Your Strategic Qualitative Research Partner
Qualitative Research · Hidden Motivations · Smarter Decisions
Ask better.
Hear deeper.
Decide smarter.
I help companies understand what people really think, feel and value. Beyond the polite answers.
Through personal interviews, qualitative in-depth research, projective techniques and strategic interpretation, I help you uncover the hidden motivations behind customer behaviour, sharpen your decisions and find the next smart move.
BASED IN
Helsinki, Finland
WORKING GLOBALLY WITH
Corporations · Startups · Growth Companies
EXPERIENCE
30+ years in qualitative research
LANGUAGES
FI · EN
...and in 15 minutes
you will know how to proceed.
Qualitative research that gets people talking, and reveals what really drives them.
I help companies understand people more deeply.
Not just what customers say.
Not just what they buy.
But what they really think, feel, value and struggle with, often before they can explain it clearly themselves.
With over
30 years of experience in qualitative research, strategic market research and creative problem solving,
I have conducted and designed studies for many of Finland’s leading companies, startups and growth businesses. I have written books on qualitative research, strategic market research and business creativity, and I have spent my career helping companies make better decisions by understanding people better.
I know the tricks of the trade.
How to make people talk.
How to listen between the lines.
How to use projective techniques to go deeper into the values, emotions and hidden systems behind behaviour.
That is where the real insight usually lives.
WHAT I OFFER
Personal interviews and qualitative in-depth research
I design and conduct high-quality personal interviews, customer interviews and qualitative research projects that help you understand your customers, users, employees, partners or target groups. Typical projects include:
In-depth customer interviews
Strategic qualitative market research
Customer experience research
Innovation and idea development
Understanding values, motivations and hidden barriers
Projective and creative research techniques
The goal is always simple →
Clearer thinking,
Better decisions,
Stronger business results.
Why qualitative research matters
Numbers can tell you what is happening.
Good qualitative research helps you understand why.
Why do people say price matters, when emotion often makes the decision?
Why does a simple message sometimes move people more than a perfect strategy?
Why do people resist change, even when the new option is clearly better?
Why do some products feel meaningful, while others feel like just another choice?
Why do people choose with their heart, and explain it later with their head?
People are not Excel sheets.
They are emotional, social, contradictory and wonderfully complicated. That is why asking the right questions, in the right way, matters.
Why work with me?
I have spent more than three decades helping companies understand people, markets and behaviour. My background includes:
Experience as a market research professional for
Over 100 leading Finnish companies
Former Chairman of
ESOMAR Finland and the Finnish Market Research Society
Founder of Futurecode
creator of the Dibidogs animation and educational brand with over 50 million viewers
Founder of Sisufy
an AI-powered parenting platform focused on behaviour change and family wellbeing
Author of Kvalitatiivisen tutkimuksen käsikirja, Strageinen markkinointitutkimus, Luova lapsi and Ideasta Innovaatioksi
In short: I understand both big corporations and fast-moving startups.
I know boardrooms, brands, consumers, creative teams and entrepreneurs. And I know that the best insights rarely come from asking boring questions.
Companies that need deeper customer understanding
You may have data, dashboards and sales figures, but still feel that something important is missing.
I help you uncover the human reasons behind the numbers.
Brands developing new products, services or concepts
Before you invest too much time and money, let’s find out what people really think, feel and need.
A few good interviews can save a company from a very expensive mistake.
WHO THIS IS FOR
Startups and growth companies
Startups need fast, sharp and practical insight.
I can help you understand your customers, sharpen your positioning, test concepts and make smarter decisions without building a heavy research machine.
Leadership teams facing strategic questions
Sometimes the real question is not “What do customers think of this product?”
It is:
What business are we really in?
What problem are we actually solving?
What should we stop believing?
That is where qualitative research becomes strategic.
HOW I WORK
Clear. Practical. Human.
I do not believe in research reports that nobody reads. A good qualitative project should create clarity.
It should help your team think better, decide faster and act with more confidence. My approach is:
1
Define the real question
Often the first task is to sharpen what we actually need to learn.
2
Talk to the right people
Customers, users, lost customers, prospects, experts, employees, whoever holds the truth.
3
Go below the surface
Using experience, projective techniques and careful interviewing to reach the values and emotions behind behaviour.
4
Turn findings into action
Clear conclusions, strategic implications and practical recommendations.
No unnecessary theatre. No research fog. Just strong thinking and useful insight.
Examples of questions
I can help answer
1
Why are customers choosing us, or not choosing us?
2
What does our brand really mean to people?
3
Is our new concept strong enough?
4
What are the hidden emotional barriers to buying?
5
How should we position our service?
6
What do customers really value in this category?
7
Why is our message not landing?
8
What unmet needs could lead to new business opportunities?
9
How can we make a complex topic easier and more attractive?
10
What should we do next?
A BIT OF FUN — BUT SERIOUS RESULTS
People often reveal more when they stop trying to sound clever. That is why good interviewing is part psychology, part strategy, part theatre and part detective work.
You need to make people relaxed enough to talk, curious enough to think and brave enough to say what they actually mean. That is the work I love. And after 30+ years, I can usually tell quite quickly when the interesting truth is hiding behind the polite answer.
Let’s talk
If you are planning a research project, developing a new concept, trying to understand your customers better or simply wondering what your market is really thinking, let’s talk. Call me. I promise that in 15 minutes you will know how to proceed.
Let’s find the truth your customers have not yet told you.
Jim Solatie
Nero
Strategic Qualitative Research