MasterClass Session 3 : Summary : Crafting clear, visual and compelling Qualitative Research stories

Welcome to a recap of the third and final session of flowres.io’s MasterClass series on Qualitative Data Analysis and reporting. After refreshing fundamentals of Qualitative Data Analysis (Session 1) and demonstrating the transformative power of AI in Qualitative Data Analysis (Session 2), the last session pivoted to a critical, often debated aspect of Qualitative work : turning findings into reports that readers understand, remember and act upon.

Led by seasoned researcher and reporting expert Maria Virobik, this workshop shed light on how a strategically designed report improves not just its ‘look and feel’, but also sharpens its clarity and persuasiveness of the insights that the report intends to communicate. Maria blended decades of hands-on experience, practical demonstrations and expert advice; to show how report design can elevate a Qualitative insight from ‘read’ to ‘resonant’.

Why visual design in Reporting matters

Having authored over 700 reports since 1997, Maria candidly shared that even experienced researchers tend to “save design work for 2a.m.”… after all the analysis heavy-lifting was done and dusted. Yet, as she emphasized, “Design is just as important as the information itself”. Because no matter how compelling the findings, they won’t drive decisions unless the audience can absorb them and engage with them. Lastly, visuals used greatly can impactfully illustrate complex concepts eg. customer journeys for multiple segments.

4 essentials for Qualitative reporting, and how to implement them

1. Chunking for Readability
Maria likened effective report structuring to a well-designed restaurant menu: chunked categories (like “sodas,” “desserts,” “sundaes”) immediately guide the reader towards what they care about. Humans naturally create patterns and structures to process information. So, breaking findings into logical, thematic chunks helps clients quickly locate and absorb key messages. Here’s an example shared, to illustrate how chunking improves readability: 

2. Using columns, not a ‘wall-to-wall’ of Text
Many standard report and slide templates default to full-width text. Maria explained that reading across a wide page increases fatigue because the human eye’s arc is only a few inches wide. Certain benchmarks shared by Nancy Duarte, a recognized authority in presentation design and information clarity were:

- Breaking text into columns (ideally 12-15 words or 50-70 characters per line) can reduce reader effort and accelerate comprehension.

- Keeping per-slide word counts to under 175 can optimize for engagement and retention.

Here’s an example shared, of how a ‘wall-to-wall’ text slide can be transformed simply by ‘columnizing’ it crisply.

3. Leaning into strategically sourced visuals
Beyond text, impactful visuals can anchor reader memory and emphasize key takeaways. Maria shared free sources eg. Pixabay, Pexels, Unsplash and tools eg. Slidedocs, 24Slides, Diagrammer.

Alternatively, client assets and image libraries could be readily available, for researchers to dig into and pick from. Maria’s guiding principle – “Don’t just rely on stock photographs, and absolutely never on outdated clip art!”

Some examples shared to illustrate use of strategically sourced visuals were:

• Large images that ‘bleed’ beyond slide margins
  
  
  

• Custom recipe cards and baseball/trading cards (to present ideal products or respondent profiles)
  
  
  
  

• Diagrams and infographics to convey relative importance, without relying on raw numbers (eg. Card-sorting results or Bar graphs sans Percentages)
  
  

4. Infographics applied to Qualitative Data
Maria believes that Qualitative insights can and should be visualized, even if they aren’t quantified (like Survey data). She showcased creative solutions like fractional moons, gradated test tubes, and branded product images (e.g. chocolate chip cookies from a client’s own wrapper) to visualize concept preference and strength. These subtle infographics can address the ever-recurring client question: “I know it’s Qualitative, but can you just show me which concept won?”

Practical advice on using client-mandated templates

Maria addressed an issue that researchers often faced viz. clients mandating templates for fonts/ colors/ logo usage/ slide layout. Her advice:

• To streamline future workflows, build a personal library of slide templates for key sections (background, objectives, findings, quotes).
• However, if mandated, always defer to client’s templates and visuals; unless doing so grossly undermines readability or storytelling. If the end client invests heavily in their own templates, respect that investment; but don’t hesitate to suggest subtle tweaks that improve readability and flow.
• When in doubt or for major projects, engage a professional designer for a final polish, recognizing it may extend the reporting timeline, yet will deliver a significantly better output.

She emphasized that while design should typically follow findings, inspiration can strike anytime—sometimes outlining the story and then designing; other times jumping into slide layouts while analysis is ongoing. The essential principle, to achieve best results : Let the storytelling and design process evolve side-by-side.

Q&A

The session wound up with a series of queries spanning client management, image-types, views on AI and reporting workflows:

Q1. What is your process… do you analyze (raw data) first and design (report) after, or is it more intertwined? How do you integrate analysis and design?

Maria follows the principle of starting wherever inspiration strikes, even if it means jumping between Analysis and Slide Design. Both processes are iterative and often benefit from midway check-ins and client collaborations to align reporting strategy. Dean Stephens echoed this approach… “Just start somewhere… that’s exactly what I do.”

Q2. How does client collaboration work, to make report design more effective?
Conduct collaborative Zoom check-ins with clients, a few days before the report draft is due. Walking through the presentation-in-progress with the moderator or client is helpful for strategic alignment. It can even spark new ideas for diagrams or visuals.

Q3. How do you balance client templates with effective report design? What if a client has a strict template or style guide… can you make changes for readability?

Respect the client’s investment in their template. But if something like font size makes the report hard to read, try small changes to improve clarity… but inform the client you’re doing so. “I think there’s probably a little bit of latitude. I’ll make changes to a certain extent, but not such revolutionary changes that the client’s going to be like, what are you doing? Just something that will at least help smooth it, if it’s in service of better readability or getting the information on the page that needs to be there.”

Q4. Where do you find or create report templates?
Start by building your own basic set of slides for report sections you always need (Background, Objectives, Findings, Comparisons, Quotes, etc.). Look for free template e-books or online resources for inspiration. “However, I cannot overstate the value of having an actual graphic designer come up with slides. The end-product is so much better.”

Q5. Are icons overused—should I use them sparingly?

Maria recommends using icons only if they fit the client's preferences and branding, and primarily to add graphic variation or break up text. This is true especially in cases where photo options are hard to find. Visuals (especially custom graphics or photos) are usually more engaging than icons, but icons can help when time or resources are limited.

Q6. What’s your stance on AI-generated visuals?

For reports, Maria prefers stock photos or self-created graphics rather than ‘AI art’. Her concerns revolve around copyright, attribution and the ethics of using large models that may not properly compensate or credit the creator. Yet, she recognizes that AI assistants – when used thoughtfully – can indeed save time and highlight subtler insights. She encourages researchers to stay informed, experiment judiciously, and always credit the real creators of visual and intellectual content.

Conclusion & Series wrap-up

With this session, flowres.io’s MasterClass on Qualitative Data Analysis and reporting comes full circle. Across these three sessions, participants learned how to engineer robust analysis frameworks (Session 1), leverage AI for faster, smarter data handling (Session 2), and finally, to deliver insights through reports that are both logical and visually unforgettable. For any resources you'd like us to share, do reach out at hello@flowres.io.

To our attendees – a big ‘Thank you’, for being part of this journey! Whether you’re a Qualitative Research buyer, Agency-side practitioner, or In-house team member; resources shared in this series will help make your next project clearer, more actionable and far more impactful. Stay tuned to flowres.io blog for further learning opportunities, resources, and platform updates!