Lately, I’ve been exploring new ways to bring user voices into the room—especially when the room is full of stakeholders. And not just quotes on a slide. I mean really bringing users to life.
I stitched these clips into a product strategy presentation, pairing them with journey maps and supporting metrics.
Using AI for User Research
The workflows, artifacts and tools typically used in classical UX practices for this stage are being augmented, replaced and hastened by Artificial Intelligence. Click here to see some of the new tools and techniques I’m experimenting with.
What I tried…
➤ Step 1: Collect and collate market data and user research
pertaining to online vehicle purchasing (with trade-in)
➤ Step 2: Exploit Ai
Gemini and Perplexity to analyze and scrutinize the data, research and future-state vision statement
➤ Step 3: Give users a voice
The first 2 steps provided user verbatim and persona material. I used these verbatim to generate a synthetic HeyGen avatar. Each quote was associated with a persona (e.g., “Power Buyer with Trade-in” or “Experienced Dealer Agent”).
Video caption.
The upside: why I’ll probably keep using it
➤ Emotional resonance
Synthetic faces + voices transform cold research artifacts into something closer to a documentary. It’s harder to ignore a frustrated “user” who looks you in the eye.
➤ Speed and control
Unlike real video editing (which is time-consuming, redacted, and often restricted by NDA), HeyGen let me compose polished, on-brand user expressions quickly.
➤ Accessibility and consistency
Everyone hears the same tone, pacing, and clarity. That helps stakeholders focus on what is said, not how a participant stumbled through saying it.
The pitfalls: why it still gives me pause
➤ The uncanny valley is real
Synthetic faces + voices transform cold research artifacts into something closer to a documentary. It’s harder to ignore a frustrated “user” who looks you in the eye.
➤ Risks of oversimplification
A 15-second avatar clip can flatten a complex insight into a sound bite. And if you’re not careful, it starts to feel like you’re scripting users, not representing them.
➤ Ethical ambiguity
Even with user consent and paraphrased language, there’s a weirdness to creating a “face” for someone who never appeared on camera. It’s respectful… but also performative. It’s a line I’m still defining.
Actual user verbatim communicated using HeyGen
Actual user verbatim communicated using Hedra