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CUSTOMER RESEARCH CONSULTANCY SPECIALIZED IN AI PRODUCTS
Customer Research
We build the canonical knowledge base of who your customers are, how they think and what products they want.
Why teams choose PH1
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Kickoff and finish research studies faster
We can get you initial insights within 10 days.
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Experts at complex & challenging projects
14 years of working with executives, complex orgs, sensitive audiences & topics, and in regulated environments.
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Deliverables that move leaders to act
We champion the last mile: evidence, roadmaps and strategies that give leaders the confidence to act.
The research & strategy partner for teams building intelligent experiences
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FOUNDED IN 2012 /FROM STARTUPS TO THE FORTUNE 500
TRUSTED BY 300+ COMPANIES
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USER RESEARCH & CUSTOMER INSIGHT
Get clarity on what your customers need & which solution to build
Product and research leaders bring us to:
Discover and detail new products and capabilities.
Build a research foundation to power critical business decisions.
Create canonical knowledge about customer mindsets.
Create personas and journey maps.
Get rapid feedback about a new idea or product.
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INTERVIEWS · PERSONAS · JOURNEY MAPPING · SURVEYS
Insights that will power your most important product & markting decisions for years
We work with teams who need an urgent, complex project completed, and with teams who need a trusted partner to lead a major transformation. Everything is delivered AI-ready, often as an interactive repository with the scaffolding and skill files your team needs to build on our work. PH1 has deep expertise across discovery research, 0 to 1 research, service design, in-depth interviews, complex stakeholder engagements, and product testing.
We take care of everything including the strategy, recruitment, discussion guides, facilitation, reporting, and presentations.
New Product Research
Discovery and validation before engineering commits
Customer AI Readiness Research
Whether your customers will accept AI here
Customer Segment Analysis
Who succeeds with your product, who struggles, and why
Surveys & Quantitative Research
Evidence at scale to build the business case
Personas & Mental Models
How your customers think, segment and decide
Market & Audience Research
Sizing, demand and willingness to pay
Customer & User Interviews
In-depth sessions with the people your product depends on
Stakeholder Interviews & Alignment
Find where your organisation disagrees with itself
Customer Journey Mapping
Map the journey that decides conversion and retention
Product Impact Podcast
Secrets to unlocking the value of AI
Our podcast, started in 2023, is the ultimate hub for learning from the leading voices in AI. We focus on delivering essential lessons for product teams determined to stay ahead of their competition.
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BLOG
Latest insights
digital-transformation
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Jul 9, 2026
Search: The Digital Transformation Project Quietly Hurting Your Customers
Broken site and enterprise search quietly erodes perception, acquisition, retention, and revenue. See why it's the transformation fix to prioritize now.
digital-transformation
/
May 23, 2026
AI Will Destroy University Website Traffic. There's Only One Path Forward.
Google's AI is replacing your website in the applicant journey. Here's how university marketing teams should respond before it's too late.
/
BLOG
Latest insights
digital-transformation
/
Jul 9, 2026
Search: The Digital Transformation Project Quietly Hurting Your Customers
Broken site and enterprise search quietly erodes perception, acquisition, retention, and revenue. See why it's the transformation fix to prioritize now.
digital-transformation
/
May 23, 2026
AI Will Destroy University Website Traffic. There's Only One Path Forward.
Google's AI is replacing your website in the applicant journey. Here's how university marketing teams should respond before it's too late.
/
BLOG
Latest insights
digital-transformation
/
Jul 9, 2026
Search: The Digital Transformation Project Quietly Hurting Your Customers
Broken site and enterprise search quietly erodes perception, acquisition, retention, and revenue. See why it's the transformation fix to prioritize now.
digital-transformation
/
May 23, 2026
AI Will Destroy University Website Traffic. There's Only One Path Forward.
Google's AI is replacing your website in the applicant journey. Here's how university marketing teams should respond before it's too late.
/
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is customer research and how is it different from user research?
