As is expected at market research conferences these days, AI was hard to miss at Quirk's Chicago. But for us, the most meaningful insights came from looking beyond the flash. We saw this most clearly in sessions focused on UX, synthetic personas, and mental availability, where the conversation centered less on tools and more on how market research is evolving.
And while the conference leaned toward CPG, the ideas presented around these topics translate across industries, from financial services and technology to industrial markets, anywhere teams are trying to connect insights to better decisions.
So, what was the key takeaway from Quirk's Chicago? Across these sessions, a clear shift emerged. Research is moving beyond outputs and toward influence, shaping decisions earlier, faster, and with greater clarity.
UX: Rethinking What “Good Research” Looks Like
In one of the opening sessions at Quirk's Chicago, Boeing Employee Credit Union challenged long-standing UX research practices, including personas, polished reports, and large sample sizes.
Not because they’re wrong, but because they’re often over-relied on. The speaker noted a shift in UX research toward:
There was also a shift away from static personas toward more actionable frameworks like Jobs to Be Done (JTBD), which focus on what users are trying to accomplish and where the process breaks down. We’re encouraged to see this shift, as it reflects what we’ve been exploring in our recent JTBD and VOC content, focusing on real-world problems to drive clearer decisions.
One example in the session showed how quick research eliminated 75% of planned features and cut weeks off development time.
The message was clear: speed doesn’t reduce rigor; it preserves relevance. Waiting too long to be “right” often means missing the opportunity to influence decisions.
Synthetic Personas: Speed Without Nuance
Again, AI showed up across sessions at Quirk's Chicago, but one of the more grounded conversations focused on synthetic personas. The perspective was practical, not hype driven. Speakers from Newell, Once Upon a Farm, Tropicana, and Warner Brothers highlighted both the current state of synthetic personas and where the approach still falls short.
Synthetic data can:
But it still struggles with:
In one example, synthetic personas missed subtle cues in creative testing, small gaps that could meaningfully impact outcomes.
The takeaway: AI is a powerful tool for speed and scale, but it doesn’t replace human understanding. The strongest approach is a hybrid one, using AI to filter and prioritize, then validating with real customers.
This aligns closely with how we’ve been approaching AI in research at Phase 5. In our recent webinar on synthetic personas, we explored how these tools can support early-stage learning, but only when paired with real customer insights, ensuring decisions are grounded in how people actually think and behave.
Mental Availability: From Tracking to Growth in Brand Research
One of the most relevant sessions for Phase 5 was from Oxfam America and Quantilope, focusing on mental availability and moving beyond traditional metrics in brand research.
The shift is simple but important because traditional tracking tells you where you are, but it doesn’t necessarily tell you what to do next.
Mental availability reframes the question:
Growth comes from being present in more of those moments, not just increasing awareness.
By mapping “category entry points,” teams can identify where they are strong, where they are missing, and where there is whitespace to grow.
Mental availability is an area we’ve been exploring in depth at Phase 5, both in recent blogs and webinars, focusing on how to move from measurement to action by identifying the moments that drive choice and ensuring brands show up meaningfully within them.
While rooted in CPG, this brand research approach translates directly to B2B, financial, and industrial markets, where being top of mind in the right situation often matters more than broad visibility.
What Quirk's Chicago Signaled for Research Going Forward
Across UX, AI, and brand strategy, a consistent pattern emerged at Quirk's Chicago:
But the bigger shift is that the role of research is evolving: Less time is spent producing outputs; More time is spent shaping decisions; More time is spent understanding real customer behavior.
Even in a conference full of AI, the most valuable insights weren’t about the tools themselves. They were about how research is being used more intentionally, more strategically, and more closely tied to the decisions that matter.
If you're thinking about how these shifts apply to your organization, we’d welcome the conversation. Connect with Phase 5 to learn more.
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