For us at Aspect, this recognition feels particularly special. Not just because of the achievement itself, but because of what sits behind it.
The nomination centres around our Healthcare Simulation Suite, a space Abi developed to solve a challenge that many in healthcare research will recognise immediately. How do you observe real clinical behaviour, when the environment itself doesn’t feel real?
It’s a problem that has existed for years.
Access to NHS settings is understandably limited, and alternative options often fall short. Hotel rooms, hired spaces and adapted facilities can work, but they rarely capture the pressures, workflows and familiarity of a true clinical environment. And when the setting doesn’t feel right, behaviour changes. Clinicians pause where they wouldn’t usually pause. They think about actions that would normally be instinctive. The insight gathered can still be useful, but it isn’t always a true reflection of real-world use.
Rather than creating something staged or decorative, the focus was on building a space that feels genuinely familiar. A full-scale clinical environment that can be configured to reflect different healthcare settings, from operating theatres to consultation rooms, with the detail and layout clinicians expect in their day-to-day roles.
It’s designed so that participants don’t have to think about the environment. They can simply get on with the task and that’s where the real value lies.
When clinicians feel comfortable, behaviour becomes instinctive. When behaviour is instinctive, the insight becomes more reliable. And when insight is more reliable, clients can make decisions with greater confidence.
Since launching, the suite has supported countless healthcare studies, including usability testing, medical device development and clinical simulation. For many clients, it has opened up research that would otherwise have been difficult to deliver within traditional constraints. It has also allowed studies to be run more efficiently, without compromising on the level of realism required for high-quality healthcare insight.
Abi’s pioneering work in developing our healthcare suite being recognised through the AQR Pioneer Award is a reflection of that.
Not just the space itself, but the thinking behind it. A belief that research environments should support real behaviour, not shape it. That detail matters. That context matters.
At Aspect, that’s what we’re always working towards, creating spaces that don’t just look the part, but genuinely help research work better.
This recognition is something we’re incredibly proud of. And for the clients and researchers who use the Healthcare Simulation Suite, it’s a reassurance that the space they’re working in has been designed with exactly that goal in mind.
If you’ve ever wrapped up a long day of interviews or focus groups and thought “great insights… now I just have to turn hours of audio into something usable”, you’ll know that transcription is one of those tasks that quietly eats into your time.
It’s not glamorous, but it’s essential. Researchers rely on transcripts to revisit conversations, pull out the exact language participants used and spot patterns that might not be obvious in the moment. The challenge is that transcription often ends up being organised after the fieldwork has finished, which means extra admin, extra coordination and sometimes a bit of a scramble when analysis needs to start quickly.
That’s exactly why we’ve made a small but important change at Aspect Viewing Facilities. Transcription is now included as standard when you run your research with us. No separate booking, no extra step in the process, and no need to organise it elsewhere. It’s simply part of the service.
Every so often, someone announces that face-to-face research is on its way out. Online platforms are faster. Remote interviews are easier. AI is cleverer. Surely the days of gathering people in a room are numbered?
And yet, the rooms are still full.
What’s changed isn’t the value of being in person. It’s how and when we choose to do it.
Over the past few years, the research landscape has expanded. Remote methodologies have opened doors, making it easier to reach participants across regions, schedules and circumstances. That flexibility has been transformative, and it’s here to stay.
But when people sit across from one another, something different happens. Conversations flow in unexpected directions. Body language tells its own story. There’s a shared energy in the room, small glances, quiet laughter, moments of hesitation, that adds depth to what’s being said.
For sensitive topics, complex ideas or high-stakes innovation, that human connection still matters. It builds trust differently. It allows space for nuance. It creates moments that can shift a discussion in ways no platform quite replicates.
What we’re seeing now is not a decline, but a more thoughtful blend. Remote pre-work followed by in-person sessions. Digital diaries that inform live workshops. Online screening supporting focused studio groups. Face-to-face has become more intentional, more purposeful and, in many cases, more impactful.
The choice is no longer about tradition versus technology. It’s about asking what this particular project needs. Sometimes that answer is speed and scale. Sometimes it’s depth and shared presence.
When the environment is right, when participants feel welcomed, when technology works seamlessly in the background, when the day runs smoothly, being in the room can elevate the entire research experience. It allows clients to observe naturally, moderators to respond instinctively and participants to settle into honest conversation.
Face-to-face research isn’t clinging on. It’s adapting, finding its place alongside digital tools rather than competing with them.
In a world that moves quickly and often communicates through screens, there is still something powerful about people coming together to talk, listen and understand.
That hasn’t change and it’s why the environment still matters.
A well-considered space. A friendly welcome. Technology that works without fuss. A team quietly making sure everything runs as it should. These details don’t shout for attention, but they shape the tone of the day. They help participants relax. They help clients focus. They allow the conversation to unfold naturally.
Face-to-face research doesn’t need defending. It simply needs the right setting to do what it has always done best: bring people together to share, explore and understand.
Lots has changed quickly over the past few years which inevitably leads to new ways of doing things and businesses learning to adapt.
At Aspect, the only stream of business that carried on during lockdown was the healthcare research as it was deemed essential. This led us to consider the type of space we offer clients and how we might meet their needs best.
We decided to refurbish Studio 2 into a hospital simulation suite to assist clients with their healthcare research needs.
Aspect provides a medical simulation training suite where specialist training equipment is used to recreate clinical situations. This allows medical trainees in many specialities to practice rare and critical scenarios in a safe environment.
The trainees learn, practise and repeat procedures, improve their skills, fine-tune techniques, and master clinical protocols designed to improve outcomes before seeing patients.