Customer research covers the whole relationship: how people come to a category, what they value, how they decide and why they leave. User research studies how people use a product. The difference matters because customer research includes the people who never became users and the moments that happen outside your interface, which is usually where the growth problem sits.
What is a customer journey map and what do I actually do with it?
A journey map documents every stage a customer passes through, across every channel and team, with the value drivers, pain points and workarounds evidenced at each one. You use it to find the stages nobody owns, to settle arguments about where to invest, and as the shared reference your teams plan against. A map built from assumptions rather than research is a diagram, not evidence.
What are personas and mental models, and do I need both?
Personas describe who your customers are and how they behave, built from behavioural segmentation rather than demographics. Mental models describe how they understand your category and the alternatives. You need both: personas tell you who to build for, mental models tell you why your current explanation is not landing.
What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research, and which do I need?
Qualitative work explains why customers behave as they do, through interviews and observed sessions. Quantitative work tells you how widely it applies, through surveys from around 100 to 4,000+ respondents with segment analysis and significance testing. Most decisions need one to explain and the other to size, and we usually run both in the same project.
How do I find out what customers will actually pay for?
Demand measurement rather than opinion. We test willingness to pay, ranked preference and trade-offs against real alternatives, so you see what people choose when choosing costs them something. Asking whether someone likes a feature returns a yes almost every time and tells you nothing about price.
How many people do I need to interview to trust the findings?
For qualitative work, patterns usually stabilise between eight and fifteen participants per distinct segment, which is why segment definition matters more than raw count. If you need to size the finding or put a number in a business case, that is a survey question, and sample size depends on how precisely you need to measure it.
How do I research a market we have never sold into?
Start with the people in it rather than the reports about it. We run market and audience sizing, map how the category is currently served, and test demand for your proposition with the people who would have to switch. The adjacent-market scan matters too, because what already works somewhere similar is the cheapest evidence available.
Who recruits the participants, and how do you find the right ones?
We do, through established panels when a clean sample matters and from your own customer base when talking to your actual users matters more. Screener design, sourcing, scheduling, reminders, no-show management and incentive payments all sit with us, to enterprise standards of consent and privacy.
Can you research our customers without our brand being attached?
Yes. Studies can run anonymously, so an unreleased product, a new positioning, or even your interest in a category never becomes public. Participants are screened and briefed without your name attached, and being external is what makes that possible.
Can we just use AI to talk to our customers?
AI is useful for finding the questions. It will summarise your support tickets, cluster complaints and point you at which customers are worth speaking to, and we use it for that. Synthetic users return the consensus view of how people behave, which is the same view your competitors get from the same models. Your advantage comes from the specific thing your specific customers cannot explain.
Should we run customer research in-house or hire a partner?
In-house teams are usually booked on roadmap commitments, so the question you most need answered is the one nobody has calendar for. An external researcher also gets answers your team does not, because participants moderate what they say to the person who built the thing. The operational load is the third reason: recruitment, scheduling, incentives and consent is what quietly stops in-house programmes running.
Can you work alongside our existing research team or under our agency’s brand?
Both, regularly. Alongside an in-house team we take the workstream they have no calendar for, work inside their tools and templates, and leave their standard intact. For agencies we run studies under your brand as project lead, with complete confidentiality, and your client relationship stays yours.
What customer research has PH1 done, and for whom?
Customer experience strategy and personas for Spotify’s creator analytics tools. Three engagements for Simon Fraser University covering stakeholder, applicant and experience research. Rider research and journey mapping for TransLink. Audience research and personas for the BC Securities Commission. Similar work for Microsoft, Schneider Electric, Property.ca and The Weather Network.
How long does a customer research project take and what does it cost?
Most projects start within two weeks of a signed agreement, with recruitment adding about a week. If the project is a rush, we can get you initial insights within 10 days. An audit of research you already hold turns around in about a week and regularly removes the need for a new study. Cost depends on which deliverables you need, and each expertise page carries its own range.
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is customer research and how is it different from user research?
