35. Will avatars ever replace human user researchers? - Rob Symes @ Fortell.ai

Is there a way to enable a digital avatar to ask a user research questions in an exploratory or qualitative manner? One that elicits useful research insight that can be transcribed and analyzed in real time? If users are wary of the 'uncanny valley' of interacting with an avatar will they engage with it? And how smart can these things ultimately get?

Rob Symes is CEO at Fortell.ai.

In this episode he shares with me his digital career path as a serial entrepreneur and his founder journey so far with Fortell. We discuss the opportunities and risks posed by AI in trying to understand real human user motivation and needs, the resistance he's faced from some corners of the user research community, and the power of actually going out and 'sitting in the customer's shoes', despite all the benefits that remote research can bring. 

Finally, he plays my 3 card challenge to share his favourite UX tool, favourite technique and a trend he sees in the future. 

Thanks for listening, and I hope you enjoy the episode. 

Mike Green

This podcast is brought to you by Researchable UX.

My thanks again to our sponsor Ribbon. If you'd like to learn more, visit their website or reach out to their Founder Axel Thomson directly. 

If you have a moment, I'd love to hear your feedback on the podcast to help me improve it. 

And finally, if you'd like to support the podcast in a very modest way yourself and help me continue to producing regular content of the kind you'd like to hear, buying me a virtual coffee would be hugely appreciated. Thank you!