AI for Customer Research: Future-Proof Your UX & Product Skills

4.7 (14)

·

4 Weeks

·

Cohort-based Course

Elevate your research: This hands-on course shows you how to harness cutting-edge AI tools and make AI your powerful partner.

This course is popular

3 people enrolled last week.

CLASS PARTICIPANTS FROM

Meta
Microsoft
Huge
Canva
Pinterest

Course overview

Gain a Powerful Research Partner: Elevate Your Work with AI

As a UX researcher, you know that real insights come from empathy, deep observation, and critical thinking. Yet today's market demands you work smarter—and AI is playing a leading role in top research teams. This course is designed for researchers, whether in-house or freelance, who want to integrate AI into their workflow without sacrificing the uniquely human insights that set you apart.


In this immersive, interactive course, discover how AI is revolutionizing research by delivering rapid insights, unprecedented scale, and innovative techniques like synthetic users. You'll be introduced to groundbreaking tools while mastering practical prompt engineering that you can use immediately.


WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT


Practical, Step-by-Step Guidance

You’ll experience a hands-on, interactive curriculum that demystifies AI for UX research. Every module is designed to guide you through real-world techniques — like meta-prompting and AI interview moderation — explained in clear language with relatable examples. You'll learn how to apply these methods directly to your projects, making the transition to AI seamless and manageable.


Time-Saving Strategies:

Discover proven methods to automate repetitive tasks such as AI-powered interviews and AI-enhanced analysis. But also learn when – and when not – to use them ... which is the real time savings! You’ll have more time to focus on strategic analysis and ensure that your valuable expertise drives your research outcomes.


A Carefully Curated Set of Tools & Techniques

Instead of sifting through an overwhelming array of AI tools, I've selected a handful of tools that: (a) we've used and tested, and (b) demonstrate what's possible throughout the research lifecycle ... so that you can quickly identify the right solutions for you.


Real-World Exercises

Engage in live sessions and practical exercises that replicate the challenges you face in your everyday work. You’ll have opportunities to test AI techniques on actual research data, compare AI outputs, and receive feedback in real time. This immersive experience builds confidence and ensures you can replicate success in your own projects.


Expert Guides & Prompt Libraries

Gain exclusive access to a library of expert guides. These detailed, step-by-step manuals walk you through every aspect of integrating AI into your research, covering topics such as:

• AI-Powered Analysis: Rapidly process large qualitative datasets by surfacing themes and integrating multilingual and quantitative insights—with essential human oversight for validation and context.

• Prompt Engineering: Craft detailed, context-rich prompts to streamline routine tasks, reduce bias, and uncover nuanced insights with concrete meta-prompts and examples.

• AI-Moderated Interviews: Set up and refine AI-moderated research sessions for rapid, scalable, and ethically managed interviews, balancing automation with human oversight.

• Leveraging Synthetic Users: Use artificial personas to quickly test ideas and simulate diverse scenarios, while combining synthetic feedback with real-user validation to capture authentic insights.

• Future-Proofing Your UX Research Career: Understand how AI is reshaping UX research by comparing current practices with emerging trends, highlighting evolving skills and strategic insight synthesis.


Community & Expert Support

When you join the course, you’re not just accessing content—you’re joining an exclusive network of seasoned UX researchers. Benefit from direct access to John Whalen, PhD, and engage with peers who understand your challenges. This supportive community offers ongoing guidance, collaborative problem-solving, and the reassurance that you’re not navigating the AI landscape alone.


WHY IT MATTERS


Reclaim Your Time for Strategic Work

By automating time-consuming tasks, you free up valuable hours that can be redirected to high-level analysis and high-value strategic work. This not only boosts productivity but also enables you to deliver richer insights and drive more value (ROI!).


Enhance Your Expertise, Not Replace It

The course addresses the core fear that AI might erode the human touch in research. Instead, it shows you how AI acts as an amplifier of your unique skills—allowing you to maintain the empathy, intuition, and critical thinking that only a seasoned researcher can provide. It’s about working smarter, not replacing what makes you irreplaceable.


Overcome Overwhelm and Tool Fatigue

With AI tools rapidly emerging, the landscape can be chaotic and intimidating. This course provides a curated, structured approach to learning AI for research. Gain clarity and confidence by focusing on proven, reliable techniques.


Future-Proof Your Career

In a rapidly evolving digital environment, staying ahead means continuously updating your skillset. By mastering AI tools tailored for research, you not only improve your current workflow but also secure your position as a forward-thinking leader. The skills you gain will ensure that your expertise remains indispensable—even as technology advances.


