Smarter Research. Better Outcomes.

Research that moves product decisions forward.

Research IQ helps organizations understand their users, evaluate product experiences, and move forward with confidence through independent, end-to-end research. From study design to recommendations, we handle the research so your team can focus on what comes next.

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Professional experience and collaborations

Services

How Research IQ helps

03 services

01FLAGSHIP

Product research and usability evaluation

Evidence for the product questions your team needs answered before it commits time and budget. You get findings tied to the question in front of you, with clear recommendations on what to do next.

Includes product discovery, usability testing, prototype evaluation, workflow analysis, interviews, surveys, behavioral observation, and mixed-methods research.

Questions we help answer

What do users need?
Where do they struggle?
Which concepts or designs work best?
What should we improve before investing further?
What evidence should inform our next product decision?

Human-AI experience evaluation

For products with AI-enabled features, we study how people understand, check, and act on what the system produces, so you know where the experience supports sound judgment and where it needs work.

Trust and appropriate reliance
Comprehension of AI-generated information
Verification and error detection
User control and corrective behavior
Usability and interaction quality

Applied behavioral and experience research

When what people say does not tell the whole story, we look at what they do. For complex experiences, measures such as eye tracking, biometric signals, and behavioral analysis add evidence alongside interviews and task performance.

We recommend these methods only when they fit the research question. They add context to what people report and do; they are not a direct readout of motivation or emotion.

BackgroundIncludes learning technology and education; the same research practice applies across industries and product types.

Also availableResearch strategy, study plan reviews, and coaching for teams running their own research, alongside our research services.

How we work

We manage the research. You make the decision.

Research IQ takes responsibility for running the research process, from the first conversation to the final readout, so your team stays focused on the product.

Discover

We learn about your product, your users, and the decision you need to make.

Design

We recommend an appropriate research approach and define the engagement.

Investigate

We run the agreed research activities from start to finish.

Deliver

We translate evidence into clear findings, practical recommendations, and decision-ready insights.

How to engage

Product Research Engagement

A tailored, scoped engagement built around the question your team needs answered. We plan, run, and analyze the research, then deliver evidence you can act on.

Each engagement can be scoped around any of our three core services. There is no standard package or fixed timeline: scope, schedule, methods, and participants are shaped around your needs and agreed before work begins.

Deliverables can include

Research plan
Findings summary
Prioritized recommendations
Stakeholder readout

Discuss a Research Project

Research in action

Selected engagement

Engagement 01

Evaluating AI-supported instructional decisions

Research question: Can instructional users interpret, validate, and act on AI-generated feedback summaries with appropriate confidence?
Research IQ’s contribution: Designed a research protocol to examine how users assess AI output, check source feedback, and decide what action to take.
Evaluation focus: Interpretability, calibrated trust, source validation, decision confidence, and instructional actionability.
Status: Initial phase conducted; analysis pending. Additional phases planned. No evaluation findings reported yet.

Testimonials

Trusted by clients and colleagues

“Quincy is attentive to both client and user needs, communicates insights eloquently, and delivers clear, actionable recommended next steps.”

John Sadauskas, PhDResearch colleague

“He has a unique talent for identifying what truly matters, cutting through noise, asking the right questions, and ensuring that research drives meaningful impact. His work doesn’t stop at delivering findings; it shapes direction.”

Tiantian Jin, PhDResearch colleague

“He leads with clarity and purpose, invests in helping individual team members grow their research skills and confidence, and creates an environment of support, accountability, and meaningful impact.”

Kellie C. Huxel Bliven, PhD, ATC, FNAPResearch client

About

Research IQ is an independent applied research firm specializing in product research, usability evaluation, and human-centered technology research.

We manage research engagements from study planning through analysis and actionable recommendations, helping organizations gain the evidence they need to improve products and experiences.

Founder

Quincy Conley, PhD

Founder & Principal Researcher

Quincy Conley, PhD, is Research IQ’s founder and principal researcher. He brings more than 20 years of experience spanning commercial product research, interdisciplinary applied research, and research leadership.

His commercial experience includes leading human-centered research at Pearson across global digital-learning platforms. That work connected user behavior, product discovery, usability evaluation, and cross-functional collaboration to product strategy and experience improvements.

He also built an interdisciplinary research lab at Boise State University and led learning and technology initiatives at A.T. Still University.

His work connects research with practical choices about products, learning, and technology, helping organizations understand people’s experiences, evaluate what is working, and decide what to improve.

Contact

What are you trying to learn or decide?

Tell us what you’re trying to understand or improve. We’ll respond to arrange an introductory conversation about your research needs, potential approach, and project scope.

Helpful to include

Your organization
The product, technology, or experience to investigate
The decision or problem you need help with
Your anticipated timeline

Discuss a Research Project

Or email hello@researchiq.org