It has proved a popular addition to our offering and the feedback has been fantastic. The suite can be mocked up as requested and equipment sourced on your behalf. We also have a lovely medical mannequin who is very amenable!
Outside of the healthcare sector, our other studios are back to life with consumer face-to-face research. So nice to engage with clients and participants and see the research projects unfold.
If you have particular needs for the studio layout then we are always happy to help. We have done Christmas in June, festival vibes, kids’ yoga studio, and are open to much more!
Anything that helps to bring out the best in people and provide great insight is always top of our minds.
We started 2023 with some fantastic feedback:
I just wanted to email to thank Aspect (and in particular Lorraine and Jo) for all your help and support on my project.
I was so incredibly nervous as it was my first in person groups since pre covid, plus my team wasn’t able to come up and join in person from London leaving me working solo. But the ladies were so supportive, helpful, nothing was too much to ask, and they felt like my mini team for the whole two evenings. They even helped me get home safe, and wouldn’t let me run out to my taxi until we had eyes on it (which was a woman doing late night groups alone is definitely something I need to consider).
The facility was really well set up for what we needed, as well as spotlessly clean/tidy and I would without second thought book my next in person project at Aspect Stockport and recommend to others. I forgot how valuable in person research is after spending two years behind a laptop screen and I think the insights gained from my groups will be really impactful in terms of shaping our future marketing strategy.
Thank you so so much and I can’t wait to see you again soon 🙂
Please get in touch and find out how we can work to bring your study to life at our award-winning viewing facility.
With 2023 already upon us, it feels like the only certainty is uncertainty. For many, the end of 2022 was a chance to reflect on the past few years and try and draw breath. In a moment of reflection, you might have been left wondering what on earth has happened, how it has impacted and what that means going forward?
Whilst the landscape for face-to-face research has shifted beyond recognition since 2019, one constant that has always remained the same, is the benefits of doing it. We know that there have been barriers in the way of allowing people back in-person as quickly as they might have otherwise liked (travel issues, budget constraints, nervousness around changing rules etc.) but it’s fantastic to see people starting 2023 and embracing being back in the room with clients and participants alike.
So much can be gleaned from close physical interaction, seeing body language, watching micro-facial movements and having natural, unmoderated, free-flowing conversations between participants with a shared interest (have you ever seen a group of mums in full flow?!). And don’t underestimate the power of simply getting people away from their own environment and distractions: screaming children, WhatsApp messaging popping up on their phone mid-interview, poor lighting or cameras that can be turned off!
We know that some interactive exercises can only be done face-to-face, such as product mapping or guided fantasies and as an industry, we don’t want research that is constrained by its medium. In addition, there are more specialist areas that need to be run face-to-face. Aspect launched its much sort after Hospital Simulation Suite last year, which allows Healthcare Professionals and Patients to be in a simulated healthcare environment, either physically interacting with new devices, or being immersed in a contextually appropriate environment, in order to produce more accurate insights.
So, whether you want to get close to the people and gain that lightbulb moment for your study, or you want to immerse yourself in the environment closest to the real thing, Aspect Viewing Facility can provide you with what you need. You will receive the warmest of welcomes and be looked after to the highest standard allowing you to focus on the important tasks. Aspect also offer a great range of fantastic foods to keep your energy levels high. We recommend trying the pies from the Great North Pie company – they are amazing! Whatever you need Aspect can sort, so book in today.
As 2023 is upon us, you may be wondering if there are some under-the-radar places you can explore … well look no further than Stockport. Yes, I said Stockport! Earlier this month the Guardian described Stockport as having “something special in the air” It goes on to say …
“It is the DIY, grassroots activity in food, fashion, art and music found in the architecturally striking old town, that is exciting early adopters and generating media notices about, “one of the coolest little corners of the country”.
I may be predisposed to agree, being born and bred in Stockport, but also may be one of its harshest critics, guilty of not seeing or engaging with the newfound indie vibe Stockport is creating. I haven’t been to “Where the Light gets in” restaurant or walked to the independent shops of Underbank. I am even guilty of not having been to the Polish bakery in the beautiful old market hall – I am told it is mind-blowing.
This is all good news for businesses like ours trying to attract the London client. Often overshadowed by Manchester, only 6 miles north, Stockport has struggled to gain traction as a destination town. Aspect Viewing Facility with purpose-built studios for market research lies a mile south of Stockport town centre. With a diverse population at its door and all trains from London to Manchester stopping at Stockport (it’s true, by an Act of Parliament in 1840, it was decreed that all through-trains using Stockport Viaduct must stop at Stockport Station), it offers clients, not only great insight from the local population but also an interesting and fun place to visit.
The Guardian concludes with……
“For Benji Taylor, co-founder of Bask (a bar, gig venue, comedy club and late-night, DJ-led hang-out), the contrast with the Stockport of his youth is profound. It came 12th in an early-2000s poll for the book Crap Towns, so it is “great to see it turning full circle”.
He adds: “We did a run of ‘Stockport Isn’t Shit’ bags with Hug & Co. They sold out in a day. People are as proud of Stockport as they’ve ever been.”
Book your projects into Aspect and come and see what Stockport has to offer. Our attentive and friendly staff will assist with any enquiries and help with local suggestions and directions.
Besides its location, Aspect has consistently been voted as one of the Best Viewing facilities in the country with this year being no exception, with Aspect winning the coveted ‘Best Viewing Facility, Technology and Innovation’ award at the Market Research Society Operation Awards.