Immediate, Tangible ROI

The benefits of this course are measurable from day one. With faster analysis, more accurate data synthesis, and streamlined workflows, you’ll see a direct impact on your research efficiency and quality. This immediate return on investment reinforces that learning AI isn’t just about staying current—it’s about dramatically enhancing your professional performance.


WHAT MAKES THIS CLASS UNIQUE


Exclusive Access & Expert Guest Speakers

Enjoy trial access to exclusive, enterprise-grade AI platforms that aren’t always available publicly, and live guest sessions with the visionary founders of these tools.


In April's cohort alone, you'll gain access to: Wondering, Listen Labs, Quallie, Coloop, Marvin, Vurvey and Synthetic Users. Founders will demonstrate their tools, provide research best practices, and share their insights into the future of research.


Balanced Exposure to Specialized tools and Prompt Engineering for any LLM

While you’ll explore new AI tools, you’ll also learn prompt engineering techniques that yield immediate, tangible benefits throughout your research lifecycle – great for professionals working with sensitive data and limited access to AI tools.


Collaborative, Hands-On Learning

Participate in live workshops that combine expert guidance, interactive practice, and peer collaboration to solve real-world research challenges. Get your hands on these tools and discuss the experience with your peers. Sometimes the conversation gets very real about what works and doesn't work – something not typically shared elsewhere.


COURSE FORMAT



Live Workshops: Four engaging 120-minute sessions per week featuring live demos, group activities, special guests and interactive discussions. Note: We do each session twice for your convenience. Once at 1-3pm EST and once 7-9pm EST – attend whichever you like! This is not only convenient but also makes the student-to-teacher ratios excellent for learning and individual attention.


💻 Practical Application: One hour per class of homework between sessions applying AI tools in real-world research scenarios.


Weekly Q&A Sessions: Live sessions for personalized support, immediate feedback, and extra guidance.


🎥 Recorded Sessions: Access all session recordings to revisit and solidify your learning at your own pace.

This course is for

01

Researchers who want faster, more effective ways to uncover insights and to learn new techniques like synthetic users.

02

Product Managers and Designers seeking simple and rapid product discovery and concept validation techniques they can do themselves.

03

Leaders and Founders looking for efficient, data-driven decisions that keep them ahead of the curve. Prepare your new research operation.

Outcomes

Accelerate & Scale Your Research

Transform your workflow by dramatically speeding up data collection and analysis. Leverage AI tools to scale your research, achieving faster insights and managing global studies with ease while maintaining high quality.

Enhance Your Workflow

Integrate a select few, high-impact AI tools into your existing process— advanced AI prompting, AI-powered moderation, AI-enhanced analysis or synthetic users.

Stay Ahead of the Curve

Future-proof your career by mastering the latest techniques such as ai-moderation and synthetic uses, making your skills irreplacable.

Join a Vibrant Community

Connect with a network of UX researchers who are navigating the evolving AI landscape together, sharing insights and strategies in real time.

This course includes

9 interactive live sessions

Lifetime access to course materials

35 in-depth lessons

Direct access to instructor

3 projects to apply learnings

Guided feedback & reflection

Private community of peers

Course certificate upon completion

Maven Satisfaction Guarantee

This course is backed by Maven’s guarantee. You can receive a full refund within 14 days after the course ends, provided you meet the completion criteria in our refund policy.

Course syllabus

Week 1

May 5—May 11

    Session 1. Introduction, Prompt Engineering + AI-Moderated Interviews

    • May

      6

      AI for Customer Research - Class 1

      Tue 5/65:00 PM—7:00 PM (UTC)
    • May

      6

      AI for Customer Research - Class 1 (repeat)

      Tue 5/611:00 PM—1:00 AM (UTC)
    6 more items

Week 2

May 12—May 18

    Session 2. AI-Moderated Interviews + AI-Powered Analysis

    • May

      13

      AI for Customer Research - Class 2

      Tue 5/135:00 PM—7:00 PM (UTC)
    • May

      13

      AI for Customer Research - Class 2 (repeat)

      Tue 5/1311:00 PM—1:00 AM (UTC)
    8 more items

Week 3

May 19—May 25

    Class 3. AI-Powered Analysis + Synthetic Users

    • May

      20

      AI for Customer Research - Class 3

      Tue 5/205:00 PM—7:00 PM (UTC)
    • May

      20

      AI for Customer Research - Class 3 (repeat)

      Tue 5/2011:00 PM—1:00 AM (UTC)
    8 more items

Week 4

May 26—May 27

    Class 4. Synthetic Users + Building Your Insights System

    • May

      27

      AI for Customer Research - Class 4

      Tue 5/275:00 PM—7:00 PM (UTC)
    • May

      27

      AI for Customer Research - Class 4 (repeat)