Customer research covers the whole relationship: how people come to a category, what they value, how they decide and why they leave. User research studies how people use a product. The difference matters because customer research includes the people who never became users and the moments that happen outside your interface, which is usually where the growth problem sits.
What is a customer journey map and what do I actually do with it?
A journey map documents every stage a customer passes through, across every channel and team, with the value drivers, pain points and workarounds evidenced at each one. You use it to find the stages nobody owns, to settle arguments about where to invest, and as the shared reference your teams plan against. A map built from assumptions rather than research is a diagram, not evidence.
What are personas and mental models, and do I need both?
Personas describe who your customers are and how they behave, built from behavioural segmentation rather than demographics. Mental models describe how they understand your category and the alternatives. You need both: personas tell you who to build for, mental models tell you why your current explanation is not landing.
What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research, and which do I need?
Qualitative work explains why customers behave as they do, through interviews and observed sessions. Quantitative work tells you how widely it applies, through surveys from around 100 to 4,000+ respondents with segment analysis and significance testing. Most decisions need one to explain and the other to size, and we usually run both in the same project.
How do I find out what customers will actually pay for?
Demand measurement rather than opinion. We test willingness to pay, ranked preference and trade-offs against real alternatives, so you see what people choose when choosing costs them something. Asking whether someone likes a feature returns a yes almost every time and tells you nothing about price.
How many people do I need to interview to trust the findings?
For qualitative work, patterns usually stabilise between eight and fifteen participants per distinct segment, which is why segment definition matters more than raw count. If you need to size the finding or put a number in a business case, that is a survey question, and sample size depends on how precisely you need to measure it.
How do I research a market we have never sold into?
Start with the people in it rather than the reports about it. We run market and audience sizing, map how the category is currently served, and test demand for your proposition with the people who would have to switch. The adjacent-market scan matters too, because what already works somewhere similar is the cheapest evidence available.
Who recruits the participants, and how do you find the right ones?
We do, through established panels when a clean sample matters and from your own customer base when talking to your actual users matters more. Screener design, sourcing, scheduling, reminders, no-show management and incentive payments all sit with us, to enterprise standards of consent and privacy.
Can you research our customers without our brand being attached?
Yes. Studies can run anonymously, so an unreleased product, a new positioning, or even your interest in a category never becomes public. Participants are screened and briefed without your name attached, and being external is what makes that possible.
Can we just use AI to talk to our customers?
AI is useful for finding the questions. It will summarise your support tickets, cluster complaints and point you at which customers are worth speaking to, and we use it for that. Synthetic users return the consensus view of how people behave, which is the same view your competitors get from the same models. Your advantage comes from the specific thing your specific customers cannot explain.
Should we run customer research in-house or hire a partner?
In-house teams are usually booked on roadmap commitments, so the question you most need answered is the one nobody has calendar for. An external researcher also gets answers your team does not, because participants moderate what they say to the person who built the thing. The operational load is the third reason: recruitment, scheduling, incentives and consent is what quietly stops in-house programmes running.
Can you work alongside our existing research team or under our agency’s brand?
Both, regularly. Alongside an in-house team we take the workstream they have no calendar for, work inside their tools and templates, and leave their standard intact. For agencies we run studies under your brand as project lead, with complete confidentiality, and your client relationship stays yours.
What customer research has PH1 done, and for whom?
Customer experience strategy and personas for Spotify’s creator analytics tools. Three engagements for Simon Fraser University covering stakeholder, applicant and experience research. Rider research and journey mapping for TransLink. Audience research and personas for the BC Securities Commission. Similar work for Microsoft, Schneider Electric, Property.ca and The Weather Network.
How long does a customer research project take and what does it cost?
Most projects start within two weeks of a signed agreement, with recruitment adding about a week. If the project is a rush, we can get you initial insights within 10 days. An audit of research you already hold turns around in about a week and regularly removes the need for a new study. Cost depends on which deliverables you need, and each expertise page carries its own range.
/
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is customer research and how is it different from user research?
