When it comes to qualitative research, surface-level summaries aren't enough. The real breakthroughs come when you can uncover why people think, feel, and act the way they do. That's where DoReveal steps in - not just to help you explore transcripts, but to guide you through advanced methods that reveal deep insights.
Here are three powerful techniques you can now use within DoReveal to elevate your analysis:
1. Emotional Laddering
Participants' words often hide deeper, unstated motivations. Emotional Laddering helps you connect the dots. A common structure includes:
Concrete specifics – the features, frustrations, or moments people describe.
Constructs – how they categorize or evaluate these experiences.
Superordinate values – the big-picture beliefs and emotional needs these details connect to.
Here is a sample ladder (of emotions) created for a study about COVID-19: See how the everyday action of running PPE drills ties to the broader motivation/driver of "Duty and Compliance"
There are several advanced variations and related techniques such as:
Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) for uncovering deep metaphors.
Means-End Chain Analysis (MEC) for mapping attributes to consequences to values.
Laddering Interviews (upward and downward) to probe motivations and manifestations.
Repertory Grid Analysis for exploring personal constructs.
With DoReveal, you can run laddering analyses directly in your study. You'll see how small details - like a confusing app button or a helpful policy—tie back to core values like trust, freedom, or belonging. This makes it possible to answer not just what people said, but why it matters.
2. Sophisticated Persona Building
Not all personas are the same, and neither are the questions they're meant to answer. DoReveal supports multiple persona frameworks so you can tailor the lens to your project:
Goal-Oriented Personas: Who are users in terms of their desired outcomes? Perfect for product and UX design, where tasks and success rates drive adoption.
Behavioral Personas: How do users interact, decide, and use? Useful when you want to group people by habits and usage styles rather than demographics.
Psychographic Personas: What values, motivations, or emotional drivers define them? Ideal for brand strategy and communication design.
Empathy or Needs-Based Personas: Grounded in unmet needs and emotional context—vital for healthcare and service design.
With these options, you're not forced into a single view of your audience - you can choose the persona type that best fits your strategic goals.
Here is an example of Behavioral Persona created with DoReveal: See how the personas are based on behavioral attributes like "Problem-Solver " and "Protector"
Here is an Empathy-Based Persona for the same study
3. Using Behavioral Science
Another way to get to the why is through the lens of Behavioral Mapping.
Trace decision points where users move from intention to action.
Spot friction points - moments of hesitation, drop-off, or confusion.
Identify triggers and biases that influence real-world behaviors.
There are a variety of behavioral science–based frameworks you can use, including:
COM-B Model (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation → Behavior).
Fogg Behavior Model (Behavior = Motivation × Ability × Prompt).
Nudge Theory for identifying subtle interventions.
BJ Fogg's Tiny Habits method for incremental adoption.
Hooked Model (Trigger → Action → Variable Reward → Investment) for digital behaviors.
By combining these frameworks, you can gain insights where interventions will have the most impact. For example, you might discover that people aren't resisting a new feature - they just need a timely nudge or better framing to adopt it.
Here is an example of analysis based on behavioral science principles:
Have a look at the first row as an example. This study was about COVID-19 with front-line workers. It talks about delayed risk recognition. We can see the principle of Optimism bias driving this behavior - leading to underestimation until crisis is felt.
Early signals of potential crisis can help. Suggested Intervention includes pre-committed thresholds of escalation to provide such signals.
Beyond These: Even More Techniques
Emotional Laddering, Personas, and Behavioral Maps are just the beginning. DoReveal also supports advanced frameworks such as Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD), Journey Mapping, Service Design, and more. That means you can explore your data through whichever lens best fits your research questions and strategic goals.Â
Why DoReveal Can Do This
There are four key reasons why DoReveal is different from other tools in this regard?Â
DoReveal is built by research practitioners in collaboration with other practitioners. Our goal is not to simply apply the new technology, but the find ways to elevate the craft.
It takes time to understand your conversations. DoReveal doesn't skim your transcripts. It carefully reads and interprets the actual back-and-forth between you and your respondents, even in case of group conversations.
It understands qualitative techniques. Techniques listed above like ZMET and laddering, goal-oriented personas, and behavioral science frameworks, are all built-in and not bolted on.
It's powered by a custom AI agent built specifically for qualitative research. Unlike general-purpose AI, DoReveal's engine is trained to capture nuance, and ground every insight in your data.