      Tue 5/2711:00 PM—1:00 AM (UTC)
    7 more items

Post-course

    5. Post-Course Strategic Action Plan

    2 items

Bonus

    6. Bonus Materials: Guidebooks, Frameworks, Report & Tool List

    7 items

4.7 (14 ratings)

What students are saying

More student testimonials from LinkedIn

        "The two-week course was a valuable sampler on using AI end-to-end across research projects, and it helped me further reframe my perspective on AI—from seeing it as a potential competitor to embracing it as a powerful collaborator."
Becky White

Becky White

Head of Research Design at Canva
        "A fantastic opportunity to stay ahead in the evolving research landscape! I highly recommend it for ResOps professionals looking to leverage AI tools to drive impactful insights at scale. John Whalen, PhD Thanks for the opportunity to embrace AI for research."
Nivi Singh-Frenger

Nivi Singh-Frenger

Principal UX Researcher at Citizens Bank
        "Highly Recommend! He and his team have spent hours and hours comparing different AI-powered research tools to support the end-to-end research process. He shares what he has learned and gives you hands-on activities to try several of them yourselves."
John Gusiff

John Gusiff

Chief Experience Officer at Customer Centric Solutions
        "Want to learn how to apply AI methods for yourself? Check out John Whalen, PhD's course AI Skills for Research: Create an AI-Powered Insights System. This excellent course is where I learned all about these new methods for myself!"
Heather Patrick

Heather Patrick

Senior UX Researcher at American Chemical Society
        UX/R! This course is totally worth your time! It was a structured way through a sea of solutions in addition to hands on experience and discussion. I've already capitalized on what I learned in this two-week course with the knowledgeable and famously friendly John Whalen, PhD!
Tracy Hayes

Tracy Hayes

UX Research Leader, ex-Google, ex-IPSOS

Meet your instructor

John Whalen, PhD

John Whalen, PhD

I lead Insights & Innovation at Brilliant Experience, where I help global brands understand the psychology behind their customers' behaviors and bring successful products to market.


Initially skeptical about AI, my team and I conducted extensive “AI vs. Humans” studies to pinpoint precisely where AI-enhanced research excels—and where human judgment remains irreplaceable. I became convinced that AI will transform how research will be done.


Now I regularly interview pioneering founders in the AI-for-UX space and leverage the latest AI tools to deliver rapid, scaled, global insights for top brands.


With a PhD from Johns Hopkins, I combine academic rigor with real-world pragmatism to help you harness the new realities of AI-powered research.

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Join an upcoming cohort

AI for Customer Research: Future-Proof Your UX & Product Skills

May 2025

$499

Dates

May 5—28, 2025

Payment Deadline

May 4, 2025

June 2025

$499

Dates

June 2—25, 2025

Payment Deadline

June 1, 2025

July 2025

$499

Dates

July 8—30, 2025

Payment Deadline

July 7, 2025
Get reimbursed

Course schedule

6 hours per week

  • Mondays & Thursdays

    1-3 pm EST or 7-9 pm EST (your choice)

    Interactive workshop: Learn new concepts and get set up to conduct hands-on training with AI-powered research tools.


    Workshops are being run identically in the afternoon and evening so that you can pick what works best for you!

  • Weekly projects

    2 hours per week

    Test and master AI-powered tools for research design, recruiting, research moderation, data analysis, and reporting. Determine which tools are right for you.

  • Office hours

    2 hours per week

    Optional time to meet with the session host and get 1:1 advice and support.

Free resource

AI vs Humans - A User Research Showdown

We conducted a head-to-head test of humans and AI-tools each performing research tasks such as designing studies, moderating interviews, analyzing results, and creating deliverables. We then had expert researchers blindly evaluate the output from AI and humans to learn when AI tools performed well, and when humans are indispensable.


Download a 1-page brief summarizing our findings to find out when AI tools were most valuable!

Get this free resource

Learning is better with cohorts

Learning is better with cohorts

Active hands-on learning

This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects

Interactive and project-based

You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams

Learn with a cohort of peers

Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you

Frequently Asked Questions

Stay in the loop

Sign up to be the first to know about course updates.

A pattern of wavy dots

Join an upcoming cohort

AI for Customer Research: Future-Proof Your UX & Product Skills

May 2025

$499

Dates

May 5—28, 2025

Payment Deadline

May 4, 2025

June 2025

$499

Dates

June 2—25, 2025

Payment Deadline

June 1, 2025

July 2025

$499

Dates

July 8—30, 2025

Payment Deadline

July 7, 2025
Get reimbursed

$499

4.7 (14)

·

4 Weeks