for shareable insights
4. User voices reach product decisions and executive teams in time to influencer product decisions

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Then we went and built it. 

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Interviews, Reimagined

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Traditional interviews are passive. They sit in folders, waiting for someone to have time to review them. But what if interviews could speak for themselves? What if they could surface their own insights, highlight critical moments, and answer follow-up questions?

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This isn't science fiction, it's the natural evolution of user research, powered by AI (and built by Optimal). 

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Most research teams have folders full of unanalyzed video content and hours of valuable insights buried in hours of footage and unfortunately, talking to your users doesn't matter if insights never surface. Most research teams area already trying to leverage AI for solve some of their challenges, but generic AI tools miss the nuance of user research. They can transcribe words but can't identify pain points. They can find keywords but can't surface behavioral patterns. They understand language but not user psychology. The next generation of user interview tools require research-grade AI. AI trained on user research methodologies. Algorithms that understand the difference between stated preferences and actual behavior. Technology that recognizes emotional cues, identifies friction points, and connects user needs to product opportunities.

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Traditional analysis creates static reports. Product, design and research teams need tools for user interviews that create dynamic intelligence. Instead of documents that get filed away, imagine insights that flow directly into product decisions:

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• Automatic highlight reels that bring user voices to stakeholder meetings
• Evidence-backed recommendations with supporting video clips
• Searchable repositories where any team member can ask questions and get answers
• Real-time insight sharing that influences decisions while they're being made

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Manual analysis can take weeks or even months, especially for large datasets. AI-powered tools can speed this process up significantly, but time savings is just the beginning. The real transformation happens when researchers stop spending time on manual tasks and start spending time on strategic thinking. When analysis happens automatically, human intelligence can focus on synthesis, strategy, and storytelling.

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We are reimagining user interviews from the ground up. Instead of weeks of manual analysis we want you to be able to surface insights in hours. Instead of static reports, we want you to  have dynamic, searchable intelligence. Instead of user voices lost in transcripts, we want to help you get video evidence that influences every product decision.

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This isn't a distant future, it's happening now. We can’t wait for you to see it. 

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