Customer research covers the whole relationship: how people come to a category, what they value, how they decide and why they leave. User research studies how people use a product. The difference matters because customer research includes the people who never became users and the moments that happen outside your interface, which is usually where the growth problem sits.
What is a customer journey map and what do I actually do with it?
A journey map documents every stage a customer passes through, across every channel and team, with the value drivers, pain points and workarounds evidenced at each one. You use it to find the stages nobody owns, to settle arguments about where to invest, and as the shared reference your teams plan against. A map built from assumptions rather than research is a diagram, not evidence.
What are personas and mental models, and do I need both?
Personas describe who your customers are and how they behave, built from behavioural segmentation rather than demographics. Mental models describe how they understand your category and the alternatives. You need both: personas tell you who to build for, mental models tell you why your current explanation is not landing.
What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative research, and which do I need?
Qualitative work explains why customers behave as they do, through interviews and observed sessions. Quantitative work tells you how widely it applies, through surveys from around 100 to 4,000+ respondents with segment analysis and significance testing. Most decisions need one to explain and the other to size, and we usually run both in the same project.
How do I find out what customers will actually pay for?
Demand measurement rather than opinion. We test willingness to pay, ranked preference and trade-offs against real alternatives, so you see what people choose when choosing costs them something. Asking whether someone likes a feature returns a yes almost every time and tells you nothing about price.
How many people do I need to interview to trust the findings?
For qualitative work, patterns usually stabilise between eight and fifteen participants per distinct segment, which is why segment definition matters more than raw count. If you need to size the finding or put a number in a business case, that is a survey question, and sample size depends on how precisely you need to measure it.
How do I research a market we have never sold into?
Start with the people in it rather than the reports about it. We run market and audience sizing, map how the category is currently served, and test demand for your proposition with the people who would have to switch. The adjacent-market scan matters too, because what already works somewhere similar is the cheapest evidence available.
Who recruits the participants, and how do you find the right ones?
We do, through established panels when a clean sample matters and from your own customer base when talking to your actual users matters more. Screener design, sourcing, scheduling, reminders, no-show management and incentive payments all sit with us, to enterprise standards of consent and privacy.
Can you research our customers without our brand being attached?
Yes. Studies can run anonymously, so an unreleased product, a new positioning, or even your interest in a category never becomes public. Participants are screened and briefed without your name attached, and being external is what makes that possible.
Can we just use AI to talk to our customers?
AI is useful for finding the questions. It will summarise your support tickets, cluster complaints and point you at which customers are worth speaking to, and we use it for that. Synthetic users return the consensus view of how people behave, which is the same view your competitors get from the same models. Your advantage comes from the specific thing your specific customers cannot explain.
Should we run customer research in-house or hire a partner?
In-house teams are usually booked on roadmap commitments, so the question you most need answered is the one nobody has calendar for. An external researcher also gets answers your team does not, because participants moderate what they say to the person who built the thing. The operational load is the third reason: recruitment, scheduling, incentives and consent is what quietly stops in-house programmes running.
Can you work alongside our existing research team or under our agency’s brand?
Both, regularly. Alongside an in-house team we take the workstream they have no calendar for, work inside their tools and templates, and leave their standard intact. For agencies we run studies under your brand as project lead, with complete confidentiality, and your client relationship stays yours.
What customer research has PH1 done, and for whom?
Customer experience strategy and personas for Spotify’s creator analytics tools. Three engagements for Simon Fraser University covering stakeholder, applicant and experience research. Rider research and journey mapping for TransLink. Audience research and personas for the BC Securities Commission. Similar work for Microsoft, Schneider Electric, Property.ca and The Weather Network.
How long does a customer research project take and what does it cost?
Most projects start within two weeks of a signed agreement, with recruitment adding about a week. If the project is a rush, we can get you initial insights within 10 days. An audit of research you already hold turns around in about a week and regularly removes the need for a new study. Cost depends on which deliverables you need, and each expertise page carries its own range.