I spent the past several months evaluating eight top experience research platforms (XRPs). I’m excited to announce that the result of that evaluation, The Forrester Wave™: Experience Research Platforms, Q1 2026, is now live! 

What Is The Focus Of This Evaluation? 

Forrester defines an experience research platform as: 

Platforms used by companies to collect qualitative data to weigh alongside quantitative data in the decision-making process when building products or services. 

XRPs help companies reach customer insights fast by enabling participant recruitment and remote research; they help understand customers in depth, reduce risk in product and service decisions, and scale experience research. 

The Forrester Wave™: Experience Research Platforms, Q1 2026 is our evaluation of eight top XRPs across 31 criteria for current offering and strategy. These criteria assess each vendor’s current capabilities and future strategy, giving buyers clear insights into where each platform excels and where it may fall short. 

Three Themes Emerged From The Analysis 

The analysis surfaced many themes about XRPs and the state of research. Here are three that stand out: 

  1. XRPs are trying to meet diverse research needs. In the past, XRPs offered specialized capabilities — such as usability studies or live interviews — and were mainly used by professional researchers. Today, XRPs support continuous research for a broader range of roles, including researchers, designers, CX professionals, marketers, and product managers. As research has become more cross‑functional and collaborative, XRPs struggle to meet all requirements within a single platform. The good news: Vendors recognize the importance of enabling multimethod research and already offer a variety of methods that can be used together, though their strengths still vary by method.
  2. Platform users have high expectations of AI. Platforms vary in how they incorporate AI — some offer AI-powered research methods, while others embed AI throughout the research process. When AI is involved, customers expect conversational experiences and nuanced analysis that they can trust to inform their decisions. In other words, high-level AI-generated summaries are no longer sufficient. Users compare their experiences to the genAI tools that they already use (e.g., ChatGPT) and expect more depth and speed in analysis from XRPs.
  3. AI-moderated interviews are getting a lot of attention. XRPs are exploring new ways to incorporate AI into the platform, and some already offer AI-powered research tools such as synthetic audiences, virtual personas, and AI-moderated interviews. Among the platform users I interviewed, AI-moderated interviews generated the most excitement. This method allows an AI agent to interview human participants at scale, interacting with them in real time and adapting questions based on their responses. Users are particularly excited by the AI moderator’s potential to overcome language barriers — because it can “speak” multiple languages — and to reduce the challenges of conducting qualitative research across time zones. 

What’s Next 

If you’re a Forrester client, read the full Wave evaluation: The Forrester Wave™: Experience Research Platforms, Q1 2026. Use the “Compare vendors” button at the beginning of the report to understand what each score means and compare vendors based on the criteria that matters most for your organization. You can customize weightings based on your buying needs. This will allow you to find the vendor that fits you best. 

Let’s Connect 

If you’d like to ask me questions or work through your buying decision, I am here for you! Set up a conversation with me. You can also follow or connect with me on LinkedIn if you’d like. 

Last But Not Least 

I would like to acknowledge and thank all the participating vendors in this research. Participating in a Forrester Wave is a significant time investment, and we appreciate the effort that you put into this process. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with all of you in the coming years.