In this interview series by Website Planet, I talk to digital business leaders, who share their untold truths, tips, stories, and insights on what it really takes to build a successful online business. A deep dive into decades of hands-on experience that will immediately help you build and grow your online presence.
Tamer Okail is the co-founder of QoQo.ai, an AI-powered tool that provides 1,000+ design teams from IBM, Microsoft, Accenture, and more with access to data-backed insights into user preferences, identifying pain points, and discerning motivations. He has over 20 years of experience in user experience design, spanning organizations of all sizes, including BP, Momentum Design Lab, Andela, and NXP. He has been recognized as a leader in the field of AI innovation in UX design.
Whom do you help and with what? What gaps or trends in your industry sparked the idea? Can you share that story with us?
We created QoQo.ai out of a desire to help Product Designers and UX Researchers overcome limited resources in user research. Founded on the principle that access to research insights should be quick and efficient, we aim to empower designers to obtain valuable insights even when facing tight budgets, compressed timelines, or stakeholders who may not fully value research.
Our journey began in Q4 of 2022 when, as a team of designers, we faced a project constrained by time and budget. Despite our efforts to recruit domain experts for interviews, external pressures from a market-controlling competitor led to all participants canceling, leaving us frustrated and without valuable feedback.
Over the Christmas break, my technical co-founder and I explored generating UX research insights using AI… Blown away by the results, we decided to develop an MVP. Since then, reactions have ranged from initial amazement at the quality of insights to enthusiastic adoption by designers eager to leverage this innovative tool.
Fast forward to today, what makes your company stand out? Can you share metrics or stories that show the difference you’re making?
What makes QoQo.ai stand out today is our focus on generating AI insights for complex UX research tasks like user personas, journey mapping, and affinity mapping—areas that require a deep understanding of context. While other companies offer low-complexity solutions like transcribing and summarizing, we provide tools that deliver deeper, more meaningful insights. Initially, we faced some pushback, but we embraced the feedback to refine and improve our product.
As a result, we’ve grown to over 60,000 users and have teams from 1,000 companies utilizing our platform. Some of the feedback we’ve received even claims that our results are better than ChatGPT, and users have reported up to 80% savings in research time, highlighting the significant impact we’re making in the industry.
Looking back, what are the things you wish someone told you when you first started? Why are they crucial and what made you realize that?
I wish someone had told us the crucial importance of not just focusing on product development but also on areas like marketing, pricing optimization, and SEO strategy.
In the fast-evolving world of AI products, both creators and users are learning as we go. Often, users don’t yet know what they want because they aren’t fully aware of what AI can do today versus what future models might achieve. Realizing the significant impact that effective marketing and strategic planning have—even if we initially disliked those aspects—was essential. It helped us better reach our audience and refine our product to meet their needs.
Are there things that you wish you had done sooner in terms of growth? How did they impact your bottom line, and how can people apply them immediately?
One thing I wish we had done sooner was start charging for QoQo.ai. We initially offered it for free for five months, which may have impacted our feature prioritization and delayed us in finding the right users who truly understand its value. By introducing pricing earlier, we could have better aligned our development with the needs of paying customers and accelerated our growth.
Worrying too much every time there was a big announcement from a competitor was another mistake. We realized that focusing too much on what others are doing can be distracting. Instead, we should have concentrated on delivering value to our users. As long as our customers find value in what we offer, that’s what truly matters.
Key takeaways:
Monetize your product as soon as it delivers clear value, as this helps you focus on the features that matter most to your users and positively impact your bottom line.
Stay focused on your users’ needs, and let their satisfaction guide your growth. Try not to be overly concerned with competitors’ actions.
What new features or updates are you planning to introduce, and what other trends or technologies are you keeping an eye on? What challenges or opportunities will they bring to people in your industry?
Short term, we’re focusing on enabling designers and researchers to bring their research—in the form of interview videos, transcripts, or reports—and enrich it with AI-generated insights.
We’re also developing a smart project system that encompasses all research inputs, reports, and artifacts, allowing users to ask any questions and create connections not just within separate projects, but also carry over insights from one historical research project to another.
Our long-term vision is to build a true research companion that assists designers and researchers throughout the entire end-to-end process. We’re keeping an eye on advancements in AI and machine learning technologies, as they present both challenges and opportunities for our industry. These technologies will enable us to provide more intuitive and powerful tools, helping professionals overcome resource constraints and enhancing the overall quality of UX research.
If there was one unconventional piece of advice you wish our readers could bring home from this interview, what would it be?
Always have a side project and ship it fast. Your side project doesn’t have to be entirely unique or groundbreaking; even improving upon existing ideas or offering a better or more affordable solution than competitors can make a significant impact.
Bringing it to completion quickly exposes you to the full life cycle of a product. This experience accelerates your learning, fosters innovation, and provides insights that you can apply to your main work. It encourages agility, hands-on problem-solving, and a deeper understanding of product development from start to finish.
Roberto has spent over a decade helping affiliate blogs and cybersecurity companies increase revenue through Digital PR and conversion-focused content marketing. Somehow he’s still able to live the digital nomad life in between linkbuilding campaigns, content audits and SEO strategy calls.